The Central Regional branch of the Centre for National Culture (CNC) has commenced a 15-day campaign against child marriage through edutainment.
Fifteen selected communities in three coastal municipalities of the region have been selected for the campaign using drama, music and dance to entertain and educate the people.
The education focuses on the social, economic, legal, and medical consequences of child marriage and the need to put an immediate stop it.
The campaign, a UNICEF initiative, is on the theme: “For our Bright Future, End Child Marriage Now”.
The CNC, supported by other collaborators, including the Ghana Education Service, Ghana Health Service and the Social Welfare Department, would take the campaign to communities in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) and the Mfantseman municipalities as well as the Cape Coast Metropolis.
The campaign, which centred on the woes of a 12-year-old girl in marriage, took off with a speculator drama, interspersed with music and dance at Bantuma, a coastal community in Elmina, which pulled and awed scores of community members.
It also preached personal hygiene, malaria prevention, the importance of formal education, and denounced Female Genital Mutilation and illegal abortion.
The chiefs, elders, members of the community and stakeholders in the grooming of children signed a banner to pledge their commitment to ending child marriage.
Other communities to be visited include Komenda, Ekon, Ntsin, Essuekyir, Hini, Ankaful, Kormantse, and Effutu Mampong.
Mr Ebenezer Nti, the Acting Regional Director, CNC, who was hopeful of having an impactful campaign, said education through entertainment was the best way to leave a lasting impact on patrons.
He said the fight against child marriage required a collective effort and therefore rallied all stakeholders, particularly, the communities to get involved.
“This is to get them to understand that giving a child out for marriage is an offence and we need to educate them. We are hopeful that, definitely, this campaign will change the status quo,” he added.
Detective Sgt Richard Boadi-Twum, an Investigator with the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit, Ghana Police Service, said it was criminal to give a child below 18 years out for marriage.
He cautioned that sleeping with a child below 16 years with or without their consent, constituted defilement and the culprits, both males and females, could be jailed for a minimum of seven years and a maximum of 25 years.
“It is a very serious offence which you have to take seriously because we have policemen, chiefs, pastors, and a lot of other people in prison because of that,” he cautioned.
He noted that the law permitted children aged 16 to have sex but strongly advised against same on moral grounds.
Detective Sgt Boadi-Twum urged the public to report all criminal offences to the police for immediate action.
Madam Emma Delali Forley, a Public Health Officer and Central Regional Adolescent Health Focal Person, warned that child marriage significantly put a burden not only on the children but the economy and the health system.
She said the girls were expected to give birth once they got married even though they may not be matured enough to carry pregnancy.
Such pregnancies brought complications including hypertensive disorders, cephalopelvic disproportion (not able to deliver naturally due to immature pelvis), anaemia, postpartum hemorrhage (excessive bleeding after birth), and death, Madam Forley said.
“They also become another burden for the Government to deal with because if they are getting hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, which may or may not resolve after delivery, it means they have to be on medication for the rest of their lives,” she said.
“Many a time, families of these children are unable to pay their debts.” d
Madam Forley appealed to parents and guardians to ensure that their girls stayed in school to oursue their dreams before giving them out for marriage.
“No matter what we are going through, we need to support the girls to go through school or even learn a vocation to be self-reliant before they are given out for marriage,” she urged.
Meanwhile, the CNC in five other regions: Eastern, Western, North-East, Northern, and Savanna are also undertaking a similar campaign.
GNA