YOUNG women in Ghana’s creative industry face high rates of sexual harassment and gender discrimination. Yet despite these barriers, many are refusing to walk away from their careers, according to a recent study.
The report, titled Behind the Scenes (BtS): Young Women and Gender-Based Inequities in Africa’s Creative Sector, highlights the widespread obstacles women encounter when trying to build a life in the arts.
However, the report also paints a portrait of quiet determination among the women who stay in the industry and pursue their creative ambitions despite the difficulties.
Presenting the findings at the national dissemination of the study in Accra recently, Co-Lead of the project, Prof. Joshua Amo-Adjei from the University of Cape Coast (UCC), said the resilience of young women should not be overlooked when developing solutions to the challenges they face.
He said the findings should prompt stakeholders to move past simply listing problems and start creating real conditions where women can actually thrive.
For many women in Ghana’s arts community, the findings aren’t news, as some female creatives have spoken about the challenges women face in the industry.
Comedian Jacinta Ocansey has previously called out the industry’s double standards and pay gaps, while singer Efe Keyz has spoken candidly about the pressure put on female artists to leverage their bodies to get ahead in music. (Read Editor’s Lens: Empowering women in the creative industry)
Their willingness to discuss such experiences adds a personal dimension to concerns now documented by the BtS research and contributes to a growing conversation about creating safer and fairer spaces for women in Ghana’s creative sector.
National Creative Ambassador for the project, Juliana Amoateng, said her engagement with women during the research had shown that many were not surprised by the findings.
Rather, she said, the research gave them the confidence and language to speak about experiences they had carried quietly.
“Women responded to the findings not with surprise but with recognition. Once the data gave language to what they had long carried, they began sharing their own experiences,” she said.
The Ghanaian leg of the project is run by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at UCC, led by Prof. Georgina Yaa Oduro alongside Prof. Amo-Adjei. The initiative is supported by the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) – Africa, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.
Launched in 2024, the initiative seeks to document the experiences of young women in the creative sector as well as build the research capacity of young people.
It is part of a broader seven-country effort spanning Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda, and Ghana.
The findings show that Ghana’s creative industry needs to create safer and fairer spaces where young women can build their careers without facing harassment or discrimination.
