Gender Discrimination - Minister Under Siege

Ghana’s leading female boxers have complained bitterly about what they described as “the use of gender discrimination by the Minister of Youth and Sports” to deny them their source of livelihood by taking a categorical stand in the House of Parliament two years ago, that he does not want to see female boxers in the country engaged in boxing, a career which they say they have engaged in for the past ten years.

The female boxers, Ameley Turkson (22 years) has been practicing for 7 years and Gifty ‘De’ Tiger (21 years) has been practicing for over 6 years.

However, the Minister for Youth and Sports, Mr. Edward Osei Kwaku, has stated that his doors are opened to all female boxers in the country for a meeting on how to advance their profession.

He described as untrue the claim that he was discriminating against female boxers, adding that since he came to office he had neither known nor seen the female boxers.

Reacting to some negative sentiments expressed by some female boxers, the Minister said that though he stated in Parliament during his vetting that women are delicate and should not engage in boxing, those statements were his personal opinion and not a reflection of his Ministry’s position on female boxing.