Dr Baah, who was addressing a programme organised by the TUC, in Accra, on Wednesday, to commemorate the International Women’s Day, said the abuses could be found in homes, offices, religious organisations; and also in political, educational circles.

Under the theme: “Trade Union in the Changing World of Work: Step it Up for Gender Equity by 2024”, panelists after his address, discussed how to make the workplace conducive for women’s full, participation and productivity.

Dr Baah explained that God ‘in His infinite wisdom’, created the male and female to complement each other; but different societies in their efforts to construct men and women based on gender, had assigned roles that often discriminated against women.

 He said in spite of the tremendous progress made over the years to reverse the negative situation, and to safeguard the rights of females, there still existed several forms of abuses such as the Female Genital Mutilation, child marriage, trafficking, domestic violence, abusive marriages, and job discrimination.

These challenges, he said, impeded the progress towards gender equality, and to encourage society’s recognition of the role of females in the development agenda. Dr Baah, therefore, called for behavioral change and practices across board, saying every single effort was significant.  He commended all females for their tremendous roles in the socio-economic development, saying women paid a very active role in the independence struggle of the country.

He encouraged women to continue believing in themselves and working hard to achieve their goals in life.     Ms Winifred Amugi, from the GCB Learning Centre, in Accra, during the panel discussion said globalisation and other global developments had resulted in stressful working and very uncomfortable working environments for females, particularly, for those with young children and those in the financial sector.

She, however, encouraged these women to take life easy by making time to relax with their families otherwise the stress, which could negatively affect their health and work output.  Ms Naomi D. Otoo, a Former Vice Chairperson of the TUC, said the unfriendly working conditions were adversely affecting the upbringing of children and their health, nutritional, moral and educational status.      

“Our stress is killing our children and we cannot wait for 2024,” she said, encouraging women to embrace technology and quality education as tools for girls, at an early stage, to expand their horizons to make their future brighter.

Ms Adwoa Sakyi of IUF, an International NGO, said most working women were ignorant about the provisions in their Collective Agreements (CA) of their respective Organisations, and challenged the various Union leaders to provide frequent education for them.

She also said sensitive issues such as maternity protection, nutrition, breastfeeding, as well as distinct provisions for women with children with special needs, should be adequately catered for in the CA.   Ms Patricia Blankson Akakpo, a Gender Specialist and Programmes Manager at NETRIGHT, an NGO, said: “Although we are socially constructed, we can change”, calling on all Labour Unions to genuinely support gender parity and strive for economic justice.

They should also put in place measures to strengthen gender mainstreaming to ensure quality paid jobs.       Ms Akakpo said Labour Unions must work with governments and civil society to address the gender gaps in leadership, entrepreneurship and access to social protection, and also ensure the implementation of gender-responsive economic policies for jobs creation, poverty reduction and sustainable inclusive growth.