Principal Investigator: Melani Lea Mennella, Esq.
Research Director: Richard Ellimah
Research Director: Richard Ellimah
In 2019, Ghana surpassed South Africa, as the number one gold producer on the African continent. Foreign multi-national companies own the majority of Ghana’s gold wealth amounting to a disturbing ecological imperialism. The foreign monopoly of Ghana's natural resources has collateral consequences of land appropriation, livelihood deprivation and environmental degradation. Females engaging in illegal artisanal small-scale gold mining (galamsey) are desperate to share in the earth’s profits; they dig at the very bottom of the international supply chain. Constrained systemically and culturally, females experience gross disparity in the extractive sector resulting in economic stagnation. Driven by hand to mouth sustenance for their families, these women spend decades in the trenches of ruble and mud searching for gold dust. Gender injustice and imbalance exacerbate the feminization of poverty and prevents women from meaningful economic participation and independence.
Unearthing Her Crown, a seven-year community-facing research initiative through a gender lens, resulted in a human rights report compelled by documentary photography. Operating in the shadows, women’s individual stories and collective narratives have been unknown and undervalued…until now.
Unearthing Her Crown, a seven-year community-facing research initiative through a gender lens, resulted in a human rights report compelled by documentary photography. Operating in the shadows, women’s individual stories and collective narratives have been unknown and undervalued…until now.
