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An assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mrs Lydia Osei Agyapong, has called on institutions working to promote the rights of women and the vulnerable to give attention to issues related to domestic violence. Speaking at a media sensitisation training organised by the Women, Media and Change (WOMEC) in Accra, ASP Agyapong, who is also an Administrator and Staff Officer at the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service (GPS), commended the Judicial Service for setting a court to handle domestic violence cases. She, however, decried what she described as the rate at which cases were delayed at the court, indicating that there was the need for a speedy trial of such cases to serve as deterrent to other perpetrators. ASP Agyapong enumerated violence as including threatening acts that result in physical, economic, emotional and sexual abuse. Statistics Statistics from the Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre show that one in three women have been physically assaulted by a partner. Another 27 per cent of women have also been sexually assaulted in their lifetime, while one in three women have been fondled or touched against their will. Also, for two in 10 women, their first experience of sex was against their will, with another three in 10 women forced by their male partners to have sex. The training formed part of activities to mark this year�s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence celebrated worldwide from November 25 to December 10 every year. Challenges Enumerating some challenges confronting the unit, ASP Agyapong said delay in reporting abuse; difficulty in getting evidence from witnesses to build a good case for prosecution; difficulty in getting funds for medical treatment and reports; difficulty penetrating the walls of the family/community system as well as seeing issues of domestic violence as a private matter, were some of the problems facing her outfit. The unit, she said, had developed a five-year strategic plan, as well as opened 107 offices and gender desks across the country, indicating that the unit, with support from UNICEF, had formed a network against child abuse for some service providers. It has also developed a training manual on sexual and reproductive right for the police training schools, as well as developed a Standard Operating Procedure on child-friendly policing to be inculcated into police training school curriculum with the help of UNICEF Ghana. What can the media do? The Executive Director, WOMEC, Mrs Charity Binka, decried the rate at which the media portrayed victims of domestic violence as the cause of their woes. She called on the media to recognise domestic violence as a human rights issue and help to change the mindset of the general populace. She called on the media to help in creating awareness on domestic violence through their investigative writings, follow-up stories, news features and documentaries.