| Over 400 women
have been trained to help other women access laws that
impact women. Training workshops have been carried out
in all but one region of the country. In order to achieve
the objectives of the training, participants are:
• informed about laws affecting
women so that they are enabled to disseminate information
to others within their groups specifically relating
to intestate succession, marriage and divorce laws,
wills and maintenance of children. In addition they
are informed about rights under the Constitution with
emphasis on participation in political processes at
local, district, regional and national levels.
• exposed to leadership skills
and enabled to practice and internalize skills necessary
for working with and managing groups;
• enabled them through personal
growth exercises to raise their self-esteem and develop
enough assertiveness to enforce their legal and other
human rights.
Those trained are referred to as Legal Literacy Volunteers
(LLVs) and are drawn from grassroots organisations,
social groupings, church groups, work place associations,
government and non-governmental organisations. 80% of
the LLVs are women. They come from varied backgrounds
such as teachers, nurses, community development officers,
non-formal educators, market women etc. The common denominator
among the participants is that they all have proven
leadership ability in their various groups. Young women
leaders are also targeted to take part in the training
with a view to encourage them to take up leadership
roles in the future.
The counseling and legal representation
carried out by LLVs and the two field offices are most
often related to economic justice and children’s
rights. The Legal Awareness Programme has assisted women
in gaining access to property such as land, houses,
shares in moveable property, and social security benefits
under inheritance and divorce laws, either through mediation
or through courts. Non-maintenance constitutes the highest
number of cases received at the centers. Cases related
to differences in marriage, breach of promise to marry
and domestic violence are also brought to the LLVs and
centers.
Legal officers of the two legal aid
centres in Takoradi and Ho continue to represent clients
in courts (Family Court, Circuit and High Courts) gratis
in matters on inheritance, divorce, child maintenance,
custody and paternity cases. The family courts have
been particularly appreciative of services provided
by LAP for women who would otherwise not be in a position
to hire legal counsel for their cases.
Legalites: The Legalites
Project in Ho, Volta Region completed its pilot phase
in 2004 and there are now 22 young persons from two
first cycle schools who have been taken though a series
of training sessions on human rights education. They
are now ready to take off as ‘Legalites’
to reach out to their peers in schools within their
communities.
Our expectation is to increase the number of schools
that benefit from our services. We intend to train more
Legalites in other regions of the country in the coming
years. We will also commence activities for students
of tertiary institutions in 2005.
Community Education:
More than 250 districts within the Western and Volta
Regions have benefited from the LAP’s community
education activities. Over 30,000 individuals received
information on family laws and domestic violence. Activities
were organised with some District Assemblies, religious
institutions, traditional authorities and youth groups.
These programmes have been funded
by SNV Ghana (Western and Volta Regions) and the United
States Embassy (Eastern, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern,
Upper East and Volta Regions); and ActionAid Ghana.
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