A Professor of Gender and Labour Studies at the Department of Labour and Human Resource Studies of the University of Cape Coast, Professor Akua Opokua Britwum has waned into the debate of gender harassment which has in recent times seen an ascendancy in Africa.
According to her, gender harassment issues are on the rise because of how gender relations are understood in all human endeavors.
Professor Akua Opokua Britwum said this in her interview with ATLFM NEWS during a Panel Discussion on Gender, Culture, and Conflict Management which formed part of the activities of the Interdisciplinary Graduate School Performing Sustainability held by UCC in collaboration with Hildesheim and Maiduguri University.
To her, Sexual harassment has its base in unequal gender relations which is not subtle but done on a glaring basis.”
She said, “it is also based on a certain conception of masculinity that if you are a man you have to get a woman by all means and your ability to get a woman and how many women you able to rule is a reflection of that masculinity”.
Prof. Britwum stated that it is also very difficult for men to take a woman’s no as no and they think that if they stop at this first instance people will laugh at them and think they are not men enough.”
She further indicated that aside from sexual harassment, domestic achievement where some people are seen as better home keepers than others is also a disturbing gender issue that calls for proper attention.
Women are brought up to believe that being a wife and a mother is the height of your achievement, she said.
On her part, the Director of Goethe-Institute in Accra, Heike Friesel said the role of the young ones in society is mostly affected by the media, which is a worrying phenomenon.
The panel discussion forms part of the 11th Biannual Workshop of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Graduate School-Performing Sustainability was focused on discussing the concepts of Gender, Culture, and Conflict Management and their relationships.
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Source: Eric Sekyi /ATLFMNEWS
