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Child labor is the use of children for work on a regular basis. At present, most of the children's work is considered a form of exploitation and declared illegal. In the past, child labor was widespread, but after the emergence and recognition of the concepts of safety and the rights of children of child labor gradually began to decline. Among the types of child labor that exist in civilized countries, is the work in the entertainment business (movies, theater, pop). Children are often involved in various criminal activities, including prostitution and pornography. In some African countries, children armed and forced to participate in the fighting.
The United Nations and the International Labor Organization consider child labor as coercion. Child labor can be seen as a consequence of poverty and under-development of society. One of the main reasons that force children to work is that it affects the survival of their families and their own survival. The important role played by the will of adults, who can use the vulnerability of children to their advantage. Also play the role of social traditions, such as:
- the belief that the work contributes to the formation of character and the development of children's skills
- tradition of continuity profession
- the belief that girls are less in need of education than boys, because of their traditional role of housewife
- The above traditions can be so strong that both children and their parents may not be aware that child labor is illegal and contrary to the interests of children.
In almost all countries of the world throughout history children of farmers, servants, artisans and then helped their parents. Chances are able to work have helped even in primitive societies. In medieval Europe, children are learning from the voluntary artisans, and then at the workshop, help them.
Child labor in mines, factories was common in many countries in Europe and America in the XIX century. The children worked alongside adults to 14-18 hours a day (sometimes 5 or 6 years old), and they were paid for it several times smaller. There exist a lot of restrictive internal rules, for example, it was forbidden to look out the window at the workplace (which hung in the windows of the lattice or plugs), to play in the breaks for food.
In Britain, there were still workhouses where poor (adults and children) were working in the forcibly close the prison conditions. About the harsh conditions of child labor wrote the English historian Henry Dzhibbings in the book "Industrial History of England." The famous reformer Robert Owen was the first who has pointed out the child labor problem in Britain, was the famous reformer Robert Owen - in 1816 he spoke about it in Parliament. Since the end of the XVIII century and during the XIX future vocational students ("English slaves," as the writer calls them) are usually recruited in the workhouse, and when they fall into the "teaching" the city factory, we did not receive any salary, clothing. Hours of work were limited to just complete exhaustion after the application of various coercive means to continue working (for example, after beating guards). Children often worked up to 16 hours at a time, sometimes at night, and on Sunday a clean machine. They fed them the cheapest and bad food that often was also fed to the pigs. They slept on dirty beds alternately. Some tried to escape from the factory, and to prevent the escape suspected of such intention children shackled in chains: they worked and slept in chains. Were subjected to the same treatment and young women. Many, unable to bear the overwork, died and were buried at night in some wild place, so that the people could not recognize the scale of this "slavery." Some commit suicide.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), only in developing countries are forced to work around 250 million children. For example, children are included in activities such as prostitution, slavery, pornography, participation in armed conflict, as well as working in mines, agriculture and construction.
According to human rights watchers, the majority of children working around the world (69 per cent) are employed in agriculture - they pick cotton, tobacco, coffee, rice, sugar cane and cocoa. In this case, the list of countries that exploit child labor, the leader of Myanmar - mostly young workers use to collect rice, sugar cane and rubber. According to the report, the U.S. Labor Department, the six states where the maximum number found similar violations also include Bangladesh, China, Brazil, India, and the Philippines. The “leaders” of using child labor are the following countries: Somalia, Sri Lanka , Afghanistan, Nepal, North Korea and Pakistan.
So, today in Myanmar runs every three children aged 7 to 16 years. However, he usually performs the hardest work. Not so far, child labor was extensively used as military - thousands of children working in the army. The soldiers often rape them and beat them. In times of war the military used children as human shields, there were cases when they are released on minefields for "clearance." It should be noted that the army children not only works, but also serve. According to ILO, Myanmar is about 70,000 soldiers to 18 years, with automatic fighter give the age of 12.
It is worth noting that in the construction in Myanmar are working with their families, but the money for the work produced by adults only. The kids do not pay anything, but at best they can feed. Typically, adults just watch slave labor of children, and if the family has no children - are women. Children do not attend training sessions, even in their free time - instead, they are caught by their parents’ lice. According to statistics, 40 percent of children in Myanmar are not getting education. It is considered good luck for the child if the parents sell him into slavery in neighboring countries where they pay even a little bit. The most desirable is the work on the tea plantations where it is not too heavy, and the kids have a chance to survive. In this hell of a job on the children lead their own parents and business owners do not care which one of the family members are working on them.
Slightly better is the situation in India. Children as early as five years old are selling traffickers and forced to work, turning them into modern-day slaves.
Search job Bangladeshi children compels extreme poverty, which is home to the majority of families in the country. Children are sent to the fields and factories, they are working for 12 hours during a day and earn only 60 taka (U.S. $ 1.70) per day.
In Bangladesh, child labor is more than 12 percent of the total workforce, with the population of the country has traditionally not consider this situation a problem.
It is worth noting that today, child labor is used not only by local owners of production, but also the well-known international companies. According to the International Fund for workers' rights (International Labor Rights Fund), child labor is used by the company Monsanto. In only one in India on cotton plantations owned by Monsanto and other transnational Agrocorporation, employs more than 12,000 children. Many children have died or suffered serious illness from exposure to pesticides. But the company’s income has been increasing and now it estimated at $ 5.4 billion.
In the use of child labor and the company is accused Nestlé. According to human rights, namely the production of chocolate is most commonly used child labor. For example, at Ivory Coast (Africa), which grow more than 40 percent of the cocoa bean plantations in terrible conditions, work an average of 109,000 children. Today, China's use of child labor and the company is also accused of Pegatron Group, engaged in the assembly of products Apple.
Thus, today in many countries around the world continue to be widely exploited labor of children, whose average age is between 5 and 10 years. In this struggle of social organizations and individuals - just a drop in the ocean of the Creative tyranny. Millions of children are still deprived of their childhood, just because the economics of that countries are very poor, so the traditions of child labor there is normal.
Sources
- http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/jrobinson/files/jr_childlaborpublished.pdf
- http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/0895330053147895
- http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/world/asia/in-india-missing-school-to-work-in-the-mine.html?ref=childlabor&_r=0
- http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/keyword/child-labour
- http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=5422
- http://www.compassion.com/child-advocacy/find-your-voice/quick-facts/child-labor-quick-facts.htm
