INERELA+ Ghana has been at the forefront in fighting against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and offering immense support to GBV victims in Ghana. Joyce Afia Nyarkoa Osei (38), a mother of five and a victim of GBV was rescued from the railway station in Accra and reunited with her family in the Eastern Region of Ghana after being assumed dead for nine years.
Before the intervention of INERELA+ Ghana, Joyce suffered serious cases of GBV from two separate men she was married to within a space of 9 years. During her first marriage to Atta Kakraa Joyce was blessed with two children, when her first marriage collapsed due to GBV, Atta Kakraa vanished with the two children. It took the support and family re- unification service of INERELA+ to bring back the children. Joyce later met a man called Kwabena Amponsah, at Bagra, the two stayed at an informal settlement in Weja, and they were blessed with three minor children, a boy, and two girls. In her second marriage, Joyce also suffered severe physical and emotional abuse and was later forced to leave her home with her children to seek refuge at the CNP Railway Station in Accra, Ghana.
The INERELA+ Ghana team rescued her from the railway station after learning of her ordeal and reunited her with her family. “She was reunited with her family after being assumed dead for nine years. Her 91-year-old grandfather was ecstatic to see her alive. For nine years, her family wept, they thought she had died,” said Mercy Hayford, the INERELA+ Ghana Country Coordinator. Joyce’s village is known for growing tomatoes.
On 5 May 2023 INERELA+ Ghana took her back to her village in Bagra. Her grandfather wept for nine years as they assumed she had died. The reunion was emotional. She was back at home in a safe space. INERELA+ Ghana gave her start-up capital to stock and sell tomatoes in Accra. Normally, tomato vendors arrive in Accra at 2 am to sell their produce. On her first trip to Accra, she made a profit of 500 Ghana cedis ($45) and on the second a profit of 300 Ghana Cedis ($27). While selling her tomatoes her ex-husband came to physically abuse her and tried to snatch her 8-month-old babe. Joyce informed INERELA+ Ghana about this incident and INERELA+ Ghana reported the matter to the police.
INERELA+ Ghana Team Reuniting Joyce Afia Nyarkoa Osei with Her Family, 5 May 2023
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