This article is focused on the following Sustainable Development Goal:
Goals for Gender Equality:
End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation
Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws
Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women
Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in political, economic and public life
Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate
The year 2020 has been a real eye-opener for me. I realised how the basic human right to life is not respected across the world. This pillar affects how we view race and gender. One would think something as simple as letting someone live his or her own story could not be understood. Our lives are separate books with race and gender being the binders that put our pages together. The past few months have shown me that negative temperaments with these binders damage a person’s story. If every life should matter, then every gender which makes up these lives matter. A way to make this goal a reality, is the creative use of social media.
Social media has been a very great tool that kept me abreast with current events around the world. I moved from being someone who skipped news feeds related to Gender Equality and Racism to someone who wants to find solutions to these problems. We cannot doubt the untapped potential of social media to bring people together towards a better cause. Advocacy for the signing of petitions on Instagram works and there is proof. That is, the imprisonment of the police officers responsible for George Floyd’s death as well as officers involved in police brutality. Social activist and ‘BET Humanitarian Award’ recipient, Shaun King dedicates his instagram content to straightforward demand for justice from authoritarian figures. We should learn from him by knowing our rights and fearlessly requesting for their acknowledgement. We have seen that recording events of rights violations work. We can push this even further. Ghanaian investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas and activist Shaun King, are inspirations for society through their utilisation of the ‘Name and Shame’ ideology. This method is a great way to eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
Ghana was ravaged by crime until Anas Aremeyaw Anas arrived. Anas received the ‘African Hero 2015-2016’ award from Ohio University, USA. His undercover journalism exposed perpetrators of Child Trafficking, Female Genital Mutilation, Child Abuse and even Corruption present in the Ghana’s political administration. Over a 10 year period, more people were convicted for crimes Ghanaians were not aware even existed. This is because they were brought out of the shadows. The culprits were publicly named and shamed regardless of their political or socio-economic status in society. Apply the ‘Name and Shame’ ideology through social media. People are more conscious of their wrong actions when they know they are seen and can be made known to the world. This makes them accountable for everything they do. The idea is that the social status of the perpetrator should not be an intimidation. As teenagers, we may find this challenging due to fear of public scrutiny. However, the bravery of Miss Evelyn Amaiolini, an alumni of AISJ should be an inspiration to us teenagers. Through her IGTV video, she exposes perpetuators of sexual assault in her school. The culprit faced a court case. The lesson from her story is, your life matters more than the reputation of wrongdoers. It is necessary for them to be named and shamed so that others will learn from their mistakes. No one is above the law so let us be brave.
Furthermore, according to the MasterCard Index of Women Entrepreneurship(MIWE), Ghana has the highest percentage of women owned businesses worldwide. 46.4% of businesses in Ghana are owned by women. Also, 96.1% of women in Ghana are allowed labour force participation. Ghana scored 84.6% when it came to financial inclusion of women. This data shows that Ghana gives women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws. However, only 13.5% of parliament are women. This means the country fails to ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in political, economic and public life. So what is Ghana doing right and what is it doing wrong? A quite surprising fact in the Ghanaian society, is that most women play the role of breadwinners. The line that represents the ‘1950s Housewife’ ideology is thinning because women are capable of managing a career and administrating domestic affairs simultaneously. This is something most men cannot do. The upcoming generation of sons should be taught at home and school that all genders can be breadwinners. They are to work hard not because they are destined to take care of a certain woman in the future, but that both genders should complement each other.
To tackle the low representation of women in parliament, social media should be used to promote women-led political parties by demonstrating their enormous contribution in society. Twitter played a key role in the advancement of Donald Trump’s campaign even to this day. Combining social media with the charisma female leaders like Hillary Clinton bring to their campaign, victory for women is assured. Women are always an inspiration. So the more we promote the big female leaders in society and their works, the more we enlighten the minds of society. Moreover, a way to tackle sexual abuse against women, is attacking the problem from the male point of view. Society faults women for wearing so-called unacceptable clothing. An abbreviation to explain a concept to my little brother was D.E.M. Discipline of the Eye and Mind. No one should have control over what women wear. So it is our responsibility as men to discipline our mind so that what we see does not dictate our actions. It is natural to be attracted to a woman, but not natural to lose your self control to the extent that you violate a person’s rights. Women are precious. Women must be respected.
In conclusion, in order to ensure that women are equally represented in the workforce and leadership roles, protected from violent rights violations, and treated equally to men, we should explore the creative use of social media through advocacy and ‘Name and Shame’ of perpetrators. We must educate all men and young boys about disciplining their eyes and mind. (D.E.M) Also, we should avail ourselves to be abreast with current world issues. We should really appreciate enriching our understanding. This helps us relate better with others of different backgrounds and respect them without trampling on their rights.
Works Cited
Jackson, Tom. “Ghana Leads for Women-Owned Businesses Worldwide.” Disrupt Africa, DisruptAfrica, 8Mar.2018, disrupt-africa.com/2018/03/ghana-leads-for-women-owned-businesses-worldwide/.
“Economic Growth – United Nations Sustainable Development.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/economic-growth/.
Guzairb art. “How to Draw Gender Equality Drawing.” YouTube, 9 Jan. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXp5NS1a7hY&t=425s.
Comments