Bono East Girls Advised To Stop Sharing Nude Pictures On Social Media

The Techiman South Girl Child Coordinator Madam Ellen White has advised girls in the Bono East Region to desist from sharing their nude pictures on social media which could lead to possible embarrassment.

According to her, the act poses danger to the welfare of the girl child by exposing them to rappers and abusers.

Madam White said her outfit has been embarking on series of educational activities to eradicate the menace which is gradually dominating among the Ghanaian youth especially the girl child.

She made the call when a Non-governmental Organization in the Region, Awareness Therapy (AWAT) Foundation conducted breast cancer education and screening for over 300 students at Mt Carmel Girls' SHS as part of their 2021 project.

On her part, the CEO of the AWAT foundation, Madam Evelyn Yeboah said, the exercise was geared towards educating girls on how to use social media safely in the technological world.

Senior House Mistress of the school, Madam Christiana Yuorbaare Thanked the foundation for the gesture. 

Ghana has one of the highest rates of cybercrime in the world, ranking 7th in a 2008 Internet Crime Survey.

The most popular form of cybercrime in Ghana is cyber fraud and is typically achieved via credit card fraud.

However, recent decreases in universal credit card usage have seen the expansion of other cybercrimes such as blackmail and hacking.

This growth in crime has warranted a government response, with policies specifically addressing the cyberspace being developed.

This has necessitated various studies including a cybersecurity maturity study which was inaugurated by the Ministry of Communications and conducted by the Global Cyber Security Capacity Center (GCSCC) of the University of Oxford in collaboration with the World Bank. 

Cybercrime in Ghana can be traced back to the "419 schemes" in Nigeria, also known as "advance-fee scams" prior to the internet.

These scams were a form of credit card fraud whereby the perpetrator would offer a monetary incentive, usually in the form of an international money transfer, in exchange for several down payments from the victim.

This form of scamming became especially popular during the oil crisis of the 1980s, as Nigeria's oil-dependent economy made a large portion of the workforce redundant.

Within this demographic was a large number of Ghanaian workers, who had migrated due to employment opportunities in the oil sector.

Subsequently, the scammers imported the trade upon their return to Ghana, however, it remained relatively inconsequential in terms of scale.

The proliferation of cybercrime in Ghana really began in the early 21st century when the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector became liberalized via a 5-year accelerated development program, helping to expand and improve telecommunications infrastructure.

This led to a five percentage point increase in internet users from 2000 to 2011, with home internet subscribers reaching 3 million nationwide. This growth in internet usage, along with technological devices made available via e-waste, led to a significant increase in cybercrime due to relative ease of access to the cyber web.

Nana Ama Asiedu, Bono