The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, has launched the 2025 edition of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, calling for a united, national effort to end all forms of abuse—offline and online.

Speaking at the launch, attended by government officials, development partners, students, and the media, the Minister delivered a passionate appeal for collective responsibility, warning that violence against women and girls remains a deep and widespread national crisis.

Dr. Lartey cited Ghana’s 2016 national survey, which revealed that 27.7% of women have experienced physical or sexual violence—approximately one in four women.

“These are not just statistics,” she stressed. “They are stories of trauma, lost potential, and quiet suffering in homes, schools, workplaces and communities.”

She also described findings from the 2014 Demographic and Health Survey, where 32% of girls and young women aged 15–24 agreed that wife-beating could be justified.

“This is heartbreaking,” she said. “Harmful norms are silently shaping minds.

But culture must never be an excuse for violence. We can rewrite the story.”

With this year’s global theme emphasising online abuse, the Minister warned that digital gender-based violence is rising sharply, especially targeting young girls.

She noted worrying trends such as cyberbullying, sextortion, image-based abuse, stalking, and doxxing, stressing that “online violence may happen on a screen, but the pain is real.”

“The digital space must not be another battlefield for women and girls,” she said, urging the public to challenge harmful online behaviour, block abusers, and report violations.

A key feature of the 2025 campaign is the Ministry’s initiative dubbed “16 Stations, 16 Routes”, which will use public transport hubs across the country as mass platforms for education and awareness.

The campaign will deploy stickers, conversations, mobile engagements, and safe-space activations at major bus terminals, supported by UNFPA Ghana and other partners.

“Transport systems are our megaphones,” Dr. Lartey said.

“We are taking this message to everyday people where they live, commute, and work.”

The Minister highlighted major progress in survivor support, including the training of 200 market executives across six regions as community paralegals. Over 100 professionals—psychologists, medical officers, lawyers, and volunteers—are providing structured referrals and support, strengthening of the Orange Support Centre, which continues to handle cases and guide survivors to services.

She urged the public to make full use of these services, adding, “No one should suffer in silence.

Help is there.”Dr. Lartey reaffirmed the government’s commitment, under President John Dramani Mahama, to bolster national GBV response systems.

She announced that the Accra Domestic Violence Shelter is operational, and the government has pledged to establish 16 regional shelters within three years.

“These shelters will offer safety, healing, and dignity for survivors,” she said.

“This is not a promise for the future—it is a commitment we are already advancing.”

Dr. Lartey urged citizens to be active participants in ending GBV by challenging harmful jokes, correcting stereotypes, reporting abusers, uplifting survivors, and amplifying #EndGBVGH across social platforms.

“There is no neutrality in the fight against gender-based violence,” she emphasised.

“Violence is not tradition—it is a wound. And Ghana must heal.”