By Agnes Ansah
Accra, Nov.10, GNA-Women in Mining (WIM) Ghana, an advocacy body for females in the extractive sector, is pushing for more women to occupy managerial roles in a bid to curb sexual harassment.
Speaking at a sexual harassment conference organized by the Ark Foundation in Accra, Madam Esther Aboagye, WIM’s Representative said getting more women in managerial positions helped removed potential abusers from positions of power and ensured protection for younger females.
“We need to have senior women in organisations at the top level; when women are there our young ones are safe; the women are safe because the men who would abuse them are no longer there,” she said.
Madam Abogye, who is also the Manager, Labour and Industrial Relations officer for Anglogold Ashanti, speaking on the theme: “Promoting Accountability, Safe Workplaces and Culture of Integrity” indicated that men in senior positions often took advantage of their power and exploited women, a pattern that was rarely seen when women occupied similar roles.
She noted that sexual harassment not only happened at the workplaces but also at classrooms, political scene and everywhere women found themselves hence the call for more females to occupy managerial positions.
However, she cautioned that getting more women to fill top roles required deliberate steps and hard work because the men who occupied those positions often made it difficult for women to rise.
She acknowledged government’s effort to bridge the gender gap through the enactment of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Act, 2024, but said that despite the object of the law, it lacked concrete policies and enforcement mechanisms unlike the South Africa gender equity law where companies were mandated to report on gender parity targets.
She expressed frustration at how government was good at enacting laws but did little to see to its implementation saying that “we are very good at putting laws in place, but it becomes challenging to have them implemented.”
She called for enforceable, sector-specific policies with clear punitive measures to give meaning to the law, urging a collective commitment from government and stakeholders.
“From the President to the legislature and judiciary, everybody must come together; if we don’t, all the stories we are hearing will not end because there no consequences for those who abuse power,” she said.
Meanwhile, she praised Gold Fields Ghana and Newmont Ghana, both mining companies in the country, for instituting deliberate policies including a 50-50 recruitment and promotion to achieve parity at all levels.
The “Sex-for-Jobs” conference was held following a call by President, John Dramani Mahama to pass a law to criminalise sexual harassment at the workplace, and a documentary by Investigative Journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni titled; “Inside the Dreaded Headmaster’s Bungalow,” which alleged a troubling pattern where female students of Obuasi Senior High Technical School were lured and sexually assault by Mr. Zakaria Abdulai, headmaster of the school.
The conference addressed policy makers, employer associations and advocates, calling for an action towards preventing sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse in workplaces and institutions.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Agnes Ansah