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The International Justice Mission (IJM) has supported the rescue of 569 victims of trafficking and forced labour while contributing to the arrest of 235 suspects linked to such crimes over the last 10 years.
In addition, it has secured more than 70 convictions through the justice system.
“So far, over 1,500 public justice actors have been trained to enhance their ability to investigate, prosecute and handle cases of human trafficking and child exploitation,” the Director in charge of West Africa Programmes at IJM, Anita Budu, said.
She said despite efforts, there were still high numbers of human trafficking and forced labour in the country, and called on leaders within the public justice system to deepen collaboration to tackle human trafficking and other forms of abuse.
Ms Budu made this known during a Public Justice System Leaders’ Summit organised by IJM Ghana to promote stronger coordination among institutions responsible for protecting vulnerable people and delivering justice.
It was on the theme: “Advancing Trauma-Informed Care and Cross-Agency Collaboration to Combat Human Trafficking”.
The event brought together leaders from the Ghana Police Service, the Department of Social Welfare and the Office of the Attorney-General of Ghana from the Greater Accra, Central, Eastern, Volta and Oti regions.
Ms Budu indicated that agriculture remained the sector with the highest prevalence of child labour and forced labour, adding that findings from IJM’s prevalence study conducted in 2022 revealed that about 38 per cent of children surveyed in communities around Lake Volta were likely victims of trafficking.
Additionally, she said, large numbers of children were engaged in hazardous labour in the cocoa industry, stressing that “an estimated 1.5 million children are involved in child labour within the cocoa sector, with about 14,000 children believed to be victims of forced child labour across Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire”.
Ms Budu said IJM Ghana had intensified education and awareness campaigns in churches within communities to support anti-trafficking efforts, while providing logistical support to equip officers in the public justice system to handle issues of human trafficking.
She, however, called for more shelters for adult victims of trafficking and internal resource investment within government institutions to address trafficking.
A Senior State Attorney at the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry for Justice, Andrews Dodzi Adugu, called for a revision of the Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (Act 694) to include provisions for resources and shelters.
Mr Adugu, who is also the Focal Person for Prosecution of Human Trafficking Cases for Volta and Oti regions, said there were cases of children trafficked on the Volta Lake, those working in hazardous conditions, and others forced to engage in sexual exploitation.
He said, despite the difficulty in gathering evidence to prosecute such cases and taking the children to shelters, efforts were being made to prosecute perpetrators.
Mr Adugu, however, urged the public to be vigilant and verify recruitments to avoid being exploited, saying, “There are university professors and students who are trafficked for organ exploitation”.
He consequently called for a concerted effort to move the country from its Tier 2 ranking on the Trafficking in Persons reports.
The Senior State Attorney said Regulation 9 of the Human Trafficking Prohibition, Protection, and Reintegration of Trafficked Persons Act, 2015 (LI 2219) mandated nurses, doctors, teachers, labour officers and others to report suspected cases to the police, and urged them to comply to avoid criminal sanctions.
The Director of the Greater Accra Department of Social Welfare, Dr Anastasia Mawudoku, called for trauma-informed care, stating that victims' recovery often required support from families, communities and professionals.
She also advised officers handling human trafficking cases to take care of themselves to avoid being traumatised by the cases they handled.
