Challenging Heights, over the weekend, rescued 22 children from various forms of forced labor, including child trafficking in the fishing industry, in Ghana. This was made up of 11 boys and 11 girls, between the ages of seven and 13. These rescues were done in partnership with the Ghanaian security agencies, as well as the Department of Social Welfare.
In the year 2025 alone, Challenging Heights, in collaboration with its partners, rescued 201 victims of human trafficking, made up of 90 boys and 111 girls. Out of the numbers rescued, 81 of them were Nigerian victims who were trafficked into various forms of forced prostitution and cybercrime, while 120 of them were rescued from the fishing industry, particularly on Lake Volta.
This brings to 2,888, the total number of persons Challenging Heights has rescued in the last 20 years since it was established. The organization has in addition supported several thousands of women and youth through various livelihoods improvement programs across 14 regions in Ghana.
Challenging Heights is a leading Ghana-based antislavery organization, which has been working to address trafficking in persons since 2005. It has over the years become the leading voice, in bringing freedom to victims, and engaging in both community and national level advocacy for the protections of persons vulnerable to trafficking, especially children.
All children rescued are given a program of rehabilitation, at the Challenging Heights rehabilitation center.
In recent times, Challenging Heights has observed a worrying trend of a massive number of victims trafficked from the Federal Republic of Nigeria, into Ghana, for various forms of exploitations. Majority of these victims are forced into prostitution, and cybercriminal ventures, and we are calling for urgent action to address the situation.
We would like to thank our partners, the Ghana Police Service, the Department of Social Welfare, the Navy, Ghana Immigration Service, and the various district assemblies, for their hard work, in the face of very challenging operational circumstances.
These government agencies, who are mandated by law, to address the issues of human trafficking in Ghana, are critically under resourced. It is for this reason that Challenging Heights wishes to reiterate its call, for the government to allocate a minimum of GHC20million to these agencies to enable them fight human trafficking in Ghana.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com