Her Open Letters 002

Her Open Letters: To the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection

Re: A System Investigating Itself Into Exhaustion

Dear Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection,


I am writing based on public statements from the Criminal Investigation Department and published research on child sexual abuse in Ghana.


In May 2026, the CID's leadership stated publicly that they are overwhelmed by the volume of child sexual offences reaching them. Research referenced that same month identified 23 distinct offence categories against children, including abduction, emotional abuse, rape, child trafficking, and torture (Ghanaian Times, May 4, 2026). Defilement, sexual offences against children under 16, tops the list of reported child abuse cases in Ghana, according to a Child Rights International study cited in the same period.


National survey data shows 23.9 percent of Ghanaian children aged 8 to 17 have experienced sexual abuse, and adults accounted for 56.8 percent of perpetrators (Agyekum et al., 2025). DOVVSU registers roughly 15,000 child-victim cases a year, with child sexual abuse and exploitation, including incest, making up more than 11 percent of them (UNICEF Ghana Budget Brief). In May 2026, CID leadership also confirmed, in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police and INTERPOL, the arrest of individuals in Ghana connected to the cross-border production and distribution of child sexual exploitation material.


The legal framework has gaps that affect prosecution directly. Ghana's Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), has been flagged by legal analysts for definitional gaps, including provisions that struggle to recognize a female perpetrator or a male child victim under the current wording (Ghana Law Hub, 2025). Ghana also has no sex offender register. Advocacy groups, including WiLDAF as far back as 2019, have called for one, arguing that without a register, a convicted offender can move between communities, schools, and childcare-adjacent roles with no institutional record following them.


This letter asks for three specific actions:


1. Establish a centralized sex offender registry, shared across the Ghana Police Service, DOVVSU, the Department of Social Welfare, and the Ministry of Education's vetting processes.


2. Create a direct escalation pathway from DOVVSU and community reporting points to CID's specialized units, reducing dependence on informal case settlement and slow, generalist court processing.


3. Resource localized child protection squads at the district level, not only at the regional DOVVSU offices that currently exist, so families outside major cities are not left choosing between an unaffordable court process and silence.


Your Ministry has already stated what it needs, this letter simply asks you to act on it.


With Respect and Urgency,

Stephanie Hephzibah



Daily Guide Network / ModernGhana. (2026, May 22). *SOS for child victims, and others: why Ghana needs a sex offender register now! https://www.modernghana.com/news/1495286/sos-for-child-victims-and-others-why-ghana-needs.html


Agyekum, M. W., Kyei-Gyamfi, S., Kyei-Arthur, F., et al. (2025). Prevalence and Social Risk Factors of Sexual Abuse Among Children Aged 8–17 in Ghana: A Cross-Sectional Study. Sexuality & Culture. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-025-10473-7


UNICEF Ghana. (n.d.). Budget Brief: Ending Human Trafficking & Violence Against Women and Children. https://www.unicef.org/ghana/media/3756/file/Budget%20Brief%20-%20Funding%20systems%20to%20end%20VAC%20and%20child%20trafficking.pdf


Ghana Law Hub. (2025, July 24). Inadequacies of the Definitions of Sexual Offences in the Criminal Offences Act. https://ghanalawhub.com/inadequacies-of-the-definitions-of-sexual-offences-in-the-criminal-offences-act/


WiLDAF Ghana, cited in GhanaWeb. (2019, December 11). Ghana needs sexual offenders register. https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ghana-needs-sexual-offenders-register-WiLDAF-811795

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