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Browsing School of Social Sciences by Author "Adomaa, F.O."
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Item Get pregnant and be sacked: Working conditions in export processing zones and implications for women's empowerment in Ghana(University of Ghana, 2015-04-17) Adomaa, F.O.Globalization and the spread of Export Processing Zones (EPZs) have resulted in the global drift of women into paid employment in this sector with marked implications on their empowerment. Although Ghana has established EPZs since 1996, the conditions under which women work in this sector and its implications on their empowerment are not well understood. This study was therefore conducted to assess the working conditions in Ghana's EPZ and its influence on women's empowerment. Adopting a sequential exploratory strategy, a qualitative phase of 30 in-depth interviews and 3 focus group discussions was followed by a quantitative phase in which findings from the qualitative phase were extended to a larger group of 184 women from three EPZ factories through a survey. The study found out that although job loss in Ghana's EPZ is rampant due to labour casualisation and forces of globalisation, conditions of work such as remuneration, working hours and occupational health and safety are generally better than the "sweatshop" conditions mostly found in other EPZs across the world. Women are experiencing improvements in their finances and decision-making in their households which has improved their sense self-respect and psychological wellbeing as a result of EPZ employment. However, limitations on union activities in these factories, job insecurities and verbal abuse pose many challenges to the empowerment of the women. [t is therefore important to address certain structural changes on the working conditions in Ghana's EPZs to ensure that women benefit fully from the empowering effects of this employment