President John Mahama’s recent statement proposing that demands for sexual favors in hiring be made a criminal offence has pushed a long‑recognized but rarely prosecuted abuse into the national spotlight.
The issue emerged at a May 1 town hall in Koforidua when a female student raised concerns about gender bias in recruitment. Mahama said current norms and policies are inadequate and described the practice as exploitative and intolerable, urging lawmakers to make it punishable.
Ghana already outlaws sexual harassment through the Labour Act and addresses some conduct in the criminal code and the Domestic Violence Act. Activists argue, however, that those provisions often cover harassment after someone is employed or coercion in domestic settings. Conditioning access to jobs on sexual submission sits in a legal grey area that a dedicated statute could clarify.
Why the practice persists
Experts point to structural and cultural drivers. High youth unemployment, fierce competition for public and formal‑sector posts, and opaque recruitment processes give employers undue power over applicants, especially young women. Cultural stigma, fear of reputational harm or retaliation, and weak institutional reporting channels discourage victims from speaking up. The result is widespread informal discussion but few prosecutions, feeding a sense of impunity.
Legal figures and politicians welcomed the president’s stance. Lawyer Victoria Bright called the conduct exploitative and unacceptable, while MP Nii Kwartei Glover said patriarchal power dynamics have helped the practice spread. Observers note, though, that stronger words do not automatically dismantle entrenched hiring cultures.
What a standalone law could do
A specific offence would define the conduct clearly, separating it from general harassment or bribery, and attach explicit criminal penalties. Activists say naming and penalizing demands for sex in exchange for jobs would push institutions to adopt internal safeguards, create clearer reporting routes, and give victims firmer grounds for redress.
Drafting and enforcement issues
Ghana’s history of strong laws with weak enforcement raises skepticism. Without carefully designed evidentiary standards, whistleblower protections and confidential reporting mechanisms, a new statute could remain underused. Cases of sex‑for‑jobs are hard to prove, critics warn, though modern technologies — message records and electronic communications — can sometimes provide corroborating evidence, according to Roland Affail Monney, former head of the Ghana Journalists Association.
The political path ahead
For the president’s call to become law it must be translated into a bill and passed by parliament. Lawmakers must decide whether to amend labour and criminal statutes or introduce a comprehensive new law. MPs such as Kofi Benteh Afful say presidential attention signals the problem is systemic and requires action.
If well drafted and effectively enforced, a new offence could change recruitment norms, empower job seekers and send a clear message that abusing hiring authority is both unethical and criminal. But success will depend on implementation: clear definitions, protections for complainants, institutional reporting channels and sustained political will to follow through on prosecutions and workplace reforms.