The Experiences and Coping Strategies of Harassed and Abused Migrant Female Head Porters in the Kumasi Central Market

Abstract

The influx of young women from northern Ghana to cities in the south to work as head porters has accounted for the continuous increase in internal migration. Although, this livelihood strategy contributes to an improvement in the living conditions of these young women and their families, they face multiple risk factors such as harassment and abuse. Using a qualitative research approach, the study explored the experiences and coping strategies of harassed and abused migrant female head porters in the Kumasi Central Market. The transactional model of stress, appraisal and coping provided the theoretical framework for the study. Further, purposive and snowball-sampling methods were used to sample 22 participants for the study. Face to face, interviews were used to collect data. The data was analysed by cohesively presenting themes related to the study objectives using thematic analysis. The study revealed that institutional failure and lack of decent accommodation made female head porters externally vulnerable to perpetrators who used their ignorance and helplessness to often harass and abuse them. In addition, participants had experienced various types of violence but insult was found to be the most common form of abuse porters experienced in their line of work and this greatly affected their psychological wellbeing. It was discovered that majority of female head porters in dealing with these abuse and harassment tend to rely much on what Lazarus and Folkman (1984) refer to as Emotional based coping. In particular, most of them draw on the strategies of self-control and positive reappraisal. It is recommended, among other things, that both governmental and non-governmental agencies help in spearheading the awareness creation on harassment and abuse and educating female head porters of their rights and privileges as citizens.