Four girls rescued from forced marriages in Techiman Metropolis within two months
Four (4) teenage girls have been rescued from forced marriages in the Techiman Metropolis of Bono East Region since the year 2025 began with the latest being the case of a thirteen (13) year-old girl from Tanoso.
The girls were saved as part of a vigorous campaign by the Ghana Education Service, the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Police (DOVSSU), and other State and Civil Society Organizations.
Speaking in an interview with the Media, the Techiman Metropolitan Girls Education Officer Mrs. Ellen White Opoku who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Ellen White Sustainable Foundation a Non-Governmental Organization revealed that upon tip-offs and subsequent rescue missions, two of the girls have returned to the classroom while the remaining two have been relocated to different regions after the Police made their Parents sign an undertaken that their daughters shall always be in school.
She cautioned Parents against forcefully giving out their young school girls to some irresponsible men for marriage. She explained that forced marriages will jeopardize the future ambitions of these girls as well as their health. She called on Teachers and all community members to watch out and report Persons involved in such acts.
Mrs. Opoku also announced with excitement that, teenage pregnancies which used to be very alarming in the Techiman Metropolis over the years and was a very worrying situation for the Education Directorate saw a drastic reduction in 2024 giving credit to the “Re-entry into School after Childbirth Policy” the previous NPP government introduced.
Ellen White Opoku used the opportunity to commend the President John Mahama-led NDC government for the re-introduction of free Sanitary Pads for Basic School girls which received an allocation of GHc292.4 million in the 2025 budget, saying this will be a big relief to the less privileged children.
She revealed that the inability of some economically handicapped girls to purchase the required number of sanitary pads at the end of every month could result in school dropout and in some other cases, girls are forced into unwanted sexual relationships for money to enable them afford sanitary pads. She also added that negative health consequences of unhygienic menstruation will be curtailed as a result of the policy.
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