The Chairperson of the National Media Commission, Professor Akua Britwum, says the nation must give the needed support towards dismantling barriers to justice, and correct legislation that discriminates against women’s interest and development.
She consequently urged all Ghanaians to give by investing in actions that dismantle patriarchal barriers to women and girls’ empowerment.
Speaking at the maiden forum to commemorate the International Women’s Day at the Cape Coast Technical University in Cape Coast last Monday, Prof. Britwum stated that while some significant gains had been chalked up nationally and internationally towards the wellbeing of women and girls, there still remained critical gaps that needed to be bridged.
The event was marked on the global theme of this year’s commemoration of the International Women’s Day: “Give to Gain”.
A century of IWD
Prof. Britwum said it was sad that 115 years after the celebration of the International Women’s Day, women still risked losing ground towards their growth.
“More women are dying due to poverty and the lack of control over their bodies; women and girls’ bodies are still sexualised and commodified; women and girls are still subjected to violence in the name of culture and proper conduct,” she stated.
She said women and girls still lacked power in marriage and maintained weaker land access and ownership.
“Ghanaian women in decision making is low, and participation in political office even lower.
Sexual harrassment and violations take place in our schools, at workplace and in our homes while offenders move about freely and maintain their positions with impunity,” Prof. Britwum said.
Few legislation
She said many institutions lacked provisions on sexual harassment, and where they existed, the redress procedures were cumbersome, while victim-blaming detered most survivors from reporting.
Prof. Britwum indicated that the world systems, the patriarchal system in Ghana that essentially promoted male superiority in various facets of life, and the sex stereotyping of women into specific roles all together remained a disadvantage to women and girls’ growth and development, limiting their ability to make decisions about their lives, families and society.
To bridge this gap, she called for giving up of beliefs upheld in the name of culture and religion that undermined women’s personal good and limited women and girls’ ability to realise their potential.
She said Ghana must also give support towards ratifying the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Maternity Convention, the Domestic Workers and Violence and Harrassment in the workplace and provide the needed resources for the implementation of the Affirmative Action Act to further promote the wellbeing of women and girls.
This, she indicated, called for the government to maintain an economy that could withstand the challenge women faced.
Global peace and women
On global peace and women, Prof. Britwum stressed that government must devote more time and attention to United Nations structures to uphold international law in the absence of an effectively functioning rules-based order that enabled women and girls’ rights to thrive.
Prof. Britwum further called on the government to ensure that it had the capacity to support tertiary educational institutions, and provide them with resources to support women’s growth and development.
“In fact, 25 years ago, there were only two tertiary institutions with women’s organs, the University of Education, Winneba and the University for Development Studies. Fewer still has sexual harassment policies.
None had gender policies,” she said.
“We celebrate the passage of the Affirmative Action Act, 2024; we note with pride that many more women hold high office.
We celebrate, for example, our Vice-President,” she added.
Prof. Britwum called for budgetary allocation for gender activities and institutional support to further drive real gender equality and women’s rights.
“We are being called upon to give, not as charity but as the only way to build our societies, communities, institutions and, in fact, our globe towards prosperity,” she said, adding that it was only when women thrived that humanity would rise.
She urged women to ensure visibility, create avenues for collaboration and promote role models for girls.
The Vice-Chancellor of CCTU, Prof. Kwaku Adutwum Ayim Boakye, commended the Gender Desk for the initiative, and said the university would create a conducive environment for all, irrespective of gender, to thrive.
Gender desk
The Gender Desk Coordinator at the CCTU, Dr Magdalene Bartrop-Sackey, said women continued to contribute immensely to the country’s development and particularly towards the development of CCTU, adding that the forum would be sustained as a platform to highlight achievements of women and support them to excel while ensuring the development of the institution.
Awards
Women who had excelled in various leadership roles of the institution were awarded.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh