Beware of uploading nude pictures on social media- Minister advises women
The Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has cautioned women against taking nude photos of themselves and uploading them on social media, saying the act can damage their future prospects.
She said social media, as much as it was essential for our new social lives and development, also remained a dangerous playground which could spell doom if not used with caution.
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She said pictures uploaded on the internet remained there forever.
Mrs Ekuful made the remarks at the 5th edition of the 21st Century Woman Programme held by the Students Representative Council of the University of Cape Coast.
The programme which was held on the theme “Choose to challenge, be bold and stand out” sought to empower women to take up global challenges and speak out against ill treatment.
She said with the proliferation of cellphones with cameras and social networking sites, many were tempted to upload pictures, some of them nude, on social media but stated that it had become impossible to get rid of such photos and this could forever damage future career prospects or relationships, and cautioned them against such behaviours.
She said the footprint of such images were permanently stored and could be used against them by a third party.
Dire consequences
"People often don't think about the consequences of their actions. What they think is a harmless flirt can be very damaging if it falls into the wrong hands,” she said.
"It is frightening to think that once these images are online or on social media anyone anywhere in the world can access them. It is then impossible to retrieve and delete them,” she said, adding “this could come back to haunt you”.
Touching on the theme, Mrs Ekuful lamented that the global COVID-19 pandemic had taken a toll on women, saying those in the informal sector suffered the most.
She assured that some policies made in the wake of the pandemic would be tilted towards relieving women of the worsened socio-economic burden.
She said market women for instance suffered greatly when the country went into a lockdown, with their only source of income “shutting down”.
The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, in a speech read on her behalf, stressed that women played key roles which were central in ensuring stability, progress and long-term development of nations but their roles were still not emphasised.
She said it was time to correct the notion that men were cut out for leadership roles while women were always denigrated.
“It is time to accept equality and justify the differences between men and women and not ascribe certain positions to men at the expense of women who are equally capable.
“We have to dialogue on structural issues that hinder women from breaking the glass ceiling with commitment and resilience to improve gender balance”, she said.
For his part, the Dean of students at UCC, Professor Eugene Kofuor Marfo Darteh, called for a pathway for women that would challenge them to change the status quo.
He said present times demanded creativity and innovation and called on women to be part of the changing times to meet pressing demands.
“We are in a world where we are not only competing locally. Whatever we are engaged in is competing with the rest of the world and we are required to better standards by all reasonable means.
“Do not be complacent and watch the world move ahead of you as a woman, tap into any opportunity and explore your strengths“ he said.