Protect women against harassment, abuse at workplace - Movement urges government
The Young Urban Women Movement (YUWM) of ActionAid, Ghana, in the Upper East Region, has called on the government to urgently take concrete steps to ratify and enforce the effective operationalisation of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 190 (C190) to protect women workers against harassment and abuse.
The YUWM further entreated the government to implement the Recommendation 206 (R206) and other international treaties and national laws to ensure that women’s rights at workplaces were recognised and protected against gender-based violence.
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It made the call at Bolgatanga last Thursday in a petition to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo through the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Stephen Yakubu, after a route march through the principal streets of the regional capital.
The YUWM is a youth group under the guidance of Action Aid, Ghana and was set up to influence policy decisions to address harassment and various forms of abuse against women at the workplaces and at home. The movement was also formed to promote advocacy on issues of unpaid care work and decent jobs for women.
Its formation was facilitated and supported by Action Aid, Ghana, an advocacy non-governmental organisation.
Research
The Regional Chairperson of YUWM, Ms Dorcas Zoogah, who read the petition on behalf of the movement, noted that a study conducted by Action Aid, Ghana, in 2018, revealed that the abuse, harassment and violence against women, especially young women at workplaces, was prevalent in the informal sector and needed urgent attention.
The research, which focused on young urban women in the informal sector showed that 44 per cent of young women in the sector suffered repeated sexual-oriented behaviour such as rubbing, touching or groping, while 49 per cent had been sexually abused in the world of work, with 44 per cent being harassed more than once.
The Regional Chairperson further observed that the plight of young women was compounded by the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic as the situation had increased domestic violence and violence at workplaces.
“We have observed an alarming surge in cases of domestic violence worldwide due to the effects of confinement measures and the COVID-19 pandemic has brought in a new urgency,” Ms Zoogah stated.
She further pointed out that the ratification and implementation of C190 and R206 would be urgently needed to address the scourge of violence and harassment in the world of work and particularly the prevalence of the gender-based violence because the two legal standards set out clear steps governments and social partners were to take to mitigate the impact of such behaviours.
The Upper East Regional Programmes Manager, Action Aid,Ghana, Mr Alhassan Sulemana, said the issues of various forms of harassment and abuses at workplaces against women were worrying and the government needed to treat the matter with all the seriousness it deserved to enable women to work in decent environments.
Handover
While receiving the petition, the Regional Minister assured the women that it would be forwarded to the President.
He expressed optimism that the President would act on it and advised the women especially those being harassed and abused at workplaces or homes to report the incidents to the appropriate authorities to help deal with perpetrators of such acts.