Title: GENDERED CROSS-BORDER MOBILITY AND HUMAN SECURITY IN WEST AFRICAN BORDERLANDS
Authors:
Oluyemi, Opeoluwa Adisa (Phd), Ehinmowo, Faith Adeola and Badrdeen, Monsurat Kamaldeen
Abstract:
This article examines gendered cross-border mobility in West African borderlands through a human security framework. Although the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement has expanded regional mobility, women’s everyday experiences at borders reveal persistent gaps between legal commitments and lived realities. Existing scholarship often treats informal trade, trafficking, border corruption, and feminist mobility concerns separately. This study integrates these dimensions by conceptualizing women’s cross-border movement as a multidimensional human security issue encompassing economic, personal, community, and political security. Methodologically, the research adopts a qualitative interpretive approach based on structured literature review and regional policy analysis (2014–2025). It incorporates comparative case analysis of the Nigeria–Benin (Seme–Cotonou) and Ghana–Togo (Aflao) corridors to illustrate how informality, governance practices, socio-cultural norms, and regional insecurity intersect in shaping women’s mobility experiences. The findings show that while the feminization of migration reflects expanding agency and economic participation, women remain embedded in systems characterized by informality, corruption, infrastructural deficits, and gendered power asymmetries. The article argues that regional integration must move beyond formal free movement provisions toward gender-responsive governance and institutional accountability to ensure meaningful human security for women across West African borderlands.
Keywords: Gendered Mobility; Human Security; Cross-Border Trade; ECOWAS Free Movement; Informal Economy; West African Borderlands.
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