From experience and narrations by some people who have had an encounter with DOVVSU, it is more an establishment set up to always speak for women and children and men’s side of whatever matter is brought to them is mostly inconsequential.
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Pulse Editorial: Something must be done about DOVVSU; it still appears to be biased against men
Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service must be restructured to be an institution that is not meant to protect women against men but rather one that exists to protect every Ghanaian regardless of gender.
DOVVSU is not all-inclusive enough; it still appears to be biased against men
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Many men are suffering abuses in their marriages and relationships silently but they seem not to have anybody to share their plights with and get justice, so some of them choose to take the law into their hands over any other laborious lawful processes the results of which might be biased against them at the end of the day.
At the time the idea of creating a unit within the police service to take care of domestic violence was conceived in 1998, the assumption was that only women and children were vulnerable and victims of such abuses, so Women And Juvenile Unit (WAJU) was tailor-made for them only.
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WAJU’s functions then included:
i. To investigate all female and children related offences;
ii. To handle cases involving domestic violence;
iii. To handle cases of child abuse;
iv. To handle juvenile offences;
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v. To handle cases of child delinquency;
vi. To prosecute all such cases, where necessary, and [to perform] any other functions [as] directed by the Inspector General of Police.
However, as the years went by, it became clear that the assumption that men didn’t need protection against abuses at the hands of the female partners was flawed, hence its supposed transformation from WAJU to Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) in 2005 to make it more inclusive.
DOVVSU’s current functions include:
- Investigate all offences related to Vulnerable Groups;
- Handle cases involving Gender-based Violence including Domestic Violence and child abuse.
- Handle Juvenile offences.
- Prosecute all these offences where necessary.
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According to information on the DOVVSU’s website, it “is expected to, among its numerous functions: provide free services to members of the public; protect the rights of the vulnerable against all forms of abuse be it physical, sexual, emotional/psychological, socio-economic, or harmful cultural practices; establish an effective database for crime detection, prevention and prosecution; treat victims/complainants and their families with respect and courtesy; take statements in a professional manner; provide victims with information on their cases as well as details of the investigations; provide advice on crime prevention at homes, in schools, churches and markets”.
From a close look at the functions of both the then WAJU and DOVVSU, it is obvious that nothing substantial was changed in practice aside from the change of name. It remains a unit of the police service established for vulnerable women and children only against men who are assumed to always be the perpetrators of the crimes.
Most men who are suffering all forms of abuse in their various homes barely have any hope in DOVVSU because it remains WAJU wearing DOVVSU coat.
The recent spike in cases of domestic violence may be partly blamed on a lack of hope by some of the perpetrators in the institutions established to handle the root causes of such incidents.
Yes, some people are just violent and enjoy subjecting others to such acts but there are equally some others who choose to take the law into their hands to defend themselves against the abuses due to helplessness which end up in brutalities and fatalities most of the time.
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DOVVSU may disagree with the widespread view that it is not doing enough for men, but even some fair-minded women don’t think some of its officials are impartial when it comes to dealing with issues between men and women.
There is no gainsaying that the number of women and children who suffer domestic violence is more than that of men who go through the same acts, according to reports released by DOVVSU itself. But it is equally undeniable that the latter is on the increase too.
Much as we want to protect women and vulnerable children, attention must not be denied men under the assumption that they are always the criminals.
Maybe, it is only some officials of DOVVSU especially the female ones that are not able to control their biases when they are dealing with domestic violence involving men and women, thereby making the institution look biased against men. If that is the case, then training programmes must be organised more often to remind or educate them on the need to remain mediators and not parties to conflicts.
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