ABSA Bank Ghana has joined the global commemoration of this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) by hoisting an orange flag at its head office in Accra to highlight its commitment to ending all forms of abuse against women and girls.
The ceremony, held last Wednesday, reaffirmed the bank's commitment to creating a safe and inclusive environment for all employees.
The event was attended by representatives of United Nations (UN) agencies, UN Women Ghana, the African Women Leaders Network, staff of Absa and other guests.
The Chairperson of the Absa Women’s Network Forum, Annie Aborah, said the commemoration underscored the bank’s resolve to stand with survivors and to use its influence to help eliminate gender–based violence from homes, communities and workplaces.
She said gender-based violence was not a private matter but a public crisis that undermined dignity, destroyed lives and weakened institutions, and called for sustained advocacy and practical measures to protect the vulnerable.
Commendation
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (UN Women) Country Representative to Ghana, Dr Afua Ansre, commended Absa for joining the global campaign and for visibly demonstrating its solidarity by raising the orange flag at its head office.
She said violence against women and girls remained a canker that cut across societies and generations, affecting mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts and grandmothers and, by extension, humanity as a whole.
Dr Ansre said this year’s global theme, “Unite to end digital violence against all women and girls”, highlighted the growing threat of online abuse, including cyberbullying, harassment and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images.
Absa’s measures
Employee Relations and Wellness Manager at Absa, Isaac Kwabotwe Sampah, said the bank recognised that gender-based violence did not only exist in statistics or online reports but also in homes, communities and workplaces, where it undermined relationships, productivity and overall well-being.
He said Absa believed that a safe and inclusive workplace was not built on slogans, posters or one-off campaigns, but on systems and structures that made it difficult for abuse to be hidden and impossible for complaints to be ignored.
Mr Sampah stated that Absa Bank had established clear standards for preventing and eliminating harassment, outlining prohibited behaviours, reporting channels, the responsibilities of employees and managers and sanctions for violations.
