Riggs Volunteer Conducts Social Work Trainings and Workshops in Ghana

Ritual servitude, forced labor, and sex trafficking are global issues that impact millions of children and adults every year. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates 28 million people around the globe are lured into forced labor, and the U.S. Department of State cites an estimated 27.6 million victims of trafficking worldwide. The scale of the victimization of vulnerable individuals can seem so overwhelming that it is hard to know where to begin or how to help.

International and nation-based organizations continue to develop important policies and interventions, but they require local action and implementation. One organization helping to facilitate local action is US-based International Social Work Solutions (ISWS), whose mission is to empower vulnerable and underserved communities globally with access to highly qualified and experienced social workers who convey the social work values in helping to address the problems of poverty, exploitation, or marginalization.

This past spring, two ISWS volunteers, Riggs Director of Clinical Social Work Cathleen Morey, PhD, LICSW, (ISWS volunteer since 2019) and Breeanna Bellinger, LMSW, (ISWS volunteer since 2020), joined forces to explore possible projects they could work on together. After research, consultation, and ISWS approval, they identified ritual servitude, forced labor, and sex trafficking in Ghana as a focal point. Though the Ghanaian government outlawed forced labor and slavery in 1998, the religious and cultural practices of Trokosi, a form of ritual servitude, persists.

To develop their ISWS project, Morey and Bellinger partnered with a lead NGO in Ghana called Esteem Resources Africa (ERA), located in Spintex, Accra in Ghana, to identify key community stakeholders and target groups for interventions. Approaching the project from a stance of cultural humility and sensitivity, they utilized community needs assessment (CNA) data to target four groups: exploited/traumatized young women, educators, NGO professionals, and domestic violence investigators. 

Once in Ghana, Morey and Bellinger delivered two trauma-informed psychoeducational workshops focused on trauma, self-care, and essential life skills for young women who had been subjected to ritual servitude, forced labor, and sex trafficking; and three psychosocial capacity-building trainings focused on trauma, self-care, and capacity building with local educators, NGO professionals, and members of the Ghanaian police who work in the domestic violence and victim support unit. Most of the trainings and workshops took place in Ghana’s capital, Accra, though Morey and Bellinger also traveled to the remote village Mafi-Kumase to deliver one of the workshops to 150 community members. Using a train-the-trainer model, the workshops and trainings were designed for replication and future implementation by in-country organizations, partners, and professionals.

Feedback from the workshops and trainings was broadly positive, captured both in formal survey results gathered (consistent 4 or 5 ratings on a 5-point scale and reported increases in knowledge about trauma and self-care) and in the informal interactions Morey and Bellinger had with the participants.

When asked what they valued most about the presentations, one participant wrote, “The presenters has [sic] mastery over the content and it made me understand the concepts.” Another stated, “I liked that it was easy to interact with the speakers and how easy they clarified things.”

Reflecting on their experiences, the pair assembled a comprehensive list of recommendations and lessons learned as part of a report submitted to ISWS to help inform a phase two implementation for this project to be taken up by ISWS volunteers in the future.

Morey stated, “The opportunity to connect with participants, learn from their experiences, and witness their growth and resilience was incredibly rewarding and inspiring. Witnessing their eagerness to learn from us was deeply humbling.”