privilege and other niceties.

It's about 7pm and i'm sitting in my bed with a mix of different emotions. On one hand, i'm extremely angry and on the other, i sit here reflecting on how different my day could've gone if my circumstances were different.

I went to the airport earlier today to pick up some documents from a colleague and to make a long story short, i was physically harassed by two security officers at the entrance to departure. I was told that only people who had flights were allowed to be in the airport and was physically pushed and verbally abused. While this was happening, the men who felt that they could put their hands on me kept repeating that they could do anything they wanted to me because "i am a woman", and in the meantime, basically called me a prostitute... Because being a woman justifies being physically pushed around. In my anger over the incident, i sought to report this to upper level management and file a complaint because there is NO reason why a security guard should put his hands on anyone coming into the airport. Upper level management of security basically shrugged this case off by saying he would have to get a statement from his men and do a proper investigation before he can take any action.  What i expected to happen was for him to walk with me to the main entrance and to question his men on what exactly happened and to take more action instead of being so passive. This lead me to believe that my writing down a statement would not result to anything substantial.


As infuriating as this whole event has been, i can't help but acknowledge my privilege in this situation. The mere fact that i felt the need to report this incident to a higher authority made me think about what i would've done or how i would react in this situation if i were not educated, or if i did not come here from a place where women have rights and have a voice. Over and over, the men kept repeating that I am a woman and i shouldn't act this way and how rude i was being. One of them even said i couldn't possibly be ghanaian because a ghanaian woman would not behave in the same way that i was behaving. Just as a reminder, i was harassed simply because i wanted to enter the airport to pick up a document--something that would take less than 5minutes. I realize that i'm in Ghana, where, like many other African and non african countries, women are supposed to conform to a certain role. They're to be seen, not heard. I understand that. But where and in what instance does it make it ok for one human being to lay their hands on another without being provoked? forget the gender in the equation. How and why would a security guard put their hands on a patron at a major international airport? I can't understand it. I won't. The ultimate slap in the face is not the fact that something happened to me which, was a complete violation, it is the fact that upon reporting it, i felt like i was talking to a wall. Being belittled and not being taken seriously by virtue of the fact that i am a woman, an unmarried woman, stings like nothing i've ever felt before. My heart weeps for women in places like the middle east, where they have absolutely no voice at all and even worse things are happening to them on a daily basis. It just hurts.


Do i want the men at security to be fired? No because i understand that some of these men, like many other ghanaians, struggle to make a living. All i wanted out of this was some form of action from upper management. Any form of action. Not the passive and dismissive treatment i received as if to justify the actions of the security men. How many more times in my life will i be treated this way because i'm a woman? How many times will i have to swallow any form of abuse/harassment in the developing world? I'm so emotionally winded and restless from this incident.

Sigh...God knows.