Child Labour

Introduction

The most innocent phase in human life is the childhood. It is that stage of life when the human foundations are laid for a successful adult life. It is the phase when we are carefree, fun-loving, learning, playing… Go back into your childhood and for most of us, there are beautiful memories. And how wonderful to have grown up with such carefree abandonment while we had parents, grandparents and others looking after us. But, this is the story of not too many children.


              Yes, there are far more children scarred and tormented. They hate they childhood. They would do anything to get out of the dungeons of being children and controlled and tortured by others. They want to break-free from this world. Some manage to get out and get a better life, but many continue to be where they are, not out of choice, but force.

              This is the true story of child labour. There are industries and individuals, who employee young innocent children. They put them to work under grueling circumstances. They make them work for long hours weaving delicate threads to make the world’s most expensive carpets. They make them work in dangerous factory units manufacturing fireworks. They make children carry load even heavier than their own body weight.

Child labour

Child labor is done by any working child who is under the age specified by law. The word, “work” means full time commercial work to sustain self or add to the family income. Child labor is a hazard to a Child’s mental, physical, social, educational, emotional and spiritual development. Broadly any child who is employed in activities to feed self and family is being subjected to “child labor’.

Defining child labour

The term “child labour” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.

It refers to work that:

• Is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and
• Interferes with their schooling by:
• Depriving them of the opportunity to attend school;
• Obliging them to leave school prematurely; or
• Requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.

Causes of Child Labour

             The following causes listed, though from the Indian prospective, are also the contributing factor           to child exploitation in other nations…

            The leading reason is poverty. Families need additional sources of income. And unfortunately their poverty-stricken way of life makes them so ruthless that they sell their children as commodities to exploitive employers. Most such employers pay a lump sum for the child and then keep him or her imprisoned within the factory unit till the child cannot work due to deteriorating health as a result of harsh living and working conditions. A hard and terrifying         truth about child labor in India!

              Most traditional families believe that a child is born to them to earn more money for the family. The child is just another source of income. And traditional business families in fact put the child into the business rather than sending them to school. Under the pretext of training them, they make them work long hours, sometimes resorting to physical torture in case the child makesmistakes.

            Child abuse is another cause for child labor. This is more so in the case of the girl child, who has probably been abused by someone at home, and to hide this fact she is sold to an employer from a city as domestic help, or then as a bride to an old man.

            Lack of proper educational facilities force parents to send their children to work, rather than keeping them at home and giving them a home-based education, along with a happy and innocent childhood playing amongst other children.

Child Labour in India

Child labor in India is a human right issue for the whole world. It is a serious and extensive problem, with many children under the age of fourteen working in carpet making factories, glass blowing units and making fireworks with bare little hands. According to the statistics given by Indian government there are 20 million child laborers in the country, while other agencies claim that it is 50 million.

In Northern India the exploitation of little children for labor is an accepted practice and perceived by the local population as a necessity to alleviate poverty. Carpet weaving industries pay very low wages to child laborers and make them work for long hours in unhygienic conditions. Children working in such units are mainly migrant workers from Northern India, who are shunted here by their families to earn some money and send it to them. Their families dependence on their income, forces them to endure the onerous work conditions in the carpet factories. The situation of child laborers in India is desperate. Children work for eight hours at a stretch with only a small break for meals. The meals are also frugal and the children are ill nourished. Most of the migrant children who cannot go home, sleep at their work place, which is very bad for their health and development. Seventy five percent of Indian population still resides in rural areas and are very poor. Children in rural families who are ailing with poverty perceive their children as an income generating resource to supplement the family income. Parents sacrifice their children’s education to the growing needs of their younger siblings in such families and view them as wage earners for the entire clan.

The Indian government has tried to take some steps to alleviate the problem of child labor in recent years by invoking a law that makes the employment of children below 14 illegal, except in family owned enterprises. However this law is rarely adhered to due to practical difficulties. Factories usually find loopholes and circumvent the law by declaring that the child laborer is a distant family member. Also in villages there is no law implementing mechanism, and any punitive actions for commercial enterprises violating these laws is almost non existent.

             Child labor is a conspicuous problem in India. Its prevalence is evident in the child work participation rate, which is more than that of other developing countries. Poverty is the reason for child labor in India. The meager income of child laborers is also absorbed by their families. The paucity of organized banking in the rural areas creates a void in taking facilities, forcing poor families to push their children in harsh labor, the harshest being bonded labor.

              Bonded labor traps the growing child in a hostage like condition for years. The importance of formal education is also not realized, as the child can be absorbed in economically beneficial activities at a young age. Moreover there is no access to proper education in the remote areas of rural India for most people, which leaves the children with no choice.

Child Labour in India

India accounts for the second highest number where child labour in the world is concerned. Africa accounts for the highest number of children employed and exploited. The fact is that across the length and breadth of the nation, children are in a pathetic condition.

While experts blame the system, poverty, illiteracy, adult unemployment; yet the fact is that the entire nation is responsible for every crime against a child. Instead of nipping the problem at the bud, child labour in India was allowed to increase with each passing year. And today, young ones below the age of 14 have become an important part of various industries; at the cost of their innocence, childhood, health and for that matter their lives.

Here is a look at the various labour activities involving children, across the length and breadth of India…

Bonded Child Labour :
This is also known as slave labour and is one of the worst types of labour for children and adults, alike. In fact, in 1976 the Indian Parliament enacted the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act; herein declaring bonded illegal. However, the fact remains is that this system of working still continues. According to certain experts approximately 10 million bonded children labourers are working as domestic servants in India. Beyond this there are almost 55 million bonded child labourers hired across various other industries.

Child Labour in The Agricultural Sector :
According to a recent ILO report about 80% child labourers in India are employed in the agriculture sector. The children are generally sold to the rich moneylenders to whom borrowed money cannot be returned.

Street Children:
Children on the streets work as beggars, they sell flowers and other items, instead of being sent to school. They go hungry for days to gather. In fact, they are starved so that people feel sorry for them and give them alms.

Children Employed At Glass Factories:
According to recent estimates almost 60,000 children are employed in the glass and bangle industry and are made to work under extreme conditions of excessive heat.

Child Labour in Matchbox Factories:
Of the 2,00,000 labour force in the matchbox industry, experts claim that 35% are children below the age of 14. They are made to work over twelve hours a day, beginning work at around 4 am, everyday.

Carpet Industry Child Labour :
According to a recent report by the ILO almost 4,20,000 children are employed in the carpet industry of India.

The Other Industries:
According to researchers there are about 50,000 children employed in the brass industry of India and around the same amount in the lock industry.

Causes of Child Labour

Some common causes of child labor are poverty, parental illiteracy, social apathy, ignorance, lack of education and exposure, exploitation of cheap and unorganized labor. The family practice to inculcate traditional skills in children also pulls little ones inexorably in the trap of child labor, as they never get the opportunity to learn anything else.

Child Labour Laws

Recognizing the increasing problem of child labour in India, the Parliament passed ‘The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986’.

The purpose of this Act was to declare child labour as illegal and make it a punishable act by any citizen of India.

Types of Child Labour

               Child Labour is not only found in factories, but also in many other

places . Their %age for India is:

1. Agricultural Labour 42.1%

2. Cultivators-34.8%

3. Mining, quarring - 6.5%

4. Manufacturing ex. industry - 5.4%

5. Trade and commerce-2.5%

6. Household industry-4%

7. Others- 4.6%

Effects of Child Labour

1. Child labour deprives a child of a proper childhood.

2. He suffers physical and mental torture.

3.He becomes mentally and emotially mature too fast which is

a dangerous sign.

4. Child labour creates and perpetuates poverty.

5. It condemns the child to a life of unskilled, badly paid

work.

6. Ultimatly this leads to child labour with each generation

of poor children undercutting wages.

CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR
Poverty is undoubtedly a dominant factor in the use of child labour; families on or below the poverty line force their children into work to supplement their household's meager income. Eradicating poverty, however, is only the first step on the road to eliminating child labour.

There are many other factors that conspire to drive children into employment, none of which is unique to any one country or any one family's circumstances. Only when we fully understand these reasons can we begin to address the problems associated with child labour:

• Cuts in social spending - particularly education and the health services - have a direct impact on poverty. With little or no access to schooling, children are forced into employment at an early age in order to survive
• Child labour may not even be recognised when children work as part of the family unit. This is particularly common in agriculture, where an entire family may have to work to meet a particular quota or target and cannot afford to employ outside help
• Children may also be expected to act as unpaid domestic servants in their own home, taking care of the family's needs while both parents work
• Parents may effectively "sell" their children in order to repay debts or secure a loan
• The prevalence of AIDS throughout many developing countries has resulted in an enormous number of orphans who are forced to become their own breadwinners
• The demand for cheap labour by contractors means that children are often offered work in place of their parents. With such narrow margins, contractors such as produce-growers and loom-owners know that children can be exploited and forced to work for much less than the minimum wage
• Children may also be sent into hazardous jobs in favour of parents, who can less afford the time or money to become ill or injured
• Child soldiers are forcibly enlisted into military service and operations
• Employers often justify the use of children by claiming that a child's small, nimble hands are vital to the production of certain products such as hand-knotted carpets and delicate glassware -although evidence for this is limited
• The international sex trade places great value on child prostitutes. Girls -and to a lesser extent boys- are kidnapped from their homes (or sold) to networks of child traffickers supplying overseas markets; poverty and sexual and racial discrimination also drive children into the tourist sex trade
• Young workers are unaware of their rights and less likely to complain or revolt. In many countries, the legislation is simply not effective enough to support these workers

Child marriage

The Child Marriage Restrain Act, 1929

To eradicate the evil of child marriage, the Child Marriage Restraint Act was passed in 1929. The object is to eliminate the special evil which had the potentialities of dangers to the life and health of a female child, who could not withstand the stress and strains of married life and to avoid early deaths of such minor mothers.

It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir and it applies also to all citizens of India within and beyond India.

It came into force from the Ist day of April, 1930.

(a) "Child" means a person who, if a male,. is under twenty one years of age, and if a female, is under eighteen years of age

(b) "child marriage"    means a marriage to which either the contracting parties is a child ;

(c) "contracting party" to a marriage means either of the parties whose marriage is   or is about to be thereby
solemnised ;

(d) "minor" means a person of either sex who is under eighteen years of age.

Child Marriages in India

Many girls in India get married when they are still kids. Children marriages are banned in this country, but they still happen. Government survey in 2006 reported that 45 % of Indian girls were married being younger than 18 years old. Local police raids child marriage ceremonies when it gets a chance because young girls who are forced to marry boys or old men are often at risk of violence and sexual abuse. Inside this post you can find photos of child brides taken by Reuters’ photographers.

What is child marriage?

Child/Early marriage refers to any marriage of a child younger than 18 years old, in accordance to Article 1 of the Convention on the Right of the Child. While child marriage affects both sexes, girls are disproportionately affected as they are the majority of the victims. Their overall development is compromised, leaving them socially isolated with little education, skills and opportunities for employment and self-realisation. This leaves child brides more vulnerable to poverty, a consequence of child marriage as well as a cause.

Child marriage is now widely recognised as a violation of children's rights, a direct form of discrimination against the girl child who as a result of the practice is often deprived of her basic rights to health, education, development and equality. Tradition, religion and poverty continue to fuel the practice of child marriage, despite its strong association with adverse reproductive health outcomes and the lack of education of girls.

What are the consequences of child marriage?

There are numerous detrimental consequences associated with Child marriage, with physical, developmental, psychological and social implications.

Physical consequences

When a child bride is married she is likely to be forced into sexual activity with her husband, and at an age where the bride is not physically and sexually mature this has severe health consequences.

Child brides are likely to become pregnant at an early age and there is a strong correlation between the age of a mother and maternal mortality. Girls ages l0-14 are five times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than women aged 20-24 and girls aged 15-19 are twice as likely to die [7]. Young mothers face higher risks during pregnancies including complications such as heavy bleeding, fistula, infection, anaemia, and eclampsia which contribute to higher mortality rates of both mother and child. At a young age a girl has not developed fully and her body may strain under the effort of child birth, which can result in obstructed labour and obstetric fistula. Obstetric fistula can also be caused by the early sexual relations associated with child marriage, which take place sometimes even before menarche

Developmental consequences

Child Marriage also has considerable implications for the social development of child brides, in terms of low levels of education, poor health and lack of agency and personal autonomy. The Forum on Marriage and the Rights of Women and Girls explains that 'where these elements are linked with gender inequities and biases for the majority of young girls… their socialisation which grooms them to be mothers and submissive wives, limits their development to only reproductive roles'

Causes of Child Marriage

Child marriage has many causes: cultural, social, economic and religious. In many cases, a mixture of these causes results in the imprisonment of children in marriages without their consent.

Poverty: Poor families sell their children into marriage either to settle debts or to make some money and escape the cycle of poverty. Child marriage fosters poverty, however, as it ensures that girls who marry young will not be properly educated or take part in the workforce.

"Protecting" the girl's sexuality: In certain cultures, marrying a girl young presumes that the girl's sexuality, therefore the girl's family's honor, will be "protected" but ensuring that the girl marries as a virgin. The imposition of family honor on a girl's individuality, in essence robbing the girl of her honor and dignity, undermines the credibility of family honor and instead underscores the presumed protection's actual aim: to control the girl.

Gender discrimination: Child marriage is a product of cultures that devalue women and girls and discriminate against them. "The discrimination," according to a UNICEF report on "Child Marriage and the Law," "often manifests itself in the form of domestic violence, marital rape, and deprivation of food, lack of access to information, education, healthcare, and general impediments to mobility."

Inadequate laws: Many countries such as Pakistan have laws against child marriage. The laws are not enforced. In Afghanistan, a new law was written into the country's code enabling Shiite, or Hazara, communities to impose their own form of family law--including permitting child marriage.

Individual Rights Denied by Child Marriage

The Convention on the Rights of the Child are designed to guarantee certain individual rights--which are abused by early marriage. Rights undermined or lost by children forced to marry early are:

• The right to an education.
• The right to be protected from physical and mental violence, injury or abuse, including sexual abuse, rape and sexual exploitation.
• The right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health.
• The right to rest and leisure, and to participate freely in cultural life.
• The right to not be separated from parents against the child's will.
• The right to protection against all forms of exploitation affecting any aspect of the child’s welfare.
• The right to eventual employment.