Stage 01 of our framework
Rescue
The first, urgent step: identifying children trapped in trafficking and exploitation, and bringing them safely to a place of care, stability, and hope.
Stage 01 of our framework
The first, urgent step: identifying children trapped in trafficking and exploitation, and bringing them safely to a place of care, stability, and hope.
What rescue means
Children trapped in trafficking and economic exploitation are identified and safely rescued through carefully coordinated efforts with community members, local authorities, and child protection partners.
To date, Challenging Heights has facilitated the liberation of 6,849 children and women from exploitation across Ghana. Many of these cases involve children trafficked into the fishing industry on Lake Volta, as well as agriculture, mining, domestic labour, and forced prostitution.
Rescue operations prioritise the immediate safety and protection of young people, while opening the door to long-term recovery, reintegration, and opportunity.
By working closely with communities and authorities, Challenging Heights helps ensure that children removed from exploitation can begin rebuilding their lives in safe and supportive environments — the essential foundation for everything that follows.
Where exploitation happens
Children forced into dangerous labour on the waters of Lake Volta. Nearly 3,000 of those we have rescued came from this industry alone — by far the largest focus of our rescue work.
Young people exploited as unpaid or underpaid labour on farms, often far from home and family.
Children subjected to hazardous and physically punishing work in small-scale and informal mining operations.
Children, often girls, trapped in unpaid domestic servitude and hidden from public view.
Among the gravest forms of exploitation we confront, demanding the most urgent and sensitive response.
How rescue works
Working with community members and local informants, we identify children at risk or already trapped in exploitation.
We coordinate closely with local authorities, the Department of Social Welfare, and law enforcement to plan safe rescue operations.
Children are safely removed from exploitation and brought to our recovery centre, where their immediate needs are met with care.
On arrival, children receive medical care, safety, nutrition, and emotional support — the first steps of recovery.
“Rescue is not the end of a child’s journey. It is the beginning of their recovery, and the first promise that they will never be alone again.”Challenging Heights
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