Consultant calls for male support in women empowerment agenda

Mr Samuel Essah, a Gender Consultant, said the women empowerment agenda should not be left for women alone and called for male support to achieve success to transform society.

He said women empowerment programmes, in themselves, were wonderful but the realisation now was that if only one gender (women) was engaged in the process the society could not evolve.

He said in recent times, there had been a move towards a concept as “male-involvement” within the arena of women empowerment efforts adding that this was not simply symbolism but rooted in the belief of a design-flaw in how society had evolved over the centuries.

Mr Essah said this on Monday during the celebration of the International Women’s Day, organised by the Hope For Future Generation (HFFG), a women and children focused non-governmental organisation.

It was under the theme: “Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity. Picture It!” with the participation of queenmothers and women in the Avenor community, a suburb of Accra.

The International Women’s Day is celebrated every year on March 8 to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women across the globe with this year’s theme being: “Make it Happen.”

Mr Essah, who was the guest speaker, said the world theme made him believe that there was a consensus to move beyond rhetoric into action, adding: “we have to begin to walk the talk.”

He said a multidisciplinary approach was needed to start focusing on social norms at the family, community and national levels.

He said if women behaved in stereotypically feminine ways; nurturing, caring, being gentle, collaborative, and communal, they were judged as unsuitable for leadership roles.

“If they behave counter to their stereotype and are aggressive, competitive, dominant and authoritarian, they are judged as lacking in warmth and attract labels such as bossy, iron lady, and mame gyata.”

In addressing the fundamental gender inequality in society, Mr Essah said this could be done with female and male community leaders including traditional, faith-based and political leaders coming together to help increase women’s access to economic, political and social opportunities.

He said parents should also lead in the conversation on gender disparities to facilitate an evolution in thinking about the role of women/girls in society to change the stereotyping.

Madam Cecilia Senoo, Executive Director of HFFG, said the organisation worked to improve education, health and socio-economic status of women, children and communities through a participatory and sustainable process.

She said through such interventions, community members were able to take critical decisions that improved their standards of living.

The celebration was supported by Society for Women and AIDS in Africa, Curious Minds and Ecobank.