The Regional Commander of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Upper West Regional Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police ((ASP) MrAdongo Apiiya has advised parents against entrusting their daughters to male teachers for private classes either at home or at the residence of the teacher.

He explained that such instances could potentially ignite negative thoughts on the part of either the student or pupil or the teacher and lead to amorous relationship between the two.

ASP Apiiya gave the advice at a meeting at Duong on Sexual and genger-based Violence (SGBV) under the auspices of the Department of Gender in the region with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The meeting on Tuesday brought together participants comprising students and workers from various communities around Duong in the Nadowli-Kaleo District to learn more about SGBV with regard to prevention and dealing with the trauma as victims.

He said that some men were quite cunning and could get attracted to children, regardless of their age and possibly defile or rape them.

“Before you realise, your daughter would be pregnant and she would have been used for biology practical by the teacher.”

“I am not in any way discouraging you from hiring private teachers for your wards but I am saying you should do so with caution; the teacher must come home when at least one parent in the house and the parent present should make it a point to regularly check on thechild to see how the studies are going”, he said.

ASP Apiiya stated that it was fatal to trust people, even those closer to the family and that the Unit had recorded defilement cases involving very young children with close relations and friends being the perpetrators.

“I am not saying we should suspect private teachers, I am only saying that you need to take precaution as a parent because some of them may not even force the children but would succeed in luring them to get into consensual relationships with them for sexual gain”, he warned.

He cautioned against allowing female students to visit male teachers at home in the name of being the teacher’s friend or favourite in class.

“It pays to be security conscious; if the teacher likes the child because she is respectful or studious, it should stay within the four walls of the school, he has no business sending the child to deliver books and other items to his home”, he said.

He called on parents to monitor their wards in school to ensure that they were not taken advantage of by unprincipled teachers and also encouraged the parents to educate their wards to report advances made towards them by teachers for prompt action to be taken.

For her part, the Director at the Department of Gender, Mrs Chairty Banye called on school girls to also avoid unnecessary socialization with teachers.

“These days, our children are not safe, even with teachers of the same sex because we cannot tell their sexual orientation so it becomes very delicate for school children out there and the onus lie on parents to keep their wards updated on these trends to help protect them”, she added.

From Lydia Darlington Forjdjour, Duong