Let me speak for women

Without any shred of doubt, I believe women are special. I am not the only one sharing this believe, you do as well because you recently celebrated what you called “mothers’ day” after having celebrated international women’s day last March. I was active on social media on mothers’ day like you were also active sharing those fond memories of your mom and celebrating motherhood in general. I always celebrate mothers but I must admit that it was that day (mothers’ day) I saw my copycats. However, I think it is unfair to still celebrate someone with a lot of problems that the celebrators can solved. So kindly permit me to speak on their behalf.

The sexual minority is persecuted. We have categorized some of them and tag them as witches for quarantine at places far from home without any scientific proof as though they were carriers of viruses that can spread like wild fires within a wink of an eye. They end up being disintegrated from where they were integrated at creation. Men have extorted huge sums of money from women using nude pictures and sex tapes from intimacy as conduit regardless of the fact that it was a secret affair between two matured human beings. It is a moment that the matured human being becomes immature. He becomes a miniature of Judas because he will not let what happened in Vegas stay in Vegas. It will be a serious dissatisfaction to him if he doesn’t divulge what happened between two people without a consent to millions of third parties on social media irrespective of the psychological trauma the victim with fragile heart goes through. Isn’t it unmatched betrayal of trust by a trustier?

Apart from the severe pains of menstruation which is subterranean, women are sexually harassed at work by their superiors. Sexual satisfaction replaces job interviews. Jobs are meant for women who can exhibit sexual skills to prospective employers instead of juxtaposing candidate’s intellect and job skills with the available job. The treatments meted out to women at workplaces is frightful despite the fact that they would still make it to work with severe pains as a result of the bleeding of the uterine wall.

When raft of abuses is reported to appropriate authorities for immediate actions, apart from bureaucracy being an impediment, the speaking of the queen’s language in the media is always a way to kick start. They will waste their breath with strange vocabulary that the queen of England is yet to approve into the lexicon to the detriment of the case at hand. They wait for this moment to tell the Ghanaian taxpayer that they are incapacitated to follow such a case. They will tell you there are no funds. In as much as I can’t blame them much, I can at least blame them for waiting for a moment that deserved action to start asking for funds from the men at the top echelon of power superintending over a country that is 60 years old with few to boast of and many to yearn for.

Women are marginalised. We live in a country where there is no aplomb on women appointed to sensitive positions to deliver. They are accused of using their womanhood as a proof of their competence to merit those appointments. Impressions are created as though since the person is without male genitals, failure is cast in iron notwithstanding any scene of accident. Some time ago allegations were levelled against the current electoral commission chair of having used her gifts to get a job at the commission as the chair by a member of parliament who is not supposed to have a loose tongue. I felt bad as a Ghanaian on that day. He spoke without a scintilla of evidence like a serial caller on a morning show.

Don’t tell me he was probably right because his target wasn’t distracted by the noise of an empty barrel! Later, she proved to the whole country that she was competent than any of those with loose tongue. How many men haven’t failed us upon appointment to the so called positions reserved for men? Endemic corruption is still pervasive, deep-rooted and with even an appetite to eat deep into the moral fabric of society, unemployment continues to skyrocket and precious lives are lost to preventable diseases like cholera because of filths that engulf our cities. We must start to recognise women and involve them in decision making and governance without any dab of pessimism after all, competence to deliver on a job is not a monopoly of any gender and also, failure and incompetence knows no gender.

If we feel meeting a day called “mothers’ day” or “international women’s day” is fortuitous and thinks that women should be celebrities on that day, we must equally treat them well to meet that day. The structures to protect women must not be white elephants, they must be resourced! Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection should be up to the task. There isn’t any need any longer to tarry with the passage of bills into laws aimed at empowering the sexual minority. It must be done pronto and the time is now!

The departments and agencies must not be toothless bulldogs that are only trustworthy at barking but unreliable at biting. Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) must be fierce in accordance with the law in fighting for justice for women whose rights are domestically violated. Civil society groups must be true advocates. When realised that women are also a human species, the world will be a better place to live in.

In the same vein, women must not also see any higher office given them as an opportunity to bully subordinates especially those who are men. Many men who have women as superiors at workplaces do not always find it easy. They are maltreated and sexually harassed in equal magnitude. We all suffer in diverse ways but that doesn’t mean that those who are terrifically maltreated should not cry for justice.