Crime and safety in urban public spaces: Experiences of Ghanaian women traders in the Makola market in Accra, Ghana

Abstract

Although traditional markets and women traders in West African cities have long attracted the attention of scholars, limited studies exist on women’s experiences of crime and safety issues in this economic space that they dominate. This paper contributes to the growing geographical scholarship on gender and crime from the Ghanaian perspective as a result of the increasing urbanisation process that has raised concerns about crime and safety among urban dwellers. Using in-depth interviews, the paper explores the experiences of three categories of Ghanaian women traders in a traditional urban market, Makola, in Accra, Ghana’s capital city. Theft cases appeared to be the most common criminal activity that women traders experience and this results in significant economic, social, psychological, and emotional effects on the lives of the women, with the most vulnerable being those who do not have enough resources to secure their livelihoods. We recommend that city authorities, the police, and other stakeholders support the efforts of these women traders through gender-sensitive and equitable approaches to improve security in market spaces because market trade contributes significantly to city and national socio-economic development. This paper explores the crime and safety experiences of three categories of Ghanaian women traders in a traditional urban market space in Accra, Ghana’s capital city. Although property crime had significant economic, social, psychological, and emotional effects on the lives of the women, there were class differences, with the most vulnerable being the less affluent traders. Government and city authorities must provide gender-sensitive, fair, and effective ways of protecting the livelihoods of all classes of women in the market space in order to sustain the contribution of market trade to the economy.