We need Gender-based Violence Law – GAWU Gen-Sec
Mr Edward Kareweh, the General Secretary, General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), has called for a Gender-based violence Act to comprehensively address issues associated with gender-based violence in the country.
He said the Act should spell out clearly what the offences were and a clear definition of prescribed punishments.
Mr Kareweh made the call during an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the Agribusiness training on combatting modern slavery in Ghana.
He said, “we must have detailed and comprehensive workplace guidelines and rules to stamp out violence and discrimination at the workplace.”
He said the effect of discrimination undermines the organization’s capacity to achieve its goal because any person hired to the workplace was expected to contribute to attaining the goal but if there was no peace of mind their contributions could not be felt.
“Unfortunately, if you look at our laws, particularly in the labour laws, when it comes to sexual harassment, it had not made sufficient provision for prescribing punishment for those who would break the law,” he added.
Madam Bashiratu Kamal, the Project Officer, Action Aid Ghana /GAWU combating Modern Slavery Project, said women and girls continue to be vulnerable in society due to the gendered nature of our society in reinforcing some toxic acts, behaviours, practices, and norms.
On how to achieve gender equality, she said there should be a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic, and social spheres, such that inequality between men and women is not perpetuated.
She said the goal was also to achieve gender equality and there was the need to bring the perceptions, experience, knowledge, and interests of everyone to bear during processes leading to policy formulation.
“It requires shifts in organizational cultures and ways of thinking, goals, structures and resource allocation,” she said.
She said mainstreaming these required changes at different levels within institutions, in agenda setting, policy making, planning, implementation and evaluation.
“Instruments for the mainstreaming effort include new staffing and budgeting practices, training programmes, policy procedures and guidelines,” she added.
Source: GNA