A big shame to so-called gender activists in Ghana

Child birth is no doubt a very painful exercise. It is said that while the human body can bear only up to 45 del (unit) of pain, at the time of giving birth, mothers feel up to 57 del (units) of pain. This, according to medical experts, is similar to 20 bones getting fractured at the same time.

With this in mind, when the story of how a newly born baby at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi broke out about three weeks ago, the expectations of many was that gender advocates, most of whom are women, knowing the pain the baby’s mother, Suwaiba Abdul Mumin, has gone through, will rally to her cause and speak out against the theft of her baby. But alas, they kept quiet.

A few weeks on, with Suwaiba’s baby still not found, another story made the headlines; three female students were caught shop-lifting at the Accra Mall. Security officers of Mr. Price, the supermarket where the girls were caught stealing forced them to crawl on the ground and out of the mall while onlookers booed them. Pronto! The gender activists who had gone deaf and dumb when the missing baby saga broke out suddenly found their voice.

The Human Rights Advocacy Center (HRAC), for example, immediately condemned the act and called for investigations and subsequent prosecution of the security personnel who ordered the three female thieves to crawl out of the malls’ premises. HRAC is an NGO dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights.

Other human right organizations such as the Federation of Women Lawyers who all lost their voices as far as the missing baby saga is concerned have all suddenly found their voice and are making one statement or the other concerning the maltreatment of the alleged female thieves.

Some individuals who also hold themselves up as gender advocates but also lost their voice when the missing baby saga broke out have also suddenly found their voice.

Why have these organizations and individuals who have positioned themselves as defenders of women’s rights in the society chosen to remain silent in the case of the missing baby but are being vociferous in the case of the three female thieves? Is it because the mother of the missing baby is a Zongo woman or it is because she is not highly educated nor comes from a rich background like the three female thieves?

The loud silence of Gender advocates and human rights NGOs in the matter of the stolen baby and their effusions with regards to the three female thieves defy common sense. Which of these people need more support; Suwaiba whose baby has been stolen or the three female thieves who were subjected to public humiliation?