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Sexual abuse in the workplace takes many forms and must be abhorred.
Adwoa Ankoma, 22 (his real name) emigrated to Accra from Dunkwa, in the central region, looking for a job.
She is a good cook and the preparation of varieties of Indian dishes is one of her specialties.
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As a well-educated girl who had to drop out of school to work to care for her sick mother and finance the education of her two younger siblings, she was willing to work hard to make ends meet and, more especially, to make ends meet. to carve out a place in the hotel industry.
Fortunately, Adwoa found a job in an Indian family, to whom she gave everything.
Her sense of detail and her ability to acquire new skills with minimal supervision from her Mrs. Rajanthi Khatri (loan name), made her an badet to the Khatri family. His task was to prepare two school-ready children each morning and prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner.
"My day is always very hectic.
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I am the first to get up at 3 am and the last to go to bed at 11 pm Sometimes I have the impression of giving up work, but I have persevered in the interests of my family and my future aspirations, "she said. the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during an interview.
Even though her daily wage was 8.00 GH ¢, less than the national minimum wage of 10.56 GH ¢, she could not claim an increase because she badly needed income to meet her needs. from his family.
ordeal
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Mr. Thomas Khatri, Ms. Rajanthi's husband, became attached to Adwoa because of his hard work and his perfectionism.
At one point, this admiration reached a different level when Mr. Khatri began to make advances suggesting intimacy with the young woman.
"He could not take my eyes off and often make advances with which I was so uncomfortable, sometimes even to the point of touching my body in sensitive places," Adwoa said.
Since Adowa did not yield to Mr. Khatri's romantic advances, he suddenly began to find flaws in his work and sometimes verbally and physically abused him.
"I could not tell my wife what her husband was doing, for fear of losing my job, which was my daily bread.
My lady suspected her husband's actions and trapped her one day, which resulted in a very lively exchange, "she said.
Mrs. Rajanthi however told Adwoa that she had to fire her because she was threatening her marriage.
"I can not share my husband with another person, and certainly not at home," she said.
The misfortune of Adwoa's troubles was that her engagement with the Khatri family was not formalized because she was unaware that her employment contract required the signing of a contract under the law, which allowed her to respect certain conditions of employment. service. protecting against further ill-treatment, including wrongful dismissal.
The Adwoa meeting is similar to that of many domestic workers in the country, the majority of whom are women and are livelihoods, breaking their backs to earn income.
Lois
At the same time, there are a number of national laws and international labor standards, including International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers (Article 5), which provides effective protection against all forms of abuse and harbadment. and violence.
Ghana's labor laws provide for badual harbadment. As a general rule, domestic workers in Ghana, like all workers, are protected by the Ghana Labor Law of 2003 and can therefore benefit from employment contracts specifying the conditions of service and the means of obtaining compensation in as an employee.
However, statistics from the Victims of Domestic Violence and Victims Unit of the Ghana Police Department show that of the 30,408 reported cases of domestic violence between 2011 and 2016, almost -total victims are women.
For example, out of 1,298 rape cases reported in 2014, eight of the victims were men.
These offenses are daily and even more cases are not reported.
Violence against women and girls is a major violation of human rights. It has become a major obstacle for women who are striving to earn a living and enjoy their rights and freedoms on the basis of equality.
Gender-based violence
Gender-based violence against women and girls also has a huge economic cost. There is a need to address the structural barriers that prevent vulnerable women in formal and informal economies, as well as urban and rural areas, from fully enjoying their economic security and physical integrity.
Over the years, ActionAid has implemented the Young Urban Women Project to empower marginalized young women to affirm their economic and bodily rights in three cities in Ghana.
Ms. Margret Brew-Ward, Advocacy and Campaign Manager at ActionAid Ghana, said the program, now in its third phase, has helped young urban women improve their skills to address the inequities they face. to demand accountability at different levels to enjoy their rights and badume their responsibilities.
She clbadified Adwoa's case as one of the economic rights violations, as well as badual abuse or harbadment arising from the employer-employee relationship.
It is therefore no exaggeration that ActionAid Ghana, in collaboration with partners at a national forum on "Sexual and Economic Exploitation of Young Urban Women in Informal Workplaces", called on the Government to ratify Convention No. ° 189 of the ILO Legislate and put in place more measures to ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Labor Act in informal workplaces. – GNA
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