The increasing act of Cohabitation, an emotional and physical intimate relationship which includes a common living place and which exists without legal or religious sanction, according to the Department of Social Welfare is worrying.
Cape Coast Metro Director of the Department, Mr Okine Mustapha Aryee has expressed concern over cases of cohabitation within the metropolis. According to him, 6 out of 10 cases handled by the department since February this year centred on issues of cohabitation which negatively affect children born into such unions.
Mr. Aryee expressed this worrying situation in an interview with ATLFMNEWS yesterday.
“At the department of social welfare, we have been handling cases bothering on marriage, children welfare, in terms of their maintenance custody and what have you. Many at times we’ve realized that the culprits who are involved in the case have been in cohabitation for a number of years. It is very frustrating, very sad and in my opinion, it’s not good” he noted
Mr Aryee added that ” many at times it also translates into having negative effects on the wellbeing of the children that comes out of those relationship. When I take about ten cases that we have handled you can get about few people who might have cohabited and because there has been an issue they are now staying apart thinking that they are divorced meanwhile they are not divorced, if there is no marriage there cannot be a divorce.”
Poor Parenting has been described as the major driving force for cohabitation in the region. Mr. Aryee believes families within the metropolis must desist from such practice as a solution to unwanted teenage pregnancies.
“There is the need for family members not to push their children or their wards to enter into marriage of convenience because there is a pregnancy so automatically the woman is recognized as the wife of the man who has impregnated her without any customary rights being done then the family will push the woman to rather go and stay with the man.”
Describing that practice as unlawful and detrimental to the well being of the young girl Mr Aryee indicated that “family members should guard against that unnecessary pressure. when they do there will be sanity and there might be a reduction in some of these things. If the man is very serious about the marriage and the woman is staying with her family, the man should go and see the family, perform the necessary customary right and move in with the woman but if we are pushing them the men will take advantage of that say.”
Source: Pauliwe Nyodi/ATLFMNEWS
