Challenging Heights, over the weekend, rescued 22 children from various forms of forced labour, including child trafficking in the fishing industry in Ghana.
The group comprised 11 boys and 11 girls between the ages of seven and 13. The rescues were carried out in partnership with Ghanaian security agencies, as well as the Department of Social Welfare.
In 2025 alone, Challenging Heights, in collaboration with its partners, rescued 201 victims of human trafficking, made up of 90 boys and 111 girls. Of those rescued, 81 were Nigerian victims trafficked into various forms of forced prostitution and cybercrime, while 120 were rescued from the fishing industry, particularly on Lake Volta.
This brings the total number of persons rescued by Challenging Heights over the past 20 years since its establishment to 2,888. The organisation has also supported several thousands of women and youth through various livelihood improvement programmes across 14 regions in Ghana.
Challenging Heights is a leading Ghana-based anti-slavery organisation that has been working to address trafficking in persons since 2005. Over the years, it has become a leading voice in securing freedom for victims and advocating at both community and national levels for the protection of persons vulnerable to trafficking, especially children.
All children rescued are enrolled in a rehabilitation programme at the Challenging Heights rehabilitation centre.
In recent times, Challenging Heights has observed a worrying trend of a large number of victims being trafficked from the Nigeria into Ghana for various forms of exploitation. The majority of these victims are forced into prostitution and cybercriminal activities, prompting the organisation to call for urgent action to address the situation.
The organisation expressed appreciation to its partners, including the Ghana Police Service, the Department of Social Welfare, the Ghana Navy, the Ghana Immigration Service and various district assemblies, for their work under challenging operational conditions.
Challenging Heights noted that these government agencies, which are mandated by law to address human trafficking in Ghana, remain critically under-resourced. It therefore reiterated its call for the government to allocate a minimum of GHS20 million to these agencies to enable them to effectively combat human trafficking in the country.
