Ajara braces herself to swing the basket of fish on to her head, preparing for her next trudge through the narrow lanes of Accra’s main market in a long day of work that will earn her about $3 (R19).
”Most of what I make is spent on taking care of my health, especially the pains in my body from the heavy loads,” said the slight 18-year-old, standing awkwardly to keep her basket balanced and adjust her tattered wrap skirt.
”The rest is to pay the caretakers where I sleep to not have unprotected sex with me. I wouldn’t mind if it was protected sex, but I have seen how my friends with babies suffer even more as porters.”
Like hundreds of girls before her, Ajara has been lured to the Ghanaian capital by the promise of a decent job and an opportunity to benefit from a growing economy and lavish international aid in the form of special grants and debt relief.
But just like the rest of the Kayayei — a hybrid of the Hausa translation of work and the Ga word for girls — she has been swallowed into a world of forced labour, unwilling prostitution and exploitation.
”Most of the girls are from poor families up north who have no opportunity for education, no skilled training and an arranged marriage waiting for them,” said Ashetu, a former Kayayo herself who has since created an association to advocate on their behalf.
”So, they get here and have no choice but to sleep in corridors of shops and offices, paying rent in kind with our bodies for sex.
”And the watchmen don’t want to use condoms, so the girls get pregnant — a lot of them by the same watchmen and caretakers.”
The International Labour Organisation in a May report included Ghana in a list of West African countries still engaged in forced labour, citing the Kayayei in particular as those who ”are exploited by those who offer them shelter”.
Stung by the criticism, the government of President John Kufuor has renewed efforts to help the girls, whose numbers in the capital are thought to be in the thousands.
Women and Children’s Affairs Minister Hajia Alima Mahama has implemented a programme providing the Kayayei with health benefits through the new national health-insurance scheme, and credits to be used to pay school fees courtesy of the Women’s Development Fund.
The girls are also being taught about HIV/Aids prevention and given both male and female condoms, though Ashetu notes ruefully that most of the men are unwilling to use protection.
Parliament this week also approved a law that will crack down on people who engage in human trafficking both in Ghana and abroad, hoping to curb the smuggling of women and girls to Europe and the Middle East for the purposes of prostitution.
The law has been hailed as a good step forward for Ghana by key development partner the United States.
Rachel Yousey, of the US office monitoring human trafficking, said on Friday on a visit to Accra that the law will provide a comprehensive base upon which law-enforcement officers and prosecutors can appropriately punish those caught for people smuggling.
A signature to implement the law from Kufuor is expected soon. — Sapa-AFP