This is preposterous and for some reason, I find it so hard to believe this is actually happening though a woman who claims to have been turned away at Movenpick has in detail narrated her ordeal (see above).
First of all, if you are a woman in Ghana and wants to make some quick money; this is the opportunity to sue Movenpick if they are indeed doing this—and make some big quick cash.
This is exactly what you have to do, get another female friend of yours and go to the Movenpick lounge/bar and see if any security guard (bouncer) would turn you away from entering the lounge by virtue of the mere fact that you are a woman.
And ensure that you have evidence of the turning away by getting someone to record this. Here, your friend can secretly record this or get someone to stand a little far and get things recorded. Don’t be rude—just be decent in your utterances…
If indeed this is happening, then it’s a clear case of gender discrimination in a free society—every judge would be upset about it and will reward you a huge compensation…
So that we are clear, gender discrimination/sexism is prejudice or discrimination (treating someone less favourable-“in a way that is worse than the way people are usually treated”) based on that person’s sex or gender.
Anyway, according to a newspaper article, Movenpick, a posh hotel situated in Accra has unofficially implemented a sexiest rule which demands that, women would only be allowed into their lounge/bar if accompanied by men.
It sounds really ridiculous and goes to pierce the heart of efforts to end all sort of discriminations—and for a hotel of this reputation/standard to be allegedly doing this, it’s a big taint.
Surely, for the next few weeks, GhanaCelebrities.Com would send out some of our female writers in there—and let’s hope they turn them away for just being women; we would throw a big party in Barbados with some compensation from Movenpick…
If this is indeed true, then women should blacklist the hotel—and not book them. There are many great competitors out there which would treat women with dignity in the face of whatever emerging problems.
You cannot do this anywhere in the West and you shouldn’t be allowed to do so in Ghana too…
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Chris,
I often stay at Movenpick when I go to Ghana. I mix it up with ALISA and Labadi Hotel. I think there is a rational explanation for preventing single women from entering the hotel at night on weekends. I am not condoning it but there is reason. On weekends lots of women come to the club at movenpick to turn tricks. If you visit the pub on Fridays or Saturdays, it is like a zoo. Ghanaian women looking to be picked up are garishly dressed and loud. Some of the men (middle eastern and some old white men) will take these women upstairs to be serviced and leave them walking the hallways. Quite often drunk and rude. I have seen one Togolese hookerl assault one of the waiters because she wanted food and the waiter said the kitchen was closed. The Togolese hooker was mad because that was her opportunity to get some food at her john’s expense. She was yelling and cursing loudly at 2am. I am sure the hotel got lots of complaints from people staying in the hotel about the general misbehaviour of the hookers and their dates on their floors. I am sure they prefer escorted women because they believe they are not going to turn tricks.
It’s wrong and I am offended as a woman, but I can see why they would do that. They are trying to avoid their 5 star hotel being turned into a whore house, given the economic state of Ghana. They have a reputation to protect and if a drastic measure like this is necessary so be it.
I THINK THEY ARE DOING THIS TO PREVENT DISGUISED PROSTITUTION BUT THIER APPROACH IS VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. SOME GH HUSTLING GIRLS THEY SAY DRESS UP “SH3P3” TO THESE BIG PLACES TO HUNT FOR SEXUAL CLIENTS, DENTING THE IMAGES OF THESE HOTELS. THEIR APPROACH MIGHT HELP BUT I THINK THERE ARE MANY MEASURES THEY CAN PUT IN PLACE THAN THIS HARSH APPROACH.
Its a shame dat Ghanaians actually condone sexist behaviour. And its a shame that the writer in this post is discrediting the news paper letter. I was there that day and i am one of the girls that got turned away. No we are not out to make money. For christ sake we are doctors….after a long weeks work, we wanted to wind down. ‘Gals gals’. Ghanaians shld stop letting foreigners come and make silly rules and still praise them.
change! Dats y we are not moving foward
I know where you are coming from; but to say some women are prostitutes who are littering your hotel with their persons an as such, every ‘alone’ woman should be stereotyped not to be allowed into your hotel’s bar is the definition of gender discrimination.
You cannot place a blanket ban on a group of people (a gender) like that, simply because you are seeking to control some few out of place people within that gender.
It’s like saying, because some few Muslim bombed America, every Muslim should not be allowed into America by virtue of merely being a muslim (discrimination based on religion).
I don’t have an issue with their efforts to comb out some bad nuts but the way they are doing it (if indeed so) is illegal—and amounts to pure sexism.
You must at least have some reasonable suspicion based on the way a woman is dressed or her activities to deny the person access on grounds of the person being a suspected prostitute but to treat every ‘single’ woman with such contempt is unacceptable
Chris,
Yes I agree but this is Ghana and the Ghanaian mindset’s solution to a problem. It is all or nothing. Rather than being nuanced they go for the blanket solution. Like I said I don’t agree with the blanket ban but it is also company trying to protect its brand and clients. I have stayed there and I have to say it is a problem. Aside from the smoking which is bad for everyone who doesn’t smoke, the next bad thing is getting hustled by a lady of the night or listening to their loud and often disgusting behaviour. Some even get into fights. The solution may be to put people inside the club who will watch and toss those women turning tricks out. Next time you are down visit the place on Friday or Saturday night. You will be saddened. I am sure many foreigners complained about what’s going on. Hence the policy. I am sure the owner, the gulf prince or emir, just told the manager to ban all single women entering the hotel because in his culture women should be with a male escort at all times or she’s a prostitute. That could be the thinking that went into it.
“You cannot place a blanket ban on a group of people (a gender) like that, simply because you are seeking to control some few out of place people within that gender.”
WOW THAT CAME FROM CHRIS VINCENT?
SO WHY DO YOU AND YOUR TEAM ATTACK “CHRISTIANS” AND CHRISTIANITY ALL THE TIME? DOUBLE STANDARDS EEHH!!!!
It’s understandable that they’re tryn to prevent tricks from parading the hotel, but that’s still a ridiculous approach.
Yeah I perfectly agree with you that such things can be a great nuisance but as you’ve also pointed out, the way the control mechanism is placed is what makes it sexism—a free society must take into account the existing discrimination laws.
I don’t think there are more prostitutes in Accra than in London—yet because a well put together control mechanism devoid of any clear sexist element is put in place, bigger and finer hotels do exist out here without such great nuisance.So is the case for all the big world cities…
So what happens if the prostitutes decide to hire some jobless men to follow them around? Of course that is possible and I believe the determined ones are doing it already.
Our way of solving problems in Africa is really pathetic! Prostitutes have a common denominator; the way they dress—look out for that and you can spot most of them and kick them out.
Decency has never been part of their world; except for those disguised ones and for them, they won’t really be making any troubles.
Its good they are not allowing single women in the bar, I am saying this because a lot of them go there to be picked by men. That is the same at Golden tulip, you see them parading the reception area and the casino. I visited tulip with my partner but had to pick something from the car and a man approached me and asked in French “c’est combien” meaning how much, that really angered me. So I think its for a good course lets not condemn them.
Hahaaha Maame how much paa Aden where u selling plantain Anaa so funny
these so called doctors are now suing for money, or is it lost revenue?
I mean money they were hoping to reap on the night they were turned away.
Interesting, they claimed they were going there for ‘girls girls’ nite out, and they had to wait till 10:45 pm to do that? Doctors, you were going into a bar to start drinking at 10:45 pm, when were you going to leave there, rest and be ready for hospitals the next day? No wonder they’been writing wrong diagnosis and wrong prescriptions