The Central Regional Coordinator of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) in Ghana, Superintendent George Appiah-Sakyi recently reiterated that by law, it is an offense for husbands to reject or refuse to eat their wives’ food because this constitutes a form of “emotional abuse”.
According to the police officer, such reculcitrants husbands could be charged for emotional abuse and which has the possibilities of getting them jailed for a maximum of two years or to a fine of 500 penalty units which is equivalent to GH¢6,000 or both when found guilty.
He said this at whiles addressing a sensitization workshop for Muslim Women. During his speech, he also admonished husbands not to beat or molest their wives in anyway even if they are being insulted. He rather suggests that they report the wives to the police station closest by and not take the law into their own hand since verbal assault is also an offense that can be addressed by law.
“If your husbands refuse to eat your food and make you unhappy and causes you emotional pain, you can also report them to the police. If your husband comes home late and causes you to be unhappy you can make a case at DOVVSU,” he said.
He then went on to add that women who refuse to give sex to their husbands should equally be reported because refusal of sex to a legal partner is also a violation which is grounded in law and amounts to emotional abuse which is punishable under the Domestic Violence Act 732 of 2007.
“If your wife wears jeans to sleep and causing you emotional abuse it’s an offence and you can report her to DOVVSU,” Superintendent Appiah-Sakyi stated.
