Sexual Abuse in a Ghanaian School. A Case Study of Human Rights Abuses

Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Politics - Topic: Public International Law and Human Rights, , language: English, abstract: The school is supposed to be a place of enlightenment, however it is gradually gaining notoriety as a hub of some of the worst forms of human rights abuses and violations. Within the school context, the educator and the learner enter into a relationship. This relationship is uneven in nature, due to the fact that the educator is in a position of authority and a learner is in a subordinate position. The authority of the educator is derived from his professional status and legislation. The authority of an educator is also based on the parents of the learner haven delegated their parental authority to the educator who then possesses delegated authority. In this regard, the principle of in loco parentis applies. The educator acts in the place of parents but cannot be entrusted with all parental authority. This write-up critically discusses an audio tape involving a teacher (an educator) and a pupil (learner) in a Ghanaian basic school. The girl at the time was in Junior high school one and claimed to be fifteen years old. The male teacher and his female pupil's captured phone conversation unveils several violations and abuses of human rights and raises a number of human rights-related issues.