GhanaWeb has held an engaging and successful full-day roundtable discussions with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) office in Ghana, and its partners, based on its recent documentary, Sex for Fish.

This GhanaWeb documentary investigated the deep secrets of vulnerable girls of Ntsin, a community in the Cape Coast Metropolis, who are as young as nine, and who are forced to give their bodies out for things as simple as fish, just to survive.

Following this groundbreaking documentary, the UNESCO reached out to GhanaWeb to join it for discussions on the same subject, which the United Nations specialized agency had also recently been exploring.

Leading the team, GhanaWeb Chief Executive Officer, David Antwi, said, “When we got to know about this Sex for Fish practice, it tied into part of our mission which is that we do not only bring news to the Ghanaian people, but we also aim to make sure that the news does not leave the marginalized; those it impacts, behind.

“… so, when we heard about this Sex for Fish issue, to us it was like let us not forget about the people whom it impacts… it’s actually affecting their livelihoods, it’s exploiting them, it’s creating Sexually-Transmitted Diseases, it has psychological implications, etc.”

Explaining further how challenging it was to produce the documentary, David Antwi added that, “We had tremendous challenges along the way but we have other parts of Sex for Fish, which will be coming up – part 2 and probably part 3, but because of the challenges we had, we just had to scratch the surface with this and hope that by bringing it to a wider community, we would get partnerships, the funding, the logistical support, etc, to keep on exposing this canker within our society.”

On his part, the Country Representative of UNESCO, Edmond Moukala, welcomed the team to the roundtable discussions, while expressing hopes that the dialogues will promote resilience and renewed hopes among victims of this canker, through collective help.

He added that there is the need to work towards ensuring women and girls who are directly affected by such age-old societal challenges get the needed help.

“With the economic development that is going on in Ghana, it is the right time to address this issue, to bring the statistics and the data and to be able to help these communities who are going through these challenges out of them.

“… The challenges before us are multifaceted and deeply intertwined. Coastal Ghana, like many similar regions around the world, is on the frontline of global climate crisis… The gender dimension is imperative to recognise that these environmental and economic pressures do not affect all members of society equally. Women and girls in coastal communities often bear the heavier burden,” he stated.

The GhanaWeb team in attendance included CEO David Antwi; Operations Manager, Solomon Sasu; HR Manager and Legal Head, Matilda Boateng; Andy Pady, Head of Commercial; Etsey Atisu, Sub-Editor; Sybil Sarpei, Events and Sales Executive; and Isaac Gyamfi, Finance Officer.

Sex for Fish, sometimes referred to as "Fish for Sex," is a phenomenon in which girls engage in transactional sexual relationships with fishermen for ends meet.

"Sex for fish" is inherently tied to gender-based violence, as it reflects power imbalances and economic dependency, which expose adolescent girls and young women to exploitative practices.

Engaging in transactional sex for fish is mostly not a choice, but a result of coercive economic circumstances, in which women and girls trade sex to access necessary resources in the face of poverty and limited alternatives.

GhanaWeb's latest documentary, Sex for Fish, that explores the plights of teenage girls in coastal communities, all in an attempt to survive, is out. Watch it below:





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