What We Do

Abuse Relief Corps (A.R.C.) is a non-governmental organization established in 2015 with its first office and center located in Tema, a sprawling city outside Ghana’s capital, Accra. Abuse Relief Corps U.S. headquarters is located in Santa Cruz, California, U.S.A., and received its 501(C)(3) non-profit status in May of 2015. Abuse Relief Corps is a call to women and children living in Ghana suffering from incidents of abuse, in the forms of sexual, psychological, and physical to come forward and seek immediate help.

Abuse Relief Corps’ founder and Executive Director, Robyn Jesse, resides in California and has lived in Ghana for 13 years. He knows firsthand the struggles and abuses women and children face and vowed to make a difference. His motivation was personal, having been a teacher in Ghana and upon learning one of his former students had been raped, he flew back to see what he could do. He experienced a path of many obstacles in getting her help, a system that is complex and expensive for the victim and full of loopholes in holding the perpetrator accountable.

Through establishing strong community partnerships, working closely with the local law enforcement, school systems, and doing outreach in the community it has been a huge step in closing the gap. Through donations and Robyn Jesse’s business ingenuity, the NGO is funded. With signatories and stakeholders in multiple regions, it is becoming the country’s most effective avenue for action in ensuring accountability for the criminals involved in incidents of abuse, as well as providing access to the care needed for the victims.

We have two Women & Children Shelters in Tema & Kumasi (Ghana). The shelters are designed to accommodate, temporarily, victims of abuse, whose such security is jeopardized in their current environment, pending resolution of their cases by the appropriate institutions – Police, Social Welfare, and the Courts. Admissions into the shelter are predominantly through Social Welfare, but in some instances, the police and the courts. In all these situations, we offer temporary shelter to the victims and immediate family members/caregivers if the victim is a minor.

Abuse Relief Corps are there to support victims of rape and abuse during the difficult process of recovery. Abused women and children seeking justice and accountability are required to have a full medical examination report performed before a police incident report can even be filed. Many villages are hours away from a hospital, and the fees that doctors charge can be the equivalent to a month's salary. Most families in such situations can not afford such fees, and many give up on pursuing justice or accountability. In which case, the physical and emotional plight of the individual isn't addressed and can result in sickness and devastating life-altering effects.

That is where we step in to help. Abuse Relief Corps offer transportation and sponsor all medical costs. We recently opened up another shelter to provide counseling and a resource center complete with temporary housing for victims leaving abusive situations. We offer medical help, counseling, legal aid, and housing.

We have partnered up with the Ghana Education department and we run sensitization seminars regarding physical & sexual abuse through the Ghanaian schools, including self-defense classes for female students. Raising awareness changes the behavior and instills empathy into the views that are held.
Without being sensitive to the needs of people around us or particular groups, then an individual may refrain from understanding those people, groups, or even him or herself. Raising awareness about incidents regarding abuse, and how to qualify them as abuse, and how to seek help.

We are persistent in our daily outreach. Community outreach and mobilization can encompass a range of interventions and approaches, including door by door interactions, community meetings; training or sensitization sessions with traditional authorities, community or religious leaders; and other cultural activities and demonstrations.

We have completed over 50 life saving / changing surgeries on children. Many of these children grow up in destitute and whose family has no financial resources to help. These children would have died with no medical attention. We've worked with the best local hospitals & surgeons to deliver service to those children in the most need, with incredible results.

Currently, when a child is abandoned, there is a period of time that they may go without care before local authorities are able to find a home for them. During the transition, we house and finance the caregiving costs for abandoned children before a more permanent home is found for them to be placed in. We built a shelter to accommodate their needs, and now employ 18 local staff to run it.