Unmasking the Effect of Cultural Practices on Women’s Rights to Access Resources: A Case of Small-scale Fishing Communities in Ghana

Despite Ghana's commitment to numerous human rights treaties requiring the eradication of all forms of discrimination against women, diverse practices within numerous communities persist in undermining women's rights to access resources. This article employs a human rights framework to examine the influence of traditional and cultural practices on women's rights to access resources within Ghana's coastal small-scale fisheries. The study utilised a qualitative research methodology, comprising in-depth interviews with 23 key informants and 6 focus group discussions with women from six selected small-scale fishing communities along the coastline of Ghana. The study reveals that certain detrimental cultural practices and beliefs, such as community religious taboos, widowhood rites, inheritance practices, and child marriage, continue to obstruct women's rights to access resources. The study concludes with recommendations for a holistic approach, such as policy, legislative, administrative, judicial, among others, to modify or eradicate such cultural and traditional practices that undermine the full realisation of all the rights of women and girls, and access to resources in the entire country.