Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang
Vice President Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has warned against the exploitation of workers and students by people in positions of authority, saying no job or academic qualification should be used as leverage to demand sexual favours.
She described practices such as “sex for jobs” and “sex for grades” as serious abuses of power that violate human dignity, undermine confidence in institutions and deny victims equal opportunities to advance their careers and education.
Speaking at a Sex for Jobs Conference organised by the Ark Foundation, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said individuals entrusted with authority over recruitment, promotion and academic progression had no right to use their positions to exploit others.
“No job or academic qualification should come at the price or the cost of anyone’s dignity, and no person entrusted with authority has the right to demand that dignity,” she stated.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said although government had a responsibility to provide the legal and policy framework to address sexual harassment and exploitation, the effectiveness of such measures depended largely on their implementation by institutions.
“Policies can only go so far without implementation,” she cautioned, urging employers and educational institutions to confront misconduct even when doing so might be uncomfortable.
The Vice President cited the revised National Gender Policy, introduced by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, as one of the measures aimed at strengthening institutional responses to gender-based violence.
She also mentioned the ministry’s partnership with the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre to train stakeholders in the judicial, health and social sectors on preventing and responding to gender-based violence and sexual harassment.
In the education sector, she said the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service had established procedures for reporting, investigating and sanctioning sexual harassment in schools, while national guidelines provided a framework for tertiary institutions to develop their own policies.
She added that government was committed to establishing centres and shelters to support victims and survivors.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang, however, stressed that the existence of policies alone would not guarantee justice, calling on institutions to establish independent and confidential reporting systems to protect complainants from intimidation, threats and retaliation.
She further urged institutions to ensure that complaints were investigated promptly and fairly, with appropriate sanctions imposed on persons found culpable.
According to her, employers and educational institutions must provide adequate support for survivors, protect their privacy and ensure that those who abuse their positions of authority are held accountable.
She said the fight against sexual exploitation required a collective effort involving government, employers, educational institutions, public and private organisations and citizens.
“Behind every account of sexual harassment or exploitation, there is a human being whose ambitions, confidence and sense of security may have been profoundly shaken,” she stated.
The Vice President expressed hope that the conference would strengthen the commitment of stakeholders to ending exploitative practices and ensuring that workplaces and educational institutions were safe environments where people could pursue their ambitions without fear.
By Vera Owusu Sarpong