BWI Africa and Middle East affiliates in Ghana, including TWU, CBMWU, and GCMQWU, marked the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) on 21 November 2025 in Accra, Ghana, by promoting BWI’s Stop GBV and Ratify C190 campaigns, demonstrating their deep commitment to addressing the pervasive violence facing working women and girls both in the workplace and in their communities.

The campaign began with a silent protest led by BWI Africa and Middle East Women’s Committee Chairperson Georgina Smedley, together with GCMQWU General Secretary Comfort Agambaa and 12  other women trade unionists. They lay on the ground in a circle for 15 minutes, an act of solidarity meant to represent the countless women and girls who were killed, mutilated, raped, and abused daily in Ghana and the region. The action echoed the seriousness and scale of national GBV actions seen globally. To visually symbolise the widespread impact of GBV, the women utilised different coloured hair ties on their wrists and hair. These colours represented the diversity of women and girls affected, highlighting the varied backgrounds, cultures, and contexts of the victims, as well as the different forms of abuse they endure daily. The protest stressed that violence against women knows no demographics, economic boundaries, or status.

BWI unequivocally supports all those affected by abuse and condemns all forms of gender-based violence GBV.“We call on policymakers and union leaders to fight for safe workplaces and safe homes. On behalf of all women and women workers in Africa, we are calling for the mandatory inclusion of GBV clauses in CBAs, protection and support measures to support stop the toxic cycles of violence, increased accountability for perpetrators and enhanced protection and support services for survivors, as well as the swift ratification and effective implementation of ILO Convention 190 to addresses violence and harassment in the world of work,” says Georgina Smedley, the BWI AME Regional Women’s Committee Chairperson. 

Throughout the 16 Days of Activism period and beyond, the BWI Africa and the Middle East encourages all its affiliates to participate in similar actions, bringing awareness to the “GBV pandemic” and intensifying the fight for safe workplaces and homes.