A Research Fellow with the Centre for Gender Research, Advocacy and Documentation (CEGRAD) of the University of Cape Coast, Dr. Amanda Odoi says maternal penalty at workplaces has daring consequences on the productivity of women.
According to her, maternal penalty determines whether a woman can be hired or can maintain and sustain her work once she gets pregnant.
This, she explains, comes as a disadvantage to working mothers which forces them to make decisions such as terminating pregnancies, delaying pregnancies or not getting pregnant at all.
“…even in our society the fact that you are a woman and you will give birth comes with a certain lens and eyes on you and how you are expected to behave…” she continued.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with ATLFMNEWS, Dr. Amanda Odoi advised that maternal penalty should be eliminated drastically from workplaces since it hinders gender equality and creates gender gaps at workplaces.
She reveals that there is an emerging turndown now where young women are delaying pregnancies.
“Some do not even want to have children at all. And there are married women that are terminating pregnancies so they don’t lose their jobs’ she lamented
To address maternal penalty, Dr. Odoi advised that workplace laws should be put in place to do away with stereotypes.
According to her, bringing forth a child is a result of an action between a man and woman, which makes it essential for co-parenting to be encouraged.
To her, “There is a way to encourage whole parenting and then also have parental leaves that men can also access.”
Adding up, she expressed that being a mother is not a challenge nor a disease, hence, labour unions have to confront issues that affect mothers at workplaces to give them sound minds while securing their future.
Dr. Odoi maintained that women are core parts of Ghanaian society and their participation in the workplace enhances the ability to have effective resources.
To that end, she emphasized that women should be supported at their various workplaces to enhance their future aspirations and successes.
Source: Comfort Sweety Hayford/ATLFMNEWS
