Student Manual - Child-Friendly Policing
Integrating Child-Friendly Policing into the Ghana Police Service
Highlights
Ghana’s child welfare system has witnessed considerable improvement over the years. This can be attributed to the enhanced policy, legislative as well as institutional framework for child protection. It is important to note that children under 15 years of age constitute 38% of Ghana’s population. Notwithstanding the improvement in the child welfare system, a number of children still live in difficult circumstances. Many orphans live out of the family setting and some of them live with foster parents. While other children are engaged in child labour or living and working in the streets, others are victims of trafficking. These circumstances in which children find themselves put them at an even greater risk of exploitation, abuse and exposure to criminal influences.
Violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect of children are issues of growing concern. The number of cases officially reported to the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service has increased significantly from 1,128 in 2002 to more than 2,157 in 2013.This included over 1,200 cases of defilement. It is not clear if this increase is due to increased incidents of abuse or increased rates of reporting. Surveys suggest that the actual prevalence of violence is significantly higher than formally reported. A 2009 study conducted in select schools found that 14 per cent of school children surveyed had been sexually abused, with 53 per cent of sexual abuse occurring in school and 47 per cent happening at home.
