The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has announced a dramatic rise in anti-human trafficking interventions, revealing that a record 2,331 victims were rescued in 2025 as authorities intensified efforts against cyber-enabled exploitation and sports trafficking.
Speaking at the launch of activities for the 2026 World Day Against Human Trafficking in Accra, Agnes Naa Momo Lartey said the latest figures mark a major turning point in Ghana’s fight against human trafficking.
According to the minister, the 2025 rescue figures represent the highest success rate recorded in the past five years, following a decline to 794 rescues in 2024. Of the 2,331 victims rescued last year, 1,544 were men while 789 were women. The total included 1,906 adults and 425 children.
Lartey attributed the sharp increase in rescues to stronger collaboration among state institutions, improved intelligence gathering, and enhanced surveillance of digital crime networks. She noted that investigations into cyber-related trafficking activities led to the prosecution and conviction of 106 offenders involved in exploitation schemes and online fraud.
She further disclosed that law enforcement agencies investigated 2,022 cases in 2025, resulting in an additional 54 convictions linked to human trafficking and child labour offenses.
The minister stressed that the government remains determined to crack down on criminal networks exploiting vulnerable people, especially young athletes seeking opportunities abroad.
She warned that major international sporting events, including the upcoming FIFA World Cup, have become avenues for traffickers to deceive young people with false promises of football contracts, scholarships, overseas trials, and recruitment opportunities.
“Across many countries, criminal networks and unscrupulous individuals use false promises of sports contracts, scholarships, overseas trials, and recruitment opportunities to lure vulnerable young people into situations of exploitation, abuse, forced labour, irregular migration, and trafficking,” Lartey stated.
She explained that sports trafficking often appears legitimate, making it difficult for victims and families to detect the danger early.
This year’s anti-trafficking campaign is being held under the theme: “Human Trafficking Can End. The Time is Now. Blow the Whistle on Sports Trafficking.”
The ministry also reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening victim protection through the Human Trafficking Act of 2005 (Act 694), its 2009 amendment, and support services provided through the Social Welfare and Community Support (SWES) call centre.
Lartey called on sports institutions, the media, civil society groups, and local communities to work together to expose trafficking networks and protect vulnerable youth from exploitation.
“Human trafficking thrives when communities remain silent, when suspicious activities are ignored, and when vulnerable persons are left unprotected,” she said. “The fight against traffick
Story By: Eugenia Ewoenam Osei
