Human Rights: Child Labour Child Labour - Our Problem by Eric 1. What are the main issues for this topic? Child Labour is, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO), "the single most important source of child exploitation and child abuse in the world today." The ILO estimates that over 250 million children and youth between the ages of five and fourteen are been exploited in the workplace. This figure, however, excludes not only children in the industrialized world, but it also fails to take into account those workers hidden from the statistician's view, most commonly young girls performing domestic work. Sources at the New Internationalist site that if one were to include these figures, the total number of child workers in the world would double. Child labour occurs on all of the world's continents, most prominently in Asia which is home to approximately 153 millions "economically active children" (a stomach turning euphemism!). Asia, being the most densely populated area in the words, has the highest number of child workers; however, Africa, with 80 million illegally employed children, surpasses even Asia when one considers that relatively speaking, this figure accounts for over 41% of the total number of children aged between five and fourteen. When one examines Asia with this criteria it is revealed that 22% of children are working in exploitative conditions. In the America's the number may be noticeably diminished, seventeen million or 17% of the total number of children, nevertheless the problem demands addressing, especially when one considers the economic world powers that reside in the Americas and their ability to affect change. Admittedly, the majority of the exploitations under consideration are concentrated in Central and South America, although the North has it's share of exploitative employers. Before continuing, I feel that it is important to define child labour. This is not as easy as one might first think and many groups and organizations have been wrestling with a clear, universally accepted definition. As early as in 1924 at the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child, international groups have attempted to pen a common working definition. Throughout the twentieth century this issue has been visited and revisited again. Most notably, in 1989 during the United Nations' (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child, a strict and seemingly adequate measure was established. The ILO has worked jointly with many world organizations, including the UN, to secure this definition to be used, in part, as a benchmark against those charged with child labour violations: The term child labour is generally associated with dangerous and/or exploitative labour pratices applied to children... (which) indicates a violation of a child's basic human rights, including the right to an education, freedom from exploitation and abuse, and the right to be protected from performing work that is harmful to physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development... UNICEF and the ILO have concluded, in agreement with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, specifically Articles 3, 6, 9, 31, 32, 34, and in much plainer terms: We are not talking about children working a few hours for pocket money, or occasionally helping their families, or working as apprentices. Rather, we are talking about children who work on a more or less daily basis in sweatshops and small enterprises, in construction, in mines, and in agriculture. We are talking about children engaged in marginal activities working and living on the streets, often under the threat of violence. It is also important to recognize that though the underlying cause of child labour is poverty, poverty itself stands in close relation to a multitude of other socioeconomic, political and cultural realities. Some of these include a "lack of schools and/or compulsory education, unemployment, unequal distribution of resources, discrimination based on gender, race, social class and religion, war and conflicts, cultural definitions of adulthood and global economics." Survival often spurs children to take employment, oftentimes running away from home, living on the streets. Some are sold to work on plantations and in factories, toiling in excruciating working conditions, exposed to harmful chemicals and other health risks, while others are sold or traded or stolen to live as servants in family households reminiscent of oppressive colonial times. 2. What are some regional examples of these issues? Child labour is often portrayed as being a problem belonging exclusively to developing countries. These kinds of statements seldom seem to take accountability, sometimes known as corporate responsibility, into mind, and seem to be mostly spoken by representatives of the industrialized world. Beyond the widely publicized atrocities involving The Gap and Nike and their dealings with sweatshops all over the developing world, and of course MacDonald's and their never-ending list of morally questionable and overall suspect business decisions which seldom take humanity into consideration, there are some frightening statistics with regard to child labour in North America. In other words, one need not look overseas to find examples of child labour. According to a Kinney Report in 1993, in 1990 100 adolescents were killed on the job and 70 000 injured while working in the United States. According to a study done by the US Attorney General Accounting Office there was "a 250% increase in child-labor (sic) violations between 1983 and 1990." And that during a "three-day sting operation by the Department of Labour more than 11 000 children were found to be working illegally." In addition to this, one study performed by the United Farm Workers union estimated that 800 000 under-aged workers harvested crops every year. If this were not evidence enough that disregard for the welfare of children in the form of child labour takes place in the US, in 1990 a survey published in Migrant Health, revealed that Mexican children were being employed on farms in New York state, and went on to show that over one third of them had been sprayed with lethal pesticides. In Mexico the examples of such abuses have been made much more public than those in the US. According to Casa Alianza, of the 17 million child labourers Latin America, 7.5 million are in Mexico. In Mexico City alone 1.5 million children are forced to work on the street (selling fruit and vegetables, in factories, prostitution, on construction sites, as scavengers in city dumps, etc.) in a daily struggle to survive. In the 1980's child labour increased by 140% which translates directly to children leaving the classroom, one of many violations against their human rights, including a right to education. Information on Canada's involvement, both indirect and other, in child labour can be found in the proceeding sections. 3. How does this issue affect me (at the personal level)? How does this affect me? Well, it seems pretty straight forward. First, it affects me tremendously on a compassionate level, and this has forced me to become very mindful of the products I have bought and although I feel that this is a fine place to start, it is also a frustrating one. As cynical as this might sound, one can never really trust sources. I mean, if Nike issues a press release saying that all is now kosher with their overseas operations, as was the case a few years ago after a controversial BBC documentary revealed Nike's employment of underage workers, how far can I trust what they say? After all, they want our business and are more likely than not responding to public pressure and not to their own consciences. Yet, what if they are telling the truth? Then again, what about that forwarded email I received detailing one person's attempt to get Nike to admit to their use of sweatshops and who was courteously told to stick his inquiry up his nose. And so it goes round and round until basically I'm left not knowing what kind of organization they are, and ultimately make my final decision without knowing all the facts. Of course, there are numerous publications distributed by advocacy groups that contend to tell a more complete, truthful truth. I am also suspect of their motives; albeit, somewhat less so. After all, they too have and agenda, a mandate. I suppose I tend to believe what I read in Adbusters or The New Internationalist over what CNN might choose to broadcast. Because of economic affiliations certain news agencies will mask or even overlook those stories which might smear the faces of their backers and sponsors. But tracking who owns what and remembering what products you should boycott can be very difficult and oftentimes so much so that people don't bother. For those who do boycott, my congratulations, and for those who don't, I suppose asking questions and doing a little research is the best way to become a globally minded consumer. Don't be afraid to ask who made that Eddie Bauer shirt you are considering buying. Things such as fair trade coffee (Starbucks even sells it now) and other products such a carpet companies (which are notorious for being industries prone to employ child labourers) like Rugmart in India, have begun to say explicitly where and by whom their products where made. This kind of accountability is a definite step in the right direction. As far as I know, The Gap and Nike still have not made any obvious steps in this direction. These measures deal only with that small percentage of child labourers who are employed in industries that export their goods. They are in the minority. Those child workers who are selling fruit or sex or are working in some other domain are unaffected by my conscientious consumerism. How I can affect change in their lives is a much more difficult and complicated process. I'm not sure that I have the resources to suggests how this might be done. There are many groups with whom you can become involved and several cases where a person, oftentimes a youth, has made significant change. For example in 1995 Craig Kielburger, a Canadian youth, was persuaded by media depicting child labour atrocities from across the world to form Free the Children, a group concerned with ending child labour. His group has fundraised hundreds of thousands of dollars and he has aided in the freeing of many children. He states quite simply, "If child labor is not acceptable for white, middle-class North American kids, then why is it acceptable for a girl in Thailand or a boy in Brazil?" He was only 12 years old when he first started Free the Children and he continues to work today to "battle the scourge of child labor." 4. How does this issue affect youth in my community? In Canada, as one might expect, the incidents of child exploitation are significantly fewer than in other areas of the world; they do, however, occur and there is much work to be done. The ILO states that in the year 2000 there were 0 economically active children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Canada. Yet, there were almost one million teenagers between 15 and 19 at work in the same year. This figure takes into account, for the most part, those young persons working for spending money. It is generally considered socially acceptable, even as a sign of responsibility, that a teen in Canada work a part time job during high school. As routine and common place as this seems to Canadians, some advocacy groups point to Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which clearly explains that "State Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts." Part time jobs can be at their best a distraction, and their worst, deadly. Most people, however, seem to agree that safe, part time work is not detrimental, but in fact beneficial to a child's socialization. This is not the only kind of Child Labour to be found in Canada, though. According to Statistics Canada in 1997 approximately 12 women, some as young as 16, were smuggled from Asia into Canada per week and sold into prostitution. Additionally, 100 Honduras children were trafficked into Canada in 1999. Canada is often a crossroads for those who are being sold either to or by countries in Eastern Europe and the near East. The Sex industry is thriving in Canada's urban centres. Kimberly Daum in her work Sexually Exploited Children in Canada cites "that 70% to 80% of those involved in the Canadian sex industry began as children." In a report on the sex industry in Sudbury, Ontario it was revealed that of the 25 prostitutes known to be working, half were under fifteen years old and some as young as 11. In Montreal, between 300 and 600 minors are predicted to be working in the sex trade. In Calgary, 400 children were found to have been working for pimps. British Columbia has the highest incidence of child involvement in prostitution in Canada. The list is long and disturbing. The point being that even in Canada the exploitation of children continues to be a problem, one deserving of our keen attention. There have been steps taken in the right direction. In 1998, the Government of Canada tabled its response to a report entitled "Ending Child Labour Exploitation: A Canadian Agenda for Action on Global Challenges." The Government outlined its ongoing efforts to eliminate the most abusive forms of child labour. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) said that it would contribute 4. 15 million Canadian dollars to help provide educational opportunities for Indian child workers. CIDA pledged to support Save The Children Canada, a non-governmental organization, by providing basic education for child workers. There are numerous examples of those who are making steps towards ending child exploitation, and it is important to hear their stories. Nevertheless, child exploitation continues and so then must all the efforts which exist to counter it, both abroad and at home. 5. How does this issue affect youth in the Americas? How this issue affects youth in Americas has been dealt with in each of the preceeding sections. Of course, this overview of child labour could be significantly more substantial. Volumes could be and have been devoted to this worthy issue. Unfortunately, I have neither the skills or the time to write as comprehensively as I would have liked. Works Cited: Sexually Exploited Children in Canada, Kimberly Daum "Half of Sudbury Prostitutes Under 15" by Wayne Chamberlaine The Sudbury Star 13 April 1998 Sold for Sex, June Kane Kinney 1993 World Labour Report 1992 ILO Food and Justice Vol2, No 2 SH Pollack at al, "The Health Hazards of Agricultural Child Labor" Migrant Health: Clinical Supplement, May-June 1990. Sources used in the creation of this article: 1: www.globalmarch.org www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca 2. www.oneworld.org/ni/ 3. www.casa-alianza.org