The gift of freedom? Exploring the realities of rescue from child trafficking in Ghana

This paper is a critical reflection on the rescue and reintegration regime associated with the child trafficking intervention in Ghana. The paper acknowledges efforts by anti-trafficking NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations) to address conditions of poverty, child/youth economic exploitation, and human rights abuses. However, it also observes that these interventions have had very little impact for some of the beneficiaries. Drawing on ethnographic research with young adults considered as trafficked victims by a child rights NGO in Ghana, the paper demonstrates how reintegrated young adults are still confronted with the socio-structural factors (residential instability, economic exploitation, physical abuse, and attendance difficulties at school) that preceded their transportation to riverine communities for work in fishing. The paper attributes these post-rescue challenges to the inability of the existing remedial regime to address the structural problems that underline children and young adults’ economic mobility. The paper argues for a more nuanced approach to child trafficking intervention in Ghana.