TEACHERS TRAINED TO ‘REDUCE HOMOSEXUALITY’

In a distorted report that links homosexuality to child abuse and sexually transmitted diseases, The Mail has reported that Ghana’s Ministry of Education aims to “reduce homosexuality” in schools.

The ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Paul Krampah, told the publication that “the Ministry’s HIV/AIDS Secretariat has trained teachers to educate students [about] homosexuality and its ‘adverse consequences’ including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.”

“We are very optimistic that things will change and the incidence of homosexuality in the country will be a thing of the past,” he said, perpetuating the belief that one’s sexual orientation is “learned” and can be changed.

He also stated, as justification for the ministry’s anti-gay stance, that the percentage of young men infected with HIV is much higher than other groups.

The Mail’s report notes that the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service claims that more teenage boys in Junior High and Senior High Schools are becoming victims of sexual abuse.

By including this information within the context of the report, the article also appears to be suggesting that sexual abuse is a consequence of homosexuality.

In July, it was reported by local media that President John Evans Atta Mills told churchgoers that he “would institute measures to check the menace of homosexuality and lesbianism that were gradually gaining grounds within the social fabric of the country”.

Mills later denied making the comments.

Sexual contact between men is illegal in Ghana, although the law is rarely enforced.