The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has lamented the state of women in Ghanaian society.

According to a statement by the head of the commission, Joseph Whittal, women in Ghana ‘continue to face a myriad of challenges which hold them back from reaching their full potential including opportunities in the world of work.”

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“Challenges such as obnoxious cultural practices including female genital mutilation, child, early and forced marriages, discriminatory practices and sexual harassment at the workplace regrettably continue to be practices in some of our communities and work places even though our Constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender as well as harmful traditional practices whiles the Criminal and other Offences Act, 1960 Act 29 and the Children’s Act have both criminalized genital mutilation and child marriage.”

Joseph Whittal’s statement, which was released as part of activities in the country’s observance of International Women’s Day, also described as ‘regrettable’ the failure of the previous Parliament to pass the Affirmative Action Bill and called on the current administration to ensure the passage of the bill.

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“Additionally, there should be a Legislative Instrument to set out the modalities for implementation so that the law does not become dysfunctional,” the statement said.

The theme for this year's celebrations is “Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030”