Child Labor Is a Worldwide Shame - Research Paper Example

Child Labor, a Worldwide Shame Every day millions of young children all over the world are compelled or forced to do tedious and many times dangerous work in unsafe conditions. These children remain uneducated due to their daytime labors and live in impoverished conditions. These unfortunate circumstances are harmful to the mental and physical health of the children and retard their social development. More than 200 million children work as menial laborers in factories, crop fields, homes and farms in addition to selling wares and their bodies on the streets. Many are pressed into military service at a very young age. These children are deprived of their childhood, self-esteem and potential. In some cases, children are sold and trafficked internationally as slaves enduring unspeakable conditions every day of their young lives with no way out. At a very young age they are alone, separated from their home and family uncared for, left to fight their own battles on the mean streets of strange large cities. Although international laws prohibit child labor practices many countries have no regulations or laws to protect children, some even encourage child labor and slavery, three of which, Myanmar, Pakistan and Somalia are among the worst violators. The Myanmar economy is one of, if not the most depressed in the world even though the country is rich with natural resources. Nearly half of all children in Myanmar (formerly Burma) will never enter a school classroom. Those not pressed into military service are essentially slaves doing menial tasks for street vendors, factories or on farms doing back breaking work. Those are the lucky ones. Other children as young as six are prostitutes, some are sold to international brothels and others spend their time rummaging through trash heaps hunting for scraps of food. Many commit suicide long before reaching adulthood. The nation has been under military control for decades. Even though continued protests have brought about some small changes and the goal of a democracy is being slowly realized, the military continues to have great influence. Myanmar police give children who do not have “proper ID,” (in other words those whose parents are poor), a choice, either serve in the military or be sent to a rat infested jail where they will be tortured. Children as young as 12 are picked up off the streets while playing or simply walking home then forced into becoming porters or soldiers by the corrupt Myanmar police. Once in the military they are treated poorly. “Children are forced to serve as porters in areas in which beatings and other mistreatment occur”(Amariyah, 2012). Child soldiers are paid very little, if at all, are not provided medical treatments, adequate food and are not allowed to visit their families. Many children die during their military service. Myanmar girls are sold to Thailand brothels or other countries as sex slaves. Thailand is infamous for allowing child prostitution. Amazingly, nearly 100 percent of that nation’s population wants prostitution to continue as a profession. A six year-old Myanmar girl named Srey Pov was sent to a Somali brothel. According to an article telling her horrific story “Srey Pov’s family sold her to a brothel when she was six years old. She was unaware of sex but soon found out: A western pedophile purchased her virginity. The brothel tied her naked and spread-eagled on a bed so that he could rape her”(Amariyah, 2012). These brothels keep young girls as slaves and would rather kill than allow them to escape. Srey Pov is just one of many thousand of very young Myanmar girls who live every day of their lives in this way. (Amariyah, 2012). The global community has continually condemned Myanmar’s military regime for brutalizing children, forcing them into military service, hard labor and prostitution. In response to the pleas by Myanmar’s pro-democracy reform movement several governments and companies have severed diplomatic and economic ties with that nation. Since the majority of Myanmar’s productivity is derived from forced child labor, trading with the nation helps the economy which encourages them to continue to enslave its children. Due to economic and diplomatic sanctions reforms are slowly coming to the poor nation including the formation of worker’s unions, a step in the right direction which President Obama acknowledged and encouraged during his recent visit. The children of Pakistan are habitually kidnapped, bought, sold, and even rented out. Nike is infamous for exploiting Pakistani children. The company took advantage of lax child labor laws in that nation in its soccer ball factory. The majority of child labor crimes take place in Pakistan’s Punjab province where children make musical instruments, rugs and sporting equipment. Millions of children are also commonly found laboring full time in many other, often dangerous jobs such as cutting marble, stone crushing, textile and glass factories, filling gas cylinders, coal mines and mixing pesticides to name but a few. Laik Khanzada is a nine-year-old Pakistani boy who works as an auto mechanic trainee but would rather be attending school. “I used to go to school but then left because we had no fee to pay,” said Khanzada. (Bhatti, Niazi, 2010). A survey of Pakistani labor conducted in 2007 and 2008 found that twice the number of children between the ages of 10 and 14 were working full time jobs than was estimated in 2005 by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. About three-quarter of the child labor force are boys, one-quarter girls. Activists trying to end child labor in Pakistan report that young children who live in rural areas are often rented out. Their parents receive money for their children’s labor. Most of the children are given only shelter and food work while they work sunup to sundown. Shahzab is a 10 year-old working in a motorcycle shop screwing together parts, a monotonous job. His hands and face are tinged with oil as are his old, wore out clothes. “I come for work at 8 a.m. and remain here till 8 p.m.” Shahzab said. The boy has been living and working at the shop since he was just six years-old. His father rents him out to the shop owner because of the family’s impoverished circumstances. Shahzab’s father comes to the shop once per month to collect the wages his son earns which is about 1,200 rupees, the equivalent of $14 U.S. dollars. “They come here due to poverty,” the shop owner said, “if we do not keep them, they will become dangerous for society being loafers and addicted to drugs” (Bhatti, Niazi, 2010). In Somalia, nearly half of children are forced into labor, the most dangerous type of jobs according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Somali children are often used in quarry mining, as domestic servants, herding animals and gathering crops on farms. They also are forced into being soldiers, body guards, human shields and sex slaves. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that 42 percent of Somali children as young as five are being forced to work. In addition, militias recruit boys age15 and under to fight in sectarian wars. Children are also sold on the international slave market to perform forced labor in horrendous living conditions. (“2002 Findings,”2003) The children of Somalia face a paradoxical situation regarding school. Children aged six to 14 are required to attend primary school. In addition, the Transitional National Charter guarantees them a basic education for free until they reach secondary school. On the other hand, most primary schools in Somalia charge fees to families, the equivalent of about $15 U.S. dollars each per child. The average annual income for a Somali family is $550 U.S. dollars. Additionally, most schools are lack basic necessities such as textbooks, desks and running water. Approximately 10 percent of Somali children attend school but the rest all too often are forced to care for themselves which is why half end up working as slaves. It’s the only means of having shelter of food. Many parents simply cannot provide either for their children. Labor laws are non-existent. “Somalia has no national government and has no means for enforcing labor laws” (“2002 Findings,” 2003). As is the case in other impoverished nations, Somalia’s sell or rent out their children. Many of these children sold internationally are never seen or heard from again. Somalia has been in a constant state of war for generations, it’s all the children know. The vast majority understand they will never attend school, that’s only an option for the wealthy. Unfortunately their best option is to join a militia where they will at least be fed and can stay in their country instead of being sold to strangers and shipped to strange lands where they likely will be brutalized or killed. In 1989 the UN established the Convention on The Rights of The Child. This international law was the first of its kind becoming an unparalleled achievement in reforming child labor practices worldwide. Less than ten years after it became law, it was adopted by 190 nations. Although just a few of the convention’s provisions dealt with child labor specifically it did generate enormous political awareness and support for the rights of children. “With the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 a child-centered approach became popular.” (Jacobsen, 2008). In accordance with the Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child demands that children be protected against social and economic exploitation. Moreover, the convention included new elements of protection for the sex industry in addition to other types of abuse including the recruitment of children for purposes of warfare. International Labor Organization (ILO) has taken the position that child labor is not acceptable must be eliminated from the international labor market. The ILO’s strategy is to fight against child labor by acquiring international agreements regarding a minimum working age. “The tremendous support for the children's rights convention influenced the approach to child labor.” (Jacobsen, 2008). The ILO has adopted a treaty focusing only on the welfare of children. The new approach and mechanism is proving to be the foremost success in the organization’s history. At least 130 countries have ratified the treaty and its affects have been realized worldwide but unfortunately not as yet in the nations that most need to address child labor abuses. The major international agencies that monitor, legislate and actively attempt to form coalitions among nations in opposition of child labor are UNICEF the ILO and the World Bank. These organizations “assist governments in developing policies and strategies, and they also support implementation programs.” (Jacobsen, 2008). Child labor is not an issue seen often in the mainstream media which is surprising given the fact it is widespread brutality against innocent children, the level of which is unimaginable by those living in the U.S. Unlike children in the U.S. millions of very young boys and girls are subject to harsh working conditions every day of their lives. Some girls as young a six are forced to have sex and young boys no older than 12 are taught how to kill. Children are bought and sold as if they are a commodity. What is needed is outrage by an international community that puts this problem in its proper perspective. Works Cited 2002 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor – Somalia United States Department of Labor. UNHCR. April 18, 2003. Web. November 30, 2012 http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,USDOL,,SOM,,48d748ae3c,0.html Amariyah. Myanmar forced child labor. Cnn IReport September 27, 2012 Web. November 30, 2012 http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-849753 Bhatti, Jamil/ Niazi, Zeeshan. Child labor alarmingly rising in Pakistan June 12, 2010. Web. November 30, 2012 Xinhua, english.news.cn http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-06/12/c_13347590.htm Jacobsen, Anette Faye Child Labor in Developing Countries. Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society. 2008. Web. November 30, 2012. http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Bo-Ch/Child-Labor-in-Developing-Countries.html Read More