A gender-based NGO is pushing for the
enactment of laws to punish spouses who deliberately starve their partners of
sex.
This is Ufeministi’s new
perspective to dealing with domestic violence in marriages by criminalising sex
deprivation.
According to the group, sex deprivation
is a major source of abuse in many homes and that was one of the highlights of
a report on the gaps in the laws on gender-based violence.
President of the Judicial Service Staff
Association of Ghana (JUSAG), Alex Nartey presented details of the report,
Tuesday.
“If a wife or a husband without
any reason withholds sex from the partner, then that should constitute an
offence because it has various implications,” he said.
Last month, the Central Regional
Coordinator of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), George
Appiah-Sakyi, advised married men who are being
denied sex by their wives to report them to the police.
He explained that “denying your spouse
sex amounted to emotional abuse”.
Related: Report wives who wear
jeans to bed - DOVVSU
“If your wife wears jeans to sleep and causing you emotional abuse, its an
offence and you can report her to DOVVSU,” he stated.
For the women, he said, “if your husbands refuse to eat your food and make you
unhappy and cause you emotional pain, you can also report them to the police”.
Related: Report jeans-wearing
wives to the police? Where are the marriage counsellors?
“If your husband comes home late and
causes you to be unhappy you can make a case at DOVSSU,” he said.
This is not far from JUSAG
president’s advise to spouses.
“You cannot and should not unduly
withhold sex from your partner when that can warrant a lot of violence,” Mr
Nartey said.
But this position is being challenged
by Regional Coordinator of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit
(DOVVSU) of the Volta and Oti region, Mercy Wilson Brown.
She says criminalizing sex deprivation
would not be the way to go.
Source: Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim
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