Child Labor and Rights - Research Paper Example

Child Labor and rights The term child labor describes the use and abuse of children and minors as workers in whateverestablishment. It refers to any activity or work that hinders children from enjoying their childhood (Shah 1). Child labor has detrimental effects on the physical and psychological well being of a child and deters proper development (Michel 8). Child labor is an illegal activity that has occurred in all corners of the globe as countries underwent different developmental stages. It becomes associated with poverty stricken areas, especially in the third world countries. Despite this practice being illegal, it remains a rampant phenomenon. In some cases, it remains practiced openly (Alan 25). The international Labor Organization places the number of children aged between five and fourteen who are workers in one way or another at an estimated 211 million across the world. Over 120 million children work full time to support their poverty stricken families in places that remain considered as hazardous (Michel 9). It estimates that the Asia/Pacific region hosts the highest number of children laborers at over100 million. Majority of child workers exist in the Sub Saharan region of Africa. It gets estimated that over 26% of the child population that is equivalent to 50 million children get actively involved in work. The International Labor Rights Forum gets actively involved in lobbying to eradicate the practice of child labor all over the world. This gets done through shedding light on imported goods whose manufacturing process involve the participation of child labor, lobbying for creation of crucial policies and legislation governing child labor and by increasing heightened consumer action and awareness (Megha 10). It also promotes the strategies and policies of the International labor organization on child labor. The labor laws with regard to children are dynamic and vary across nations. These labor laws set the rules and regulations that govern workers and work related issues. The minimum age that laborers ought to be, often gets stipulated in these labor laws. Employers get restricted from hiring anyone who does not meet the minimum age requires by the law (Megha 10). This minimum age varies from country to country and also defines the work that gets permitted at that particular age. Countries that ratified the 1973 Minimum age Convention that got convened by the International Labor Organization adopted the minimum age as fixed between the ages of fourteen to sixteen. In the Unites states, Child Labor Laws set the required minimum at sixteen devoid of parental consent (Dukess 1). Child labor robs minors and children of their childhood, and deprives them of their dignity. The larger part of child laborers are not easily accessible and are out of the reach of the law. They are more often than not exploited by their employers (Alan 25). In most cases, many of the child workers get denied proper nutrition, basic health care, and basic education and are often under the mercy of employers with no one to cater for their interests. These employers take advantage of them and often over work them with meager or no payment at all. Child labor is sometimes code for modern day slavery (Megha 10). In some parts of the world, children work for hours on end without either rest or pay. Various forms of child labor exist in different parts if the world. The most common child labor type is the employment of children before they attain the minimum age requirement. Though most of the countries have labor laws that prohibit seeking services of minors before they reach the legal age for working, the practice is rife in both rural and urban environments (Megha 10). This mostly becomes done in the developing world that encompasses Africa and Asia. Forced labor, slavery, child trafficking, serfdom and debt bondage, make up the worst forma of child labor. These types of child labor involve highly illicit and illegal activities that are most likely to cause both physical and psychological harm to the child (Wendy 67). These activities have negative effects on the child’s health, well being and morals. Getting recruited into such forms of labor is common in some parts of Africa, Asia and South America. Cambodia and Nepal are so notorious for child trafficking and forced labor that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has taken a special interest in working out the child labor issues in these countries (Dukess 1). Criminal activities and morally decadent practiced become associated with child labor. Some children often become sold off into slavery to pay off debts, while others get trafficked and smuggled halfway across the world, where they get introduced into pornography, prostitution rings and drug trafficking. Some become forcefully recruited into armed forces and rebel groups (Michel 8). Case in point becomes the massive forceful recruitment of child soldiers in the Liberian and Sudanese Civil wars by war lords in the mid and late 90s. Over 300,000 children and young adolescents get involved in armed conflict. These children become subjected to all manner of violence and brutality. By forcefully recruiting children into armed conflict, their right to protection gets taken away from them. Child labor assumes different meanings and practices across the world. This is usually dependent on the traditions and culture of the local people (Carol 26). In South East Asia and the Pacific, children get smuggled into prostitution rings or domestic work across borders (Tata 32). This usually happens in the full glare of daylight despite the existence of labor laws and law enforcing agencies (Alex 1). These girls become slaves to the highest bidders and often get mistreated like human rights never existed. Some families sell their children off to pay off family debts and to acquire property. Child labor often get sighted and recorded in some parts of the Indian Sub-continent. In Africa, children get used as a means of exchange. Some families would trade off their children in exchange for livestock or a piece of land (Carol 27). The most common practice is handing your child over into marriage, in exchange for dowry. In rural parts of West Africa, some children get exploited in plantations like cocoa farms and tea plantations. Burkina Faso and Benin have been in the spotlight over such occurrences. Some children are also illegally recruited as workers in mines and factories. In Latin America, parts of North America and Europe, children get abducted, smuggled across borders and introduced into drug trafficking, and prostitution rings. Street urchins referred to as pimps, introduce children into prostitution where they make money off them. Children are often sexually abused, with exploitation taking the form of rape, domestic abuse and serial sex exploitation. This has negative implications on the mental and physical health of the child. Over a million children get introduced into the multibillion sex industry every year (Carol 28). Children provide cheap and in some instances free labor due to massive exploitation especially in Eastern Europe. Children do not complete the most basic form of education due to induction into the forced labor. The right to education becomes infringed. These children remain illiterate all their lives and lack the basic skills of reading and writing. This means that these children will never be able to acquire skills needed to secure a decent job and means of livelihood. Child labor leads to the influx of enormous numbers of unskilled and unqualified workers and prohibits future developments and improvements of skills in the labor force (Dukess 1). Child workers are often underpaid. In extreme cases, they become deprived of their day’s earnings. Children workers, who meet the minimum age requirement, should be accorded equal pay for equal work, just like their adult counterparts (Dukess 1). Children, as well as adults, deserve to be paid according to the quantity and quality of work done without exploitation. Child labor is mainly as a result of looming poverty and meager or lack of development. Exploitation is the greatest cause of child labor (UN Global Compact, Principle Five Abolition of Child Labor). Since child labor is clear evidence of poverty manifestation, steps should be made so as address the given issue of poverty (Nanjunda 45). Poverty reduction will immediately lead to reduced desperation and vulnerability of children towards exploitation and labor. Ensuring the right to education of all children gets upheld through the provision of appropriate quality education to children will also reduce their vulnerability to exploitation and child labor (Alex 1). Stringent measures and stiff penalties that will act as deterrent factors to inhibit people from engaging in the practice of child labor should be put into practice. Governments and Government departments have to put aside resources specifically to tackle the issue of child labor. This should form the most urgent agendas of finance and planning departments of governments together with all the other institutions that deal with children’s welfare. Due to the wide and all encompassing nature of child rights, considerable effort needs to be put if these rights are going to be upheld. Governments, Non Governmental organizations, Inter-Governmental organizations and private organizations have to take unanimous, deliberate actions to protect the rights of children. Raising awareness on the extent of child labor, the laws revolving around it and the implications of child labor on children will help to enlighten society on the negative effects that child labor has, both on the child and society (Alex 1). The local policies and laws on child labor and education should be harmonized in line with the international threshold set, and the international policies should be localized to promote the easy implementation on a local setting. This will help to control the problem of child labor that knows no border. . Works Cited Arseneault, Michel. "Why hasn’t Quebec reestablished a minimum age for employment?" The Walrus Magazine 10 November 2008: 8-10. Britania, Megha. "Child Labor." Forbes Magazine 25 February 2008: 10-12. Bellamy, Carol. "Child Labour: Rights, risks, and realities." The Rotarian (1997): 26. D.C, Nanjunda. Child Labour and Human Rights: A Prospective. Stanford: Gyan Publishing House, 2007. Grey, Alan. "Child Labor." New York Times 1 March 2012: 23-25. Harold, Wendy. Child Labor Today: A Human Rights Issue. Detroit: Enslow Publishers, Inc, 2002. Karen Dukess. "Child labour robs children of childhood, impedes development." 12 June 2006. UNICEF. 1 May 2012 . Mulembo, Alex. "US: Labor Department Abandons Child Farmworkers." 27 April 2012. Human Rights Watch. 1 May 2012 . Shah, Anup. "Child Labor." 1 January 2001. Global Issues. 1 May 2012 . Tata, Madhavi. "Child labor in India." Outlook (2008): 32. Weston, Burns H. Child Labor And Human Rights. New York: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2005. Read More