The story of Grace, a survivor of sex slavery in Ghana
Every day Challenging Heights deals with children who have been traumatized and abused in the worst forms of child labour.  The most horrific cases and the most difficult to treat are often cases where sexual slavery or sexual abuse is involved.  Recently Challenging Heights was confronted with one of the worst cases of this kind.
This is the story of Grace*, who at the age of 12 was trafficked into the hands of fishermen slave-owners.

Grace was 13 when we first met her at Challenging Heights.  She arrived as a survivor of trafficking, slavery, the worst forms of child labour and horrific sexual abuse.  While she has shared with us some of her ordeal, there are some things that are so traumatic she may never be able to speak about them.
Grace told us she was only 12 when she was trafficked from her home and into the hands of slave owners.  She says she was tricked by a man who asked her to help him carry his luggage to the bus station.  Once they arrived the man tricked her into getting onto the bus by telling her he was going to buy her something.  Before she knew it, Grace was far from home and in the hands of fishermen slave-owners.
She spent nine months in enslavement.  She told us she was
forced into extremely dangerous fishing practices.  She was made to cast and drag nets, remove fish from nets and paddle the canoe.  After a day of carrying out these strenuous and dangerous tasks, she was forced to cook and do all other domestic work for the fishermen.  She was constantly abused and beaten.  She was deprived of food for days on end.

While the slave owner and his children stayed in safe, sheltered rooms, she was forced to sleep in a building with no roof.  She shared this room with five young men.  Not long after she arrived in the fishing community, some of these young men began sexually abusing her.  This sexual abuse continued almost daily for nine months.  Whenever she complained or tried to run away, she was subjected to more beatings and abuse.

For the whole nine months Grace was enslaved, her mother was frantically attempting to get her back. These attempts eventually drove the trafficker to pass Grace on to another person out of frustration.  She was then dumped her back in her village to find her parents.
Challenging Heights has now helped Grace enrol as an apprentice dressmaker.  While her life is turning around, she still bears many of the emotional scars of her abuse.  Challenging Heights is trying to help her come to terms with her ordeal through its counselling and support programs.

Challenging Heights is now helping police to find and arrest the trafficker.
Grace’s story is repeated every day in Ghana and all over the world.  While all survivors of the worst forms of child labour need special care, those who have been sexually abused like Grace need even more.  We hope that with specialist care and further education, Grace will recover her self-esteem and gain her independence.
*The girl’s name has been changed to protect her identity.