“I realized there was no real recourse for rape victims,” Ern said.

He decided—then and there—to do something to remedy that situation. With little to no resources, he set up a rape crisis center where victims could see physicians, receive HIV prevention and other STD drugs, as well as counseling and, when possible, legal help. Female victims of domestic abuse and the mothers of young rape victims soon started coming to the center.

Now, Ern splits his time between Africa and California, where he owns and operates Rilla CO₂ Extracts^[1], which donates the majority of its profits to support the rape crisis center, Rilla Relief^[2], based in Tema, Ghana. 

According to its mission statement, the NGO “seeks to bring a safer environment to the thousands of victims of assault and abuse every year.” 

“Every three days, a rape victim comes into the center,” Ern explained to HIGH TIMES at the most recent SoCal Cannabis Cup^[3]. “The center became so controversial that we need two fulltime security guards.”

Ern stressed that Rilla Relief is attempting to create a safer environment for the thousands of victims of assault and abuse that occur every year. 

“Seventy-five percent of the profits from Rilla CO₂ Extracts go directly to caring for women and children in Ghana, and 25 percent goes to our employees and to meeting our costs,” he explained.

According to the official figure from the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Ghana police service (as reported by the Centre for Child Protection^[4]), there has been an increase in the number of reported cases of child rape from 981 cases in 2009 to 1,228 cases in 2013.

But many cases go unreported.

Ern said that he and Rilla Relief “feel it is our duty as human beings to ensure that women and children in all countries are free of rape and sexual violence.”

(Photo Courtesy of Facebook^[5])

References

1. ^{^} Rilla CO2 Extracts (www.rillaextracts.com)
2. ^{^} Rilla Relief (www.rillarelief.org)
3. ^{^} SoCal Cannabis Cup (www.cannabiscup.com)
4. ^{^} Centre for Child Protection (ccpblog.unigre.it)
5. ^{^} Facebook (www.facebook.com)