The Department of Social Welfare and Community Development is a decentralized Department in Ghana that is responsible for enhancing the living standards of communities. The Department is also responsible for addressing social problems within the municipality and finding ways to mitigate their effects. Recent reports have shown an increase in child prostitution and homosexuality in the municipality. This has prompted the Department to collaborate with the Municipal Education Office and the officer in charge of girl child education to organize a three-day education program to create awareness of the dangers of child prostitution and homosexuality.
During the program, the resource person, Ms. Eunice N. Abban, provided an overview of prostitution, which she described as engaging in sexual activity with someone who is not a spouse or friend in exchange for immediate payment. Historically, prostitution has involved women as the majority of prostitutes and men as clients. However, young men are increasingly joining the trade and soliciting clients on the streets at night. Child prostitution, on the other hand, involves using children for sexual activities in exchange for rewards or other forms of retribution.
To combat child prostitution, Ghana has laws in place to protect children. The Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29), prohibits allowing persons under the age of 16 to reside in or frequent brothels. Additionally, anyone who lives on the earnings of prostitution or exercises control over the movement of a prostitute for gain is guilty of a misdemeanor. However, children continue to ply their trade in brothels, hotels, clubs, massage parlors, bars, and restaurants, which are all unsafe places for them.
There are various causes of prostitution, including poverty, parental neglect, broken homes, peer pressure, verbal or physical abuse, and unemployment. Early exposure to pornographic materials is also a major cause of prostitution. While pornography is primarily for adults engaging in consensual sexual acts distributed to the public for their sexual pleasure, children often come across it inadvertently and can be groomed or coerced into producing sexual images or exchanging sexually suggestive messages or images. Children who use phones, tablets, and laptops for research are more likely to access pornographic sites.
To prevent child prostitution, stakeholders must lead the crusade against it. This can be achieved through constant stakeholder meetings and educational programs aimed at the general public. The Ghana Education Service, in conjunction with the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development, can spearhead programs geared towards educating the public on the dangers of child prostitution. Additionally, parents and guardians must adopt new ways of parenting, such as praising good deeds in public and finding appropriate corrective measures for wrongdoing. By working together, the Ghanaian community can combat child prostitution and create a safer environment for children.
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