Country · GH
SlaveryMap documents 37 cases of modern slavery in Ghana from 2001 to 2017. The most documented type is sex trafficking (54% of cases), followed by child labor (24%).
Updated
Ghana GH
IJM Ghana and Ghanaian police rescued 24 boys, the youngest seven, who had been forced to work in the fishing industry on Lake Volta, after months of joint work to identify suspected traffickers on the lake.
Ghana GH
Three suspects were arrested for attempting to purchase a one-year old baby.
Ghana GH
The traffickers were taking children from Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region of Ghana to Accra. The 29 children, ages 2-19, were intercepted at Tamale aboard a passenger bus bound for Accra.
Ghana GH
Two men were driving 118 children from Akumfi Ekupoanu in Ghana's Central Region. They were intercepted at Half-Assim in the Western Region, heading west.
Ghana GH
Nothing reported besides that they held the woman from Mexico for 18 years (since 1989) as a domestic servant.
Ghana GH
13 people were arrested by police on the outskirts of Prampram in the Greater Accra Region on Aug. 14, 2010, suspected to be trafficking children. Three were drivers of commerical buses. On the spot investigation revealed that the children were probably recruited from towns and villages in the Greater Accra and Volta Regions like ADa, Ningo, Sege, Kporgunor, Lekporgunor and surrounding areas. They are believed to have been bound to Yeji, a fishing village in the Brong Ahafo Region along the northern reaches of the Volta River, for exploitation. The buses carried a large number of passengers, of whom many are believed to be children being trafficked.
Ghana GH
James was sentenced to 17 years imprisonment, while Chou and Sam were sentenced to 12 years imprisonment each. James was sentenced to two years imprisonment on the charge of conspiracy and 15 years on the charge of human trafficking, while his wife was sentenced to two years imprisonment and 10 years imprisonment on the charges of conspiracy and human trafficking, respectively. Sam was jailed two years for conspiracy and 10 years for abetment. Their sentences are to run consecutively. The court ordered the deportation of the convicts after serving their terms. It also ordered that the $14,560 which was found in James’s house on February 14, 2009, the day of the arrest, must be paid into the human trafficking fund and part must be used to pay the amounts James owed the victims.
Ghana GH
Accra, June 23, GNA - A Circuit Court in Accra on Monday found three Chinese who were busted for transporting and trafficking 10 Chinese girls to engage in the sex trade in Ghana, guilty and handed down various jail terms on them.
Ghana GH
Only hours after their rescue, traffickers reclaimed most of these victims by posing as boyfriends and family members at the government’s shelter, according to local observers. More information: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2008/105379.htm
Ghana GH
With a monthly income of GH¢150 in Ghana, a bread baker’s dream of earning more money in Russia as a nanny turned sour when she found herself lured into prostitution. Desperate to travel, she abandoned baking and was trafficked. On her arrival in Russia, where she thought she would be working as a nanny, she was housed with some Ghanaians and Nigerians for two weeks after which her passport was seized and she was given a cell phone, taxi fare, and an address at where she was to start work. It was not until she arrived at the address that she found out that she was to work as a prostitute, and had to on the spot sexually satisfy three men. Mr Eric Peasah, Counter-Trafficking Field Manager of the International Organisation of Migration narrated the ordeal of the bread baker at a media forum on human trafficking in Accra.
Ghana GH
A resident of Brepro Nkwanta near Bawdie in the Wassa Amenfi East District of the Western Region admitted to attempting to sell a man, a carpenter of the same village for traditional ritual purposes. The Inspector said on June 19, 2007, the complainant received a call from Tekpey who informed him (the complainant) that he lied when he said he wanted him to assist him secure a kiosk, rather he wanted him (the complainant) to assist him sell the man in the Sewfi area where a human head could be exchanged for a KIA vehicle.
Ghana GH
A man told the victim's parents he would be involved in his successful sales business. He sold the victim to fishers on Lake Volta, who enslaved him for 8 years From 4 to 8 a.m., he pulled the nets into the boat and unloaded the fish to the riverside. Then spent the day mending nets to prepare for more fishing in the afternoon. First meal of the day was eaten in the afternoon, and the second and last one just before bed. He was frequently beaten, other times he was punished by having the fishermen steer the boat away, forcing him to swim a long distance to catch up with them. Web address(es) of reports www.freetheslaves.net/NETCOMMUNITY .SSLpage.aspx?pid=378&srcid=248
Ghana GH
17 Children aged 5 to 17 were attempted to be trafficked from Ghana to Burkina Faso. A woman was arrested at the border town of Kulungugu for the attempt. More information: http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Ghana.htm
Ghana GH
Many of the children were sold or given into slavery as fishers and divers when they were too young to remember, and have done it all their lives, for at least the past 15 years. They were recruited from poor families who felt themselves incapable of providing for their children.
Ghana GH
as a result of the investagation 54 child slaves, 7 different nationalities, ages varied from 11- 16 and worked 12 hour days with no pay or education.
Ghana GH
Twenty-one children were rescued by Challenging Heights, an NGO operating in Winneba. The children, aged between eight and 17, were rescued from various fishing villages along the Volta Lake. Rescued from fishing villages along Lake Volta, the children originally came from Winneba, Central Region, Ghana.
Ghana GH
The Adzimu shrine priestess and owners admittedly practice a form of slavery commonly called trokosi, but called customary or ritual servitude by the Ghana government. It is a combination of sexual and labor slavery and somewhat akind to servile marriage, because the girls are thought to be married to the gods of the shrine and sex with the priest or elders of the shrine is considered sacred because his (their) genitals are devoted to the deities of the shrine. About 16 girls are believed to be in bondage within the confines of the shrine, with about 600 living outside the shrine in involuntary subservience to the shrine. This practice permits girls to live outside the shrine under certain strict conditions and controls, including payment of a very expensive sacrifice at the annual festival. Adzimu is a head shrine having jurisdiction over three others.
Ghana GH
No, the country of Ghana is aware of the situation but we don't prosecute the slave master unless they break their social contract with us...which is to purchase no other slave children.
Ghana GH
Police stopped the bus Mahad was being held captive and transported in, found her chained under the seats and released her. Differing media accounts regarding the cause of her attempted enslavement led to little if any action pursuing her captor and her would-be owner. Mahad is now recovering with the aid of a women's help group in Accra.
Ghana GH
All 5 traffickers were sentenced in Swedish courts. Lalik got 3 yrs, Makulova 2.5 yrs, Osmanovic 2.5 yrs and one of the Idic brothers got 2 yrs and 8 months while the other brother got 4 months less. http://www.gp.se/content/1/c6/27/91/09/Manniskohandel.pdf http://www.gp.se/gp/road/Classic/shared/printArticle.jsp?d=113&a=278084
Ghana GH
A Togolese father sent his three year old daughter to work in Lome as a domestic servant and street vendor. She came from a broken family with a history of violence. The father left her with a woman in the northern suburbs. The young girl had to begin early to do the morning chores, and go out to sell produce on the street without eating breakfast. She ate only leftovers from the family's meals. The father visited occasionally to receive the four dollars a month the child was paid. As time went on the child was beaten more and more frequently. One day she set her produce down on the street and began to look for the way home. A kindly woman saw her crying on the street corner and connected her with an NGO who helped her. But upon returning home, she was beaten and abused by the family. The NGO was able to intervene and have a caring grandfather declared her legal guardian.
Ghana GH
The practice of ritual or customary servitude was outlawed in Ghana in 1998, but the practical implementation of the law has fallen largely to NGO's who have facilitated the shrines in ending the practice. Two NGO's, Every Child Ministries Ghana and Fetish Slaves Liberation Movement negotiated with the Aklidokpo shrine owners and educated them as to the issues over a span of over a year, finally winning the approval of the shrine for the liberation of all its trokosi slaves on January 22, 2004. The liberation was a public event in which the shrine freed the slaves and agreed to end the practice of ritual servitude in that place. In this case a 20 year old woman was liberated who had been held within the shrine for 15 years. During that time she was raped and gave birth to the priest's child without medical care or any care for the child. Her story came out in the course of the liberation process. She was one of 94 slaves who were liberated that day.
Ghana GH
The practice of ritual or customary servitude was outlawed in Ghana in 1998, but no one has ever been prosecuted under the law. Rather, the practical implementation of the law has fallen largely to NGO's who have facilitated the shrines in ending the practice. Two NGO's, Every Child Ministries Ghana and Fetish Slaves Liberation Movement negotiated with the Aklidokpo shrine community and educated them as to the issues over a span of over a year, finally winning the approval of the shrine for the liberation of all its trokosi slaves on January 22, 2004. The liberation was a public event in which the shrine freed the slaves and their children and agreed to end the practice of ritual servitude in that place. In this case a 27 year old woman was freed who had spent most of her life in slavery. After liberation, she chose to become a Christian and attend church, but this brought a rift with her family who felt that former slaves could not choose the Christian faith, even though the Ghana Constitution guarantees freedom of religion to its citizens.
Ghana GH
The practice of ritual or customary servitude was outlawed in Ghana in 1998, but no one has ever been prosecuted under the law. Rather, the practical implementation of the law has fallen largely to NGO's who have facilitated the shrines in ending the practice. Two NGO's, Every Child Ministries Ghana and International Needs Ghana negotiated with the Gborble shrine and educated them as to the issues over a span of over a year, finally winning the approval of the shrine for the liberation of all its trokosi slaves on January 31, 2003. The liberation was a public event in which the shrine freed the slaves and agreed to end the practice of ritual servitude in that place. In this case a 30 year old woman was liberated who had been held within the shrine for five years, from the ages of 7 to 12 years of age. She was a replacement for her sister who had also been sent to serve as a shrine slave at a very young age but did not long survive the harsh conditions of life there. In the Dzoli shrine girls were usually taken in when the priest claimed through divination that a crime had been committed in their family. In this case the grandfather was accused of having sex with another of the priest’s slaves. In the shrine, the slave rose at 4 a.m. and spent her days cracking palm nuts from which the older slaves extracted palm oil. This the priest sold for money without ever sharing any of the proceeds with his slaves. After a time the shrine learned that a man wanted to marry her. She was so happy that she danced about, but this arrangement did not end her slavery. The shrine still controlled who she married and where she lived and travelled, and she was required to attend the annual festival every year and to bring sacrifices so expensive that getting them together still dominated her life all year long. Her story came out in the course of the liberation process.