WUNRN
ILO - International Labour
Organization
WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOUR -
JUNE 12
ENDING CHILD LABOUR IN DOMESTIC WORK
- GIRLS
GENEVA (ILO
News) – An estimated 10.5 million children worldwide – most of them under age –
are working as domestic workers in people’s homes, in hazardous and sometimes
slavery-like conditions, says the ILO.
Six and a half million of these child labourers are aged between five and 14
years-old. More than 71 per cent are girls.
According to the latest figures in a new ILO report, Ending Child labour in domestic work,
they work in the homes of a third party or employer, carrying out tasks such as
cleaning, ironing, cooking, gardening, collecting water, looking after other
children and caring for the elderly.
Direct Link to Full 87-Page ILO 2013 Report:
http://www.ilo.org/ipecinfo/product/download.do?type=document&id=21515
Vulnerable to physical, psychological and sexual violence and abusive working
conditions, they are often isolated from their families, hidden from the public
eye and become highly dependent on their employers. Many might end up being
commercially sexually exploited.
“The situation of many child domestic workers not only constitutes a serious
violation of child rights, but remains an obstacle to the achievement of many
national and international development objectives,” said Constance Thomas,
Director of the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of
Child Labour (IPEC).
The report, launched to mark World Day Against Child Labour, calls for concerted and joint action at national and international levels to eliminate child labour in domestic work.
“We need a robust legal framework to clearly identify, prevent and eliminate
child labour in domestic work, and to provide decent working conditions to
adolescents when they can legally work,” Thomas stressed.
It is estimated that an additional 5 million children, who are above the
minimum legal age of work in their countries, are involved in paid or unpaid
domestic work globally.
Hidden from View
Child domestic
work is not recognized as a form of child labour in many countries because of
the blurred relationship with the employing family, the report says. The child
is “working, but is not considered as a worker and although the child lives in a
family setting, she or he is not treated like a family member.”
This familial and legal “care vacuum” disguises an “exploitative arrangement”,
often characterized by long working hours, lack of personal freedom and
sometimes hazardous working conditions. The hidden nature of their situation
makes them difficult to protect.
The report calls for improved data collection and statistical tools so that the
true extent of the problem can be ascertained. It also presses for governments
to ratify and implement ILO
Convention 138, concerning the minimum age for admission to
employment and ILO
Convention 182, on the worst forms of child labour.
However, it stresses that domestic work is an important source of employment,
especially for millions of women. This has been recognized in the landmark ILO
Convention 189 concerning decent work for domestic workers which,
the report says, should also be promoted as part of the strategy to eliminate
child labour in domestic work.
“Domestic workers of all ages are increasingly performing a vital task in many
economies. We need to ensure a new respect for their rights and to empower
domestic workers and their representative organisations. An essential aspect of
this new approach involves tackling child labour.” said Thomas.
____________________________________________________________
WUNRN
Give Girls a Chance: Tackling Child
Labour, A Key to the Future
GENEVA (ILO News) – The global financial crisis could push an increasing
number of children, particularly girls, into child labour, according to a new
report issued by the International Labour Office (ILO) for the World Day
Against Child Labour on June 12.
The ILO report, entitled Give Girls a
Chance: Tackling Child Labour, a Key to the Future
(Note
1), notes that while recent global estimates indicate the number of
children involved in child labour has been falling, the financial crisis
threatens to erode this progress.
“We have seen some real progress in reducing child
labour. The policies chosen in the present crisis will be a test of national
and global commitment to take this fight forward.” said ILO Director-General
Juan Somavia.
The report says the danger of girls being forced
into child labour is linked to evidence that in many countries families give
preference to boys when making decisions on education of children (Note
2). It states that because of the increase in poverty as result of the
crisis poor families with a number of children may have to make choices as to
which children stay in school. In cultures in which a higher value is placed on
education of male children, girls risk being taken out of school, and are then
likely to enter the workforce at an early age.
Other factors which could push up the numbers in
child labour include cuts in national education budgets, and a decline in
remittances of migrant workers, as these remittances often help to keep children
in school.
This year’s World Day against Child Labour also
coincides with the tenth anniversary of ILO Convention No. 182 on the
elimination of the worst forms of child labour.
“With 169 ratifications we are now just 14 short
of universal ratification by our member States” said Mr. Somavia. “It is a
remarkable expression of commitment. This Convention calls for special
attention to the situation of girls and we want to highlight the particular
risks that girls face during this crisis. Protecting girls – and all children –
from child labour calls for integrated responses that include jobs for parents,
and social protection measures that help them to keep both girls and boys in
school. Access to basic education and training for girls and boys must also be
part of the solutions for the future.”
The ILO report says the most recent global
estimate indicated that more than 100 million girls are involved in child
labour, and many are exposed to some of its worst forms. Girls face a number of
particular problems that justify special attention, including:
· Much work undertaken by girls is hidden from
public view, which creates particular dangers. Girls make up the overwhelming
number of children in domestic work in third party households and there are
regular reports of the abuse of child domestic workers;
· In their own homes, girls take on household
chores to a much greater extent than boys. Combined with economic activity
outside the household, this imposes a “double burden” that increases the risk
of girls dropping out of school; and,
· In many societies girls are in an inferior
and vulnerable position and are more likely to lack basic education. This
seriously restricts their future opportunities.
The report highlights the importance of investing
in the education of girls as an effective way of tackling poverty. Educated
girls are more likely to earn more as adults, marry later in life, have fewer
and healthier children and have decision-making power within the household.
Educated mothers are also more likely to ensure that their own children are
educated, thereby helping to avoid future child labour.