There are growing concerns over the increasing spate of sextortion, where sex is used as a means of payment for services by some disadvantaged women who are exploited by men taking advantage of them.

Narrating some of these forms of sextortion at a one-day training workshop on corruption and the gender dimensions of corruption, organised by Transparency International Ghana in Takoradi, the Executive Director of Rural Development Network (RUDNET-Ghana), Oliver Cromwell, revealed that along the beaches of the Western Region, the issue of young girls offering themselves for fish is a common occurrence.

“Sex-for-fish has been there for a while now. When you go to our beaches from Sekondi to Axim to Esiama, we have these young girls who eke out a living on their own and, as such, engage in all manner of acts for survival—ranging from offering themselves for sex in return for fish, which they sell to earn money,” he revealed.

He added that other women familiar with fisherfolk readily offer sex to get fish in return to feed their families.

“We have other young girls who also offer sex to get capital to trade and money for their hair and upkeep. There are ranges—the low class, middle class… even beyond this, there are ghettos dotted along our beaches where girls operate brothels and offer sex for 20 or 30 cedis per session. There is therefore a need for the metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies to step up awareness for the youth on the dangers therein.

"We need to go to the ghettos, especially those for young girls, where some homeowners have offered abodes for them to indulge in such indecency, with landlords charging 30 cedis a day. This goads the girls on, and the assemblies must strategise to provide some vocation for these young girls,” he passionately appealed.

Tracing the trends of sextortion, the Head of Finance of Transparency International Ghana, Benedict Doh, revealed that a recent study by the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice and the Ghana Statistical Service in 2022 showed that a sizeable percentage of respondents confirmed the incidence of sex before service is rendered.

“…The survey revealed that 3.39 percent of the respondents, who were women, indicated that sex was demanded of them when they needed service from public officials, as a form of bribe before they could access the said service. This is quite critical since women form a greater chunk of Ghana’s population.

"If even they (women) constitute 60 percent, and you juxtapose it against the 3.39 percent from the survey, it is an issue of huge concern. We need to direct all energies into advocacy to prevent women from being unduly taken advantage of,” stressed Benedict Doh.