Government has been asked to take immediate steps to ratify the International Labour Ourganization Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work referred to as C190.
The Convention intends to make violence and sexual harassment at work place an offence punishable by law.
The Upper West Regional Programme Manager of ActionAid Ghana, George Dery, made the call to mark the launch of 2019 16-Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence in Wa.
“Today is once again a very special day for ActionAid Ghana as we joined the rest of the World to mark 16 days of activism against gender-based violence to press home our continuous demand for a just, equitable and sustainable world for all”, Mr. Dery observed.
He stated that his organization [ActionAid Ghana] in collaboration with the Department of Gender in the Upper West Region of Ghana is spearheading the campaign with the theme: “End Gender Based Violence in the World of Work.”
Mr. Dery: “This theme is particularly relevant for us as a federation committed to addressing the structural causes of gender-based violence and securing economic justice for women, including promoting access to decent work and the recognition, reduction and redistribution of their unpaid care and domestic work burden.”
A Deputy Director, Fati Koray who read the Upper West Regional Minister, Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih’s address, indicated that the public health implications of gender-based violence are numerous.
She said violence against women and girls affects all aspects of a woman’s life; her sovereignty, her productivity as well as her capacity to take responsibility for herself and her children, and subsequently her overall health status and quality of life.
Madam Koray mentioned that government is committed to ending gender-based violence and that the establishment of Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service has created an avenue for victims of gender-based violence to seek redress.
“DVVSU in collaboration with gender units and social welfare have documented and prosecuted several cases in the form of rape, defilement, domestic violence in Upper West and in the nation at large,” she stated.
Madam Koray said a number of factors account for violence against women.
The patriarchal nature of our society gives men some level of power to discipline their spouse(s) for seemingly minor ‘offences’.
She added that ‘this makes it difficult for some men to differentiate between domestic environment and the place of work and therefore mete out the same inhuman treatment to their colleagues [women] at work and therefore call for a concerted effort to end gender-based violence.
A walk was undertaken as part of the event through some principal streets of Wa with placards to raise awareness.
Sixteen days of activism was launched in 1991 and it continues to be coordinated by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL).
The campaign runs from November 25th (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) to December 10, International Human Rights Day).
Story by Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo
