Eliminate discrimination against women in politics — Panellists

Panelists at a feminism forum have urged political parties in the country to take appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the political sphere of the country.

They said there was the need for political parties to adopt voluntary party quotas to promote women's participation in party politics.

The panellists were Professor Audrey Gadzekpo, Dean of the School of Information and Communication Studies, University of Ghana (UG), Mr Kobina Ankomah-Graham, a lecturer at the Webster University, Ghana and Dr Ama Opoku-Agyemang, a lecturer at the School of Pharmacy, UG.

The event, organised by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), was themed “Feminism in Ghana: Are there new approaches in the push for gender equality,” and was aimed at addressing issues relating to political discrimination against women.

Obstacles

Dr Opoku-Agyemang during her submission noted that there were more men than women in the country's political space because women were faced with various challenges which included socio-economic obstacles.

“Income and limited access to leadership roles were some of the barriers to women participation in decision making,” she added.

She said the country had to be deliberate about putting women in the political space as there were a lot of capable women.

“We have to be deliberate about removing these challenges and pushing women,” Dr Opoku-Agyemang stated.

Affirmative Action Bill

For her part, Prof. Gadzekpo urged the government to expedite the processes of passing the Affirmative Action Bill into law.

“There is no way we can change inequality in our political space if we do not pass the Affirmative Action Bill,” she said.

According to her, passing the bill would be the best option to ensure a balanced representation of men and women in governance, public positions of power and all decision-making spaces of the country.

“We really do need the affirmative action to correct historical wrongs because the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill is critical to women's participation and representation,” she stated.

Socialisation

Touching on the root of gender inequality, Mr Ankomah-Graham observed that socialisation of children to accept the importance of girls or women in decision making was critical to correcting gender inequality in the society.

He suggested that both boys and girls were given the same opportunities at home, school and in the society.