Young Urban Women’s Movement, a group affiliated with ActionAid Ghana is calling for the enactment and enforcement of laws that ensure gender responsiveness and access to decent work by women and young people.
The call comes amidst raging concerns over continued violence against women and harassment in the world of work, especially in the informal setting which is largely unregulated.
It is estimated that women around the world are responsible for 75% of unpaid care and domestic work.
This disproportionate burden of care and domestic work limits women’s access to the labour market and decent work. Young women aged 25-34 carry the most unequal burden of unpaid care work and are 22% more likely to live in extreme poverty than men of the same age.
Aside from the burden of the disproportionate unpaid care work, domestic violence is a barrier to women’s access to decent work. As more women and persons with disabilities face violence and harassment at home, on the streets, formal and informal sectors.
A survey by ActionAid Ghana points out that 44% of young urban women suffered repeated sexually oriented behavior such as touching, rubbing, or groping. 49% had been sexually abused in the world of work and 41% had been sexually harassed more than once.
It is on this score that as part of a street campaign to mark International Women’s Day in Bolgatanga, the Public Relations Officer of the Young Urban Women’s Movement, Upper East Chapter, Patience Abagna, has made a passionate call for the ratification of ILO Convention 190 and Recommendation 206 on violence and harassment in the world of work among others to protect women against violence.
“Ratify ILO Convention (C) 190 and Recommendation (R)206 on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work and enact, enforce, and monitor national laws and regulations aimed at the elimination and prevention of all forms of gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work, covering all workers and all types of work, including informal work
Enact and enforce regulations that ensure universal access to gender-responsive, appropriate, and effective complaint systems, safe and confidential reporting, and transparent justice mechanisms for victims of gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work
Take urgent and necessary measures to remove all barriers to women and young people’s access to decent work including by reducing and redistributing unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of publicly funded, universal quality gender-responsive public services,”she appealed.
