Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Publicis Groupe Africa, Koo Govender, has urged women to be more vocal about things going on around them.
According to her, most women tend to endure inconveniences around them because they fear they might be cut off by men.
Speaking at The Leading Women Forum 2024 under the theme “Inspiring Women leaders in the workplace” hosted by Publicis West Africa and facilitated by CCI France Ghana she said, “If you feel you’re being treated unfairly, there’s sexual harassment, racism or sexism you need to call it out”.
Using herself as an example, she stated that she has been in a couple of situations where she faced racism, sexism but she called it out and it was resolved.
“If you do not call it out, find someone else who can call it out rather than just keeping quiet about it because if you keep quiet you’re opening that door for another woman to go through the same thing” she said.
“I have been in a position where I had to call a man out because he wanted my position, he felt I did not deserve the position I held because I was a woman but after I called him out with facts he apologized with the excuse that he was dealing with a lot of pressure from home. Assuming I did not call him out, he would have felt it was right to speak to me the way he did and he would have done that to several others” she stated.
She advised women to call uncomfortable situations out professionally and also be intentional about standing up for other women when need be.