“We are often burgled, raped and molested. Our situation worsens if we try to ward them off from either stealing or raping us,” Akosua Dedei narrates her ordeal in the night.
Her situation mirrors the larger issue of many Ghanaian women who have over the years found the streets as their permanent residence.
They are often found on the pedestrian pavements of Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Tudu, Makola and other spacious lorry parks at Tema station, Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Adabraka, Agbogbloshie, Okaishie, Railways, all suburbs and elsewhere in the capital.
Rounds made by the paper into these areas reveal that most of the women are either petty traders who engage in the sale of CDs, video cassettes recordings, accessories, mobile phones and mobile phone units.
Their ordeal is so synonymous with their male counterparts on the streets. The difference, though, is that the men are not sexually molested, but encounter experiences such as the wanton stealing of their goods, just as the streets women.
Some of the streets women are porters, popularly known as kayayei, largely made up of female migrants from the Northern part of the country.
It’s a pathetic sight watching them dozing behind their goods around midnight; others struggling to sleep in torn mosquito nets while the rest wait for their turn to get a little nap after their colleagues had woken up from their mosquito nets around 3 am.
Until then the latter group engages in all manner of activities like gambling and unnecessary disturbances and other acts like fighting and gangsterism.
The women are often raped by some unknown assailants; while in some cases too, their streets male colleagues force them into having sex with them.
Most of them who spoke to Today blamed their plight on government and wondered whether they were indeed Ghanaians, stressing that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) government has reneged on its campaign promise of finding them decent homes.
“We are in fact disappointed at the way things are being handled by President John Evans Atta Mills. He promised to create jobs to enable those of us who have nothing to be gainfully employed; but since they assumed office two years ago, things have even worsened,” one of them told the paper in frustration.
Madam Abena Nsowah, 44, a trader, could not comprehend why they have been neglected as if they were aliens, adding that the “NDC government must wake up and live by its promise of helping we the ordinary people.”
She lamented that the situation was a source of worry for them since they were exposed to hoodlums and indeed bad weather conditions.
“We become like vultures during the rainy season. Because we have nowhere to call homes, we are subjected to severe rains, especially in the rainy season,” Madam Nsowah narrated. According to her, most of the people come to sleep when the shops are closed and they often wake up before day breaks.
Nathaniel, 24, told this reporter that during rainy seasons their plights worsen as their place of abode gets wet, adding that “sometimes we are compelled to stand till day break.”
He averred that is about time government took steps to address their problems before matters get out of hand.
It was in this direction that the victims expressed gratitude to philanthropists who have so far supported them in diverse ways.
STORY: SANDRA EFFAH, INTERN, JAYEE
Thanks for a interesting entry!