Sammendrag
Over the years, cities in Ghana have presented themselves as arenas of both hope and despair, attracting migrants from both within and outside the country. While the cities serve as places of opportunities and prosperity for some, many end up in informal settlements where they face severe challenges. More recently in Ghana, rural-urban migration has taken a new turn, with women making up a larger percentage of migrants, not just as passive followers of their spouses, but going to the cities independently. Upon arrival, these women face exigent housing challenges.
This thesis examines migrant women’s housing practices in one informal settlement in Kumasi, Ghana. Using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and observations it looks at how the migrant women’s position in terms of gender, ethnicity and social class influence their access to housing, and how housing struggles affect their sense of belonging and overall wellbeing. The thesis further explores how migrant women in informal settlements articulate and advocate for their housing needs, and what factors influence their ability to voice their concerns and claim their right to the city.
Based on semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, the thesis shows how the migrant women live in substandard houses made mainly of wood shacks which lack basic facilities such as clean water, electricity, toilet, and proper waste systems. Others that cannot afford the rent resort to group renting or sleep on bare floors in front of stores or shopping malls. This substandard housing exposes them to violence, abuse and health hazards. This pertains to those sleeping outside, but also those that do not have proper in-house facilities in terms of toilets and baths. The women face challenges in negotiating with landlords related to their gender, but also discrimination based on their ethnicity. The women are also excluded from decision making for the same reasons. Together this affects their wellbeing and sense of belonging in the settlement. The thesis argues that if the right to the city is to be realized for this group, more attention needs to be paid to their intersectional challenges, and how different identity markers work together to deprive them from housing and other basic needs and silence their voices.