The International Federation of Women Lawyers, Ghana (FIDA) from the beginning of this year had settled 95 per cent of domestic violence cases docked in its Upper East Regional (UER) domain.
  
Out of 42 reported cases on domestic violence, only three remain unsolved.
  
The Upper East Regional Coordinator of FIDA, Mr. David Atinga who announced this at a durbar in the Region expressed  the hope that those cases would be solved before the end of this year.
  
He said the cases reported to his outfit included assault, divorce, inheritance and maintenance.
  
According to him, in 2008 FIDA received 50 cases and was able to solve all the cases adding, in 2007 the group recorded 170, the highest number of cases of domestic violence ever but "now the number was downscaling indicating that the problem was gradually reducing in the Region."
 
He said that because of the intensive sensitization programmes initiated by his outfit and other agencies that worked in the area of domestic violence, awareness had peaked among the population and now abused men and women report their predicament to the appropriate agencies including FIDA for redress.

Mr. Atinga said FIDA was also using para-legal groups called "Sister Watch Groups" at the community level in Zuarungu and other communities in the Region to address Domestic violence.
   
The groups through counseling and Alternative Disputes Resolution are able to settle a number of cases of domestic violence at the community level and to report cases to FIDA when it was beyond them".
   
The Regional Coordinator educated community members at the durbar on the objective of the Property Rights of Spouses bill which was before Parliament.
  
He urged the community members to avoid negative cultural practices especially, widowhood rights where a grieving widow in some circumstances was forced to be re-engaged with the deceased brother or relatives.
   
He also cited instances where a widow was denied some of the properties of the late husband including land and noted that it was an abomination.
   
Some women on the durbar grounds decried the attitudes of some husbands who refused to provide money for the upkeep of the home even when they have had their wages/salaries at the end of the month.
   
They indicated that most of such men after taken their monthly salaries run into the shelters of concubines only to return to their matrimonial home when the money is spent yet would demand their right to food and sex at a place where a traditional wife had laboured to feed and clothe the children.
  
The Leader of the "Sister Watch Groups", Mrs. Cecilia Anaba, said her group had been able to settle about 10 cases on certain petty domestic issues at the community level where now most of the couples were living peacefully.
  
She noted that formerly, the Community members in the area who were mainly poor had to sell their animals to enable them send cases of domestic violence to the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the  Police Service but now it had been stopped.

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