Break the glass ceiling - women urged
A gender and social development Consultant, Dede Bedu- Addo has called on women to break the glass ceiling by taking advantage of job opportunities that are out of the reach of women and referred to as “male dominant” jobs owing to the socio cultural barriers impeding women’s development.
This barriers she claims include lower levels of education, extra workloads, having more social and domestic roles and responsibilities than men, low self-esteem and the lack of motivation or drive to push the boundaries to explore new carrier opportunities.
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Dede Badu Addo made the call during a gender sensitization workshop for staff of the Community Water and Sanitation agency (CWSA) and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) at Fiesta Royal in Accra.
The workshop which is aimed at promoting gender sensitivity in wash programs was on the theme: “Breaking through the glass ceiling and career development”.
According to her, it is not only men who are perpetrators with regards to gender biases, but also women are known not only to harass men sexually but also provide men in senior positions with sexual favours for occupational benefits, opportunities and unfair advantage over others just as in a quid pro quo agreement.
This she said is unacceptable as it compromises the integrity of all those involved in such activities and is detrimental to their personal development and organisational harmony. She reiterated that sexual Harassment is a criminal act under the Domestic Violence Act and is punishable by law and encouraged women and victims to report and not suffer in silence.
“Look for support from women’s networks, Gender Violence advocates at work, in social groups and NGOs or with the Police (DOVVSU).
Mrs. Theodora Adomako-Agyei, an extension services Coordinator at CWSA took the group through gender concepts and terminologies and urged participant to take workplace gender issues seriously to help bridge the gender inequality gap.
Ghana is currently ranked 59th in the world gender inequality ratio according to the global gender gab index.
