By Solomon Gumah
Tamale May 12, GNA – ActionAid Ghana has expressed support for ongoing national efforts to criminalise “sex-for-jobs” practices in the country.
ActionAid Ghana described the move as a major step toward promoting safe and dignified workplaces in line with the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 190.
The organisation said the practice constituted serious violation of human rights, gender equality, dignity, and decent work principles, and that it particularly affected women and young job seekers, who were vulnerable due to unemployment, poverty, and economic hardships.
This was contained in a statement issued by ActionAid Ghana and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Tamale on Tuesday.
The statement said young women remained especially exposed to exploitative power relations during recruitment and employment processes.
It said since 2019, the organisation, working with its movement structures including the Young Urban Women’s Movement, had generated evidence documenting various forms of workplace discrimination, harassment, and exploitation experienced by women across sectors in Ghana.
It commended the renewed commitment by President John Dramani Mahama, policymakers, labour rights advocates, and civil society organisations advocating stronger legal and institutional measures to address the practice.
The statement said the growing national momentum to criminalise “sex-for-jobs” practices aligned with the organisation’s advocacy for the domestication and effective implementation of ILO Convention 190, which guaranteed every person the right to a world of work free from violence and harassment including gender-based violence.
It explained that the convention’s definition of the “world of work” extended beyond formal workplaces to include recruitment centres, job-seeking environments, training spaces, and other work-related interactions where many victims experienced coercion and abuse of power.
It said sexual exploitation within recruitment and employment systems undermined fairness, meritocracy, dignity, and equal opportunity while perpetuating structural gender inequalities and unsafe work environments.
The statement described the current national conversation on criminalising the practice as an opportunity for Ghana to strengthen labour protection systems and align national legal frameworks with international labour standards.
It, therefore, called for clear and enforceable legislation criminalising sexual exploitation in recruitment and employment processes.
It also called safe and survivor-centred reporting mechanisms, stronger institutional accountability, and zero-tolerance enforcement measures across public and private institutions.
It called for intensified public awareness creation and preventive education on workplace harassment, abuse of power, and gender-based violence.
The statement said “At ActionAid Ghana, we maintain that ending workplace sexual exploitation is both a gender justice and economic justice imperative.”
It said women and young people must have equal access to employment and career advancement opportunities based on competence, qualifications, and merit without coercion, intimidation, discrimination, or abuse of power.
GNA
Edited by Eric K. Amoh /Kenneth Odeng Adade