Sexual Harassment in the Ghanaian Workplace: One prosecuted case so

far?
According to the Case Book of Women in Ghana (2006:189) cited in the African Women‟s report
(2009), only one case of sexual harassment has been successfully prosecuted in Ghana (Manso v.
Norvo, 1998).
The situation is no different in other African countries since few countries have adequate laws on
sexual harassment and where they even exist; there are generally shortfalls in implementation of such
laws.

In the United States of America, 12,679 complaints of sexual harassment cases were filed with the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) of which 14.3% were filed by males in the year
2005.
In Ghana, despite the fact that only one case of sexual harassment has so far has been successfully
prosecuted does not mean sexual harassment at the workplace is not alarming.

In a study conducted in Ghana by Andoh (2001), it was found that 74% of females and 42% of males
sampled had at a point in time been sexually harassed at the workplace and over 90% of the cases
went unreported.

According to section 175 of the Labour Act, Act 651, sexual harassment “means any unwelcome,
offensive or importunate sexual advances or request made by an employer or supervisor officer or a
co-worker to a worker, whether the worker is a man or woman.”
It is important to note here that males are not the only offenders in sexual harassment cases which
unfortunately seem to be the case when such issues are raised especially in Ghana.

In the case of Manso v. Norvo, (1998), the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice
(CHRAJ) ruled that sexual harassment constitute sexual discrimination and an unwanted obstacle to a
person‟s right to work in a discriminatory free environment as can be found in Articles 17 (2) and 35
(5) of the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Ghana.

Sexual harassment at the workplace may take the form of a quid pro quo or a case of a hostile
environment. Quid pro quo form of sexual harassment involves making such employment decisions as
recruitment and selection, promotion and salary increases contingent on the granting of sexual
favours. This more often than not may be a single incident or happens once especially when people
want such favours.
On the other hand, a hostile environment form of sexual harassment is a repeated pattern of such
conduct. In this case, a victim is in constant contact with the harasser. For instance, the harasser may
be an employee‟s superior at the workplace.
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One of the most difficult issues of sexual harassment in Ghana is what actually constitutes sexual
harassment. This is because for instance not all organizations have a human resource policy against
courting at the workplace. So, in this regard the boundaries between harassment and courtship could
be ambiguous - where do unwelcome advances turn into welcome advances? This is especially true in
a culture that frowns on female expression of sexual overtures; most males therefore may perceive a
woman‟s „no‟ for a „yes‟. However, perceiving a woman‟s „no‟ for a ‟yes‟ would not have legs to
stand on in the court of law.

A court in the U.S ruled that conducts such as unwanted sexual or romantic advances, comments or
the display of demeaning posters, signs or cartoons may constitute sexual harassment (Jenson v.
Eveleth Taconite Co., 1993). Others include profane humour and/or sexual jokes (Benokraitis, 1997).

The causes of sexual harassment have been attributed to many factors. From psychological dimension,
sexual misconduct in general can be traced to fixation during early development according to
Freudians. Also, according to the social learning theories, this can be explained by faulty learning or
as a result of the environment in which an individual is brought up.

The consequences of sexual harassment at the workplace are very devastating in terms of its
psychological effects on the victim such as anxiety, depression, anger as well as on organizational
performance resulting in low work morale, poor performance, absenteeism, victimization to mention a
few.

It is very unfortunate that in the Ghanaian labour market most of these sexual harassment cases end up
with the victim quitting his/her job. Some of the reasons for this „culture of silence‟ are the high
unemployment rate which makes it difficult for victims to take on some of these issues and the lack of
information on what to do when one finds him/herself in such situations.

The Labour Act, 2003, Act 651 of the Republic of Ghana gives the employer the right to terminate the
employment of a worker (section 8 (a)) but of course on fair grounds (sections 15 & 62). However, it
is only on ill treatment and sexual harassment that the same law extends the same invitation to the
employee. The Labour Act in sections 15 (b) and 63 (3a & b) gives the worker the opportunity to
terminate his/her own appointment when ill treated or sexually harassed and seek remedy or redress at
appropriate quarters be it the National Labour Commission (NLC), CHRAJ or even the law court.

A good example of ill treatment was captured in “The Spectator,” dated August, 30, 2008, page 25
with the caption, “Japan Ordered to pay damages for sailor‟s suicide.” In this case, the Fukuoka High
court in Southern Japan ordered the payment of damages to the family of a petty officer third class

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who as a result of being constantly insulted by his superiors as „dumb,‟ „unqualified to be a petty
officer third class‟ committed suicide by hanging himself. This is how serious silence on ill treatment
can affect workers.

The way forward therefore for organizations to curb some of these sexual harassment problems is to
put in place preventive measures such as the development of enforceable human resource policy on
sexual harassment and communicate this to the employees. This is because in cases of sexual
harassment at the workplace every court of law would ascertain the organization‟s attempts to prevent
such behaviours. Also, organizations should educate their vendors and other third parties because the
organizations may be liable when such people representing their interest sexually harass other people.

Furthermore, corrective measures such as swift investigation of sexual harassment complaints and the
taking of appropriate action(s) must be put in place or strengthened if already in place.

At the national level, the high unemployment situation contributes immensely towards the lack of
implementation of many of the laws in the country especially the Labour Act. Nonetheless, the
creation of more job opportunities will encourage victims to report some of these sexual harassment
incidents which will help reduce this canker from our workplace.

In sum, the 21st century worker needs to be more assertive in order for the right thing to be done and
this is a wake-up call for organizations to put in place measures to curb sexual harassment at the
workplace given that the 21st century worker knows very well his/her rights and is likely to take the
organization to task if his/her right is violated. Organizations can therefore reduce their liability by
investigating all cases no matter how trivial they may seem, develop a good human resource policy on
sexual harassment as well as communicate outcome of investigations on reported sexual harassment
to parties involved. Punishment for those found culpable of sexual harassment in the workplace must
also be deterrent enough. At the national level, the creation of more employment opportunities will
not only encourage workers to exercise their right at the workplace to help reduce cases of sexual
harassment but more importantly help in the implementation of most of the laws we have in this
country especially, the Labour Act.

Patrick Asiamah
Pak4gh@yahoo.com
Industrial & Organizational Psychologist.