WOMANKIND Worldwide London Offices – August 24 2005
Interview with Esther Poku-Mensah, Programme Support/Documentation Officer – Gender Studies & Human Rights Documentation Centre, Accra, Ghana.
‘We’re trying to change women’s lives’
Esther Poku Mensah’s work with Ghana’s Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre helps change women’s lives.??? Here in London for a month to visit her fianc? and cousins, she gave up some of her holiday to come in and volunteer at our offices and to share her first hand experiences of her work.?? She’s been very impressed by WOMANKIND Worldwide’s partnership with the Centre – and very appreciative of the funding we provide.? But it’s more than that.? She talked about the very real, genuine interest and support she feels WOMANKIND offers.? She’s aware that the Centre, along with every non-governmental organisation in Ghana is under increasing pressure to be fully open, transparent and accountable for its policies, procedures and programmes.? But as a professional, that’s her job and her paper work is always in order and up to date, her reports thorough and informative.?? What she’s touched by is that those reports are really important to WOMANKIND as the Centre’s partner – that we’re involved and totally committed to helping support programmes to end Violence against Women in her country.
‘Beijing Woman’
Esther Poku-Mensah is a young woman with a warm smile and wise words for the women – and men – of her country.?? As the Programme Support & Documentation Officer with Ghana’s Gender Studies & Human Rights Documentation Centre she’s seen – and learnt – a great deal in her 7 years with the organisation.??? Esther joined the Centre in Accra shortly after leaving school and acknowledges that her work on programmes to raise awareness and change attitudes on issues of violence against her country’s women, have also ‘made a tremendous change’ in her own life.
Her friends and family may jokingly call her ‘Beijing Woman’ – a reference to the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women held in 1995 which focused on women’s human and civil rights – but they respect her dedication and commitment to the work of the Gender Centre.? They admit too, that they’ve been influenced by her.? Her persuasive charm blends with a sensitive and thorough knowledge of her subject to win both hearts and minds.??
She gets people talking – and thinking - about a difficult subject.?? Violence against Women is widespread throughout Ghana and many women suffer in silence.?? A silence that is too often condoned by their families, communities and authorities.
WOMANKIND Worldwide works closely with Esther’s organisation.? As our key partner in Ghana, the Gender Studies & Human Rights Documentation Centre is the central coordinator for 7 other partner organisations throughout the country.?? Esther’s role as Programme Support & Documentation Officer helps give practical support and vital information to partners across Ghana, in their efforts to end violence against women and girls.? Through her work with the Centre, she’s taken part in a number of rights awareness training workshops herself.? Today, she shares her knowledge and skills as a trainer and facilitator with partner organisations both within Ghana and in other parts of Africa.
Asked whether there was a particular part of her work she was most proud of, she smiled broadly and mentioned a 3-day training workshop where she’d been asked to facilitate the session on gender.?? Closing the session on the second day, she asked her audience what they felt they’d learnt, what had been most useful to them and whether they could see themselves using their new knowledge and negotiating skills.?? To her surprise, a woman responded immediately.? ‘Yes, in fact I went home last night and put some of those things into practice and now my husband and I are sharing things in a much better way’.
‘You people are coming to spoil our marriages ...’
Changing deeply entrenched attitudes and behaviours takes courage, sensitivity and patience.?? Esther’s own experience and her day to day work with the Centre has shown her that.??? Helping women understand their rights, supporting their own sense of self worth and ability to fully participate in their lives, can lead to criticism.?? The Centre and its partners across the country are often challenged by men who see women’s empowerment as a threat to their marriages.??? But the programme is aware of the country’s diverse cultural traditions and social attitudes, and Esther and her colleagues work to ensure that raising awareness of violence against women doesn’t mean alienating, or undermining, her country’s men.
Many of the Centre’s own publications are free of charge and widely available – to men, and women.??? ‘Virtually every non-governmental organisation in the country comes to the Gender Centre for information’ Esther notes, adding that university students too make full use of her organisation’s accurate, appropriate information – including the Centre’s own book ‘Violence Against Women’.
‘We don’t want to jump on your shoulders – just walk alongside you’
Asked whether there was anything she particularly wanted English women to know, Esther suggested that ‘girls should learn hard at school’ and that perhaps women here shouldn’t ‘rely on men’.? She knows that some women in Ghana perhaps rely on their men too much, traditions of bride price (where the groom pays the bride’s father, usually in kind, for his daughter’s hand in marriage – some people collect huge amounts of money with clothes and jewellery whilst others take cows etc.) continue to maintain inequalities and allow women themselves to take too little responsibility for sharing and negotiating with their partners.???
As she works to help Ghana’s women find their own voice, does Esther have a message for her country’s men? ‘Yes, I tell them we don’t want to jump on your shoulders – just walk alongside you’.?? WOMANKIND is delighted to support Esther Poku Mensah’s work with Ghana’s Gender Centre, we’re happy to ‘walk alongside her’.?? And we wish her the very best for her own – and her country’s future – its women and its men.
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