It has emerged that infecting your partner with HIV/AIDS is domestic violence.
A private legal practitioner, Kezia Kenneth Azumah, who said this argued that the act constitutes a crime in the laws of Ghana.
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She revealed this at a workshop for media practitioners in Accra on ‘Investigating and Reporting Gender-based Violence in Ghana’ organised by gender-based non-governmental organisation, Ufeministi Anyidado for vulnerable women and children.
Violence against women is one of the most extreme forms of discrimination and Ghana is still grappling to curb it with the setting up of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service.
Though the numbers recorded for women abuse over the years somewhat show a decline, cases of child abuse are on the rise.
Cases of partners infecting each other with the deadly HIV/AIDS, according to the legal practitioner, are also increasing.
She said because most of the victims, mostly women, don’t know it is a crime, such cases don’t get reported.
She said women infected with HIV/AIDS rather confide in close friends instead of seeking advice from lawyers.
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She is, therefore, pushing for the enforcement of such provisions in the criminal code to punish spouses who deliberately infect partners with AIDS.
She appealed to women to be bold to report all cases of domestic violence to the appropriate authorities. This, she said, was necessary to ensure the protection of their rights and those of children.
