Ghana Sex Victims Healthcare USAGM
Metadata
- Ghana Sex Victims Healthcare USAGM
- May 30, 2022
- Content Type Package
- Language English
- Transcript/Script English FOR USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Ghana Sex Victims Healthcare (TV) HEADLINE: Ghanaian Lawmaker Abolishes Medical Exam Fees for Sex Victims TEASER: PUBLISHED AT: 05/30/2022 9:50am BYLINE: Senanu Tord DATELINE: Battor, Ghana VIDEOGRAPHER: Senanu Tord VIDEO EDITOR: PRODUCER: SCRIPT EDITORS: BR, DLJ VIDEO SOURCE(S): VOA Original PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO X TRT: 2:46 VID APPROVED BY: MAS TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES: )) ((INTRO)) [[In Ghana, sexual assault victims must show medical reports to prove they have been assaulted before a rape suspect can be prosecuted. These medical examinations come at a relatively high cost, and are not covered by the national health insurance, and so can deter a victim from pressing charges. Now, a lawmaker is seeking to abolish the health exam requirement so that more women are able to pursue justice. Senanu Tord reports from Battor, Ghana.]] ((NARRATOR)) The Atsem family has three daughters who live together in the North Tongnu District of Ghana. Earlier this month, the youngest of the three, a 15-year-old, was abducted and raped. ((Irene Atsem, Sister of Rape Victim (Ewe, 26 secs)) “He showed my sister a picture of a 14-year-old girl on his phone and told her he had killed the girl in the picture because she refused to let him have sex with her. He then threatened to kill my sister if she resisted. He hit her chest with a pistol, tried to choke her, and beat her up so her entire face was swollen.” ((NARRATOR)) Irene’s sister was discharged from the hospital after seven days and is scheduled for checkups for the next six months. These costs are not covered by the national health insurance program, NHIS. ((Dr. Bernard Hayford Atuguba, North Tongu Medical Superintendent (English, 21 secs)) “As long as it is defilement or rape or sexual assault review, health insurance doesn't cover it. So, whatever investigations that you perform, the patient will have to pay from either his or her pocket or get with the money from elsewhere.” ((NARRATOR)) An NHIS official tells VOA the national program does not consider sexual assault a health issue but a criminal issue instead. But a member of parliament for the North Tongu district says this is an injustice – and this month told local hospitals in his constituency to stop charging examination fees for sexual assault victims. Instead, his office will pay the fees. ((Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP for North Tongu Constituency (English, 20secs)) “I am showing that in one constituency, it is possible. We have abolished this and so we can now scale it up. The next phase, I am talking to a number of colleagues to team up with me so that we draft a private member’s bill so that we will outlaw those charges.” ((NARRATOR)) A 2020 UNICEF study found that the cost of seeking justice for sexual assault in Ghana can cost from 10 to 55% of a household’s income – a major factor deterring many victims from coming forward. Parliament member Ablakwa says his goal is to make it easy for victims to seek justice and the perpetrators to be duly punished. ((Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP for North Tongu Constituency (English, 26secs)) “No matter your status, no matter who you are, no matter how much money you think you have, this is a crime that will be punished and that we have a zero-tolerance policy from henceforth.” ((NARRATOR)) With these new measures, the Atsem family hopes they will be able to press charges against her attacker. ((Senanu Tord, for VOA news, Battor, Ghana))
- Transcript/Script FOR USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Ghana Sex Victims Healthcare (TV) HEADLINE: Ghanaian Lawmaker Abolishes Medical Exam Fees for Sex Victims TEASER: PUBLISHED AT: 05/30/2022 9:50am BYLINE: Senanu Tord DATELINE: Battor, Ghana VIDEOGRAPHER: Senanu Tord VIDEO EDITOR: PRODUCER: SCRIPT EDITORS: BR, DLJ VIDEO SOURCE(S): VOA Original PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO X TRT: 2:46 VID APPROVED BY: MAS TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES: )) ((INTRO)) [[In Ghana, sexual assault victims must show medical reports to prove they have been assaulted before a rape suspect can be prosecuted. These medical examinations come at a relatively high cost, and are not covered by the national health insurance, and so can deter a victim from pressing charges. Now, a lawmaker is seeking to abolish the health exam requirement so that more women are able to pursue justice. Senanu Tord reports from Battor, Ghana.]] ((NARRATOR)) The Atsem family has three daughters who live together in the North Tongnu District of Ghana. Earlier this month, the youngest of the three, a 15-year-old, was abducted and raped. ((Irene Atsem, Sister of Rape Victim (Ewe, 26 secs)) “He showed my sister a picture of a 14-year-old girl on his phone and told her he had killed the girl in the picture because she refused to let him have sex with her. He then threatened to kill my sister if she resisted. He hit her chest with a pistol, tried to choke her, and beat her up so her entire face was swollen.” ((NARRATOR)) Irene’s sister was discharged from the hospital after seven days and is scheduled for checkups for the next six months. These costs are not covered by the national health insurance program, NHIS. ((Dr. Bernard Hayford Atuguba, North Tongu Medical Superintendent (English, 21 secs)) “As long as it is defilement or rape or sexual assault review, health insurance doesn't cover it. So, whatever investigations that you perform, the patient will have to pay from either his or her pocket or get with the money from elsewhere.” ((NARRATOR)) An NHIS official tells VOA the national program does not consider sexual assault a health issue but a criminal issue instead. But a member of parliament for the North Tongu district says this is an injustice – and this month told local hospitals in his constituency to stop charging examination fees for sexual assault victims. Instead, his office will pay the fees. ((Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP for North Tongu Constituency (English, 20secs)) “I am showing that in one constituency, it is possible. We have abolished this and so we can now scale it up. The next phase, I am talking to a number of colleagues to team up with me so that we draft a private member’s bill so that we will outlaw those charges.” ((NARRATOR)) A 2020 UNICEF study found that the cost of seeking justice for sexual assault in Ghana can cost from 10 to 55% of a household’s income – a major factor deterring many victims from coming forward. Parliament member Ablakwa says his goal is to make it easy for victims to seek justice and the perpetrators to be duly punished. ((Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP for North Tongu Constituency (English, 26secs)) “No matter your status, no matter who you are, no matter how much money you think you have, this is a crime that will be punished and that we have a zero-tolerance policy from henceforth.” ((NARRATOR)) With these new measures, the Atsem family hopes they will be able to press charges against her attacker. ((Senanu Tord, for VOA news, Battor, Ghana))
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date May 30, 2022 09:45 EDT
- Byline Senanu Tord
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America