Challenging Heights, a Ghanaian child‑protection organisation, has warned that a growing network is recruiting Ghanaian children into the commercial sex trade through social media, especially TikTok. The trend is said to be hitting girls in mining communities, with some victims below 16 years old being recruited and sexually exploited.
In a recent operation carried out with the Ghana Police Service, the organisation rescued 47 victims of sexual exploitation from six communities around Goaso in the Ahafo Region. Of those rescued, 26 were handed over to Challenging Heights for rehabilitation and recovery, including 16 who were under 18.
While many of the victims were foreign nationals, particularly from Nigeria, the organisation reports that Ghanaian girls are increasingly being targeted for recruitment into the sex trade. Founder James Kofi Annan said the development points to an emerging pattern of child exploitation in mining communities.
"We are now seeing an active recruitment of Ghanaians, Ghanaian girls, into the sex trade in the mining communities… We are also seeing a worrying trend of babies being affected by this sexual exploitation and forced prostitution in the mining communities," Annan told reporters.
Mr Annan urged the Ghana Police Service to intensify operations against human trafficking and sexual exploitation, especially in identified hotspots, and called on the Ghana Immigration Service to strengthen surveillance and border controls to prevent traffickers from moving victims across Ghana’s borders.
