THE Eastern Region recorded 1,697 sexually related offences and other forms of child abuse such as rape, defilement and abduction last year.
This is in contrast to 1,081 of such cases reported in 2007.
Defilement topped the list with 159 cases as against 131 in 2007 while rape cases rose from 28 in 2007 to 29 in 2008.
The rape victims were between 18 and 25 years.
Additionally, assault cases hiked from 115 in 2007 to 270 in 2008, while that of threat of death also increased from 15 to 30 within the same period.
With regard to abduction of children, it increased from 12 in 2007 to 16 in 2008 while the figures of criminal abortion rose from four in 2007 to 12 in 2008. Indecent assault also soured from 12 to 15 within the same period.
The Regional Coordinator of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), ASP Eunice Annor, who made these figures known in an interview, said 26 persons between the ages of 19 and 76 were convicted on defilement in 2007, while one person was convicted for rape.
She attributed the causes of most of the cases, especially assault, to non-maintenance of children from broken homes.
To avert the occurrence of such cases, she appealed to men not to avenge the failure of their marriages on their children by neglecting them but to take good care of them at all times.
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