The International Justice Mission (IJM) has called for a stronger national response to child trafficking and exploitation, warning that inadequate resources for key state institutions are undermining efforts to protect vulnerable children.
Madam Mabel Lariba Awuni, a Justice System Associate at IJM, said agencies responsible for combating child trafficking, including the Ghana Police Service and the Department of Social Welfare, needed improved logistics, including vehicles and other operational support, to effectively identify, track and rescue victims.
She made the call at a five-day capacity-building workshop organised by IJM for personnel of the Department of Social Welfare in the Bono East Region at Techiman.
According to her, child trafficking and exploitative labour remain among the gravest forms of human rights violations, with serious consequences for the physical, emotional and social development of children.
Madam Awuni stressed that children represent the future of the country and therefore require collective protection from abuse and exploitation.
She explained that providing adequate resources to frontline institutions would enable them to monitor trafficking networks, investigate cases and respond swiftly to reports of child exploitation.
She also highlighted the need for government and stakeholders to establish and maintain shelters with adequate feeding and care arrangements for children rescued from trafficking situations.
“The law is explicit on child trafficking and exploitation,” she said, urging law enforcement agencies to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others involved in the practice.
Madam Awuni further appealed to families who subject children to hazardous and exploitative labour to end the practice, noting that poverty should not become a justification for violating children’s rights.
She cautioned that child trafficking often extends beyond Ghana’s borders, with victims sometimes exposed to commercial sexual exploitation and other abuses that threaten their dignity and future prospects.
She called for increased collaboration among traditional leaders, opinion leaders, civil society organisations, government institutions and community members to strengthen prevention and reporting mechanisms against child trafficking and child labour.
The IJM workshop forms part of efforts to equip social welfare officers with the skills and knowledge required to identify, respond to and support victims of child trafficking and exploitation in the Bono East Region.
