She noted that violence against women and girls also includes issues of rape, defilement, incest, child marriages among others with adolescent girls and women at a higher risk. "Violence against women and girls is the most prevalent human rights violation in the world but it remains shrouded in the silence" she said.
She added that it has been estimated that about 35 per cent of women worldwide have faced some form of physical, sexual violence by a known person.

Mrs Bawumia disclosed that   a United Nations report said that more than 15 million girls marry before their 18th birthday with about 200 million girls alive today having undergone Female Genital Mutilation.

In Ghana, between 2012and 2013, the Domestic Violence & Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service recorded an estimated 177, 840 cases of rape, defilement and incest.

She said that these are only figures for reported cases adding "you can imagine all the cases that have gone unreported".
She said that with support from UNFPA, the Samira Empowerment and Humanitarian Projects (SEHP) launched Coalition of People against Sexual and Gender Based Violence and Harmful Practices to co-ordinate efforts to address issues concerning women and girls.

In his opening remarks, the Acting Head of the EU Delegation to Ghana, Paolo Salvia, said that 1 in 3 women worldwide still suffer physical or sexual violence often at the hands of people coming from the same environment with most of these crimes going unnoticed.

He said that the European Union -United Nations Trust Fund has launched the Spotlight Initiative to contribute to eliminating violence against women and girls.

He reiterated that the fight against gender based violence in any form of discrimination are priority objectives that the EU is trying to integrate   in  their actions.

Mr Salvia said that the Enough! Project is one of the objectives and urged creating awareness as well as shifting mindsets and social stereotypes in the fight for gender equality and women and girls' empowerment.

Ms. Melody Darkey, a representative from Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) Ghana said that the project has been designed by consortium partners Oxfam Ibis, Oxfam Ghana and WiLDAF to complement other projects in the West African Sub-Region that are focused on combating women and gender based violence.
"The issue of women and gender based violence   is a pervasive anchored in norms, beliefs and practices and therefore require an ecological approach to combat" she stated.

The Enough! Project she added will leverage on opportunities at individual, family, community and national levels to obtain commitment of key stakeholders including men and boys to end gender based violence.
She said that though there are existing projects meant to combat gender based violence, the Enough! Project will also explore ways of creating synergies with these initiatives to strengthen collective actions.

Mohammed-Anwar Sadat who gave a presentation on behalf of Oxfam said that the Enough! Project will take place over a four year period to create an enabling environment for women and girls in Mali, Liberia and Ghana under the theme " Empowering Women, Girls, Boys And Men : Taking Positive Action To End Sexual and Gender Based Violence".

It is being funded by the European Union at an estimated 5.9 million Euros with 10 per cent funding coming from Oxfam. In Ghana, it will be centered in the Greater Accra, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper West and Upper East Regions. The project is expected to reach 6,200 women and girls, 3,700 men and boys and 900 traditional leaders.

It   will allow learning   and sharing between selected countries and will, among other things, equip Civil Society Organisations and communities to implement, monitor and evaluate violence against women and girls, support public and private institutions and other multi-sectoral stakeholders to commit to preventing Violence Against Women and Girls, protect survivors, investigate and prosecute cases and provide survivors gender-sensitive access to justice.

The launch was attended by selected school children, stakeholders from various organisations and the media.