Over eight million children around the
world are in slavery. They are working as bonded labourers, recruited
for armed conflict, prostitution, pornography and other illegal activities
and trafficked.
A further 111 million under the age of 15 work in hazardous conditions
from which they should immediately be withdrawn. They are deprived
of education and all other children's rights.
On 20 November, the world marks the Universal Day of the Child,
the anniversary of the adoption of the Convention of the Rights
of the Child. All but two countries have signed this convention
(with the exception of Somalia and the United States), but in many
it is hardly implemented.
One of the fastest growing means by which children are enslaved
today is trafficking. Girls as young as six are trafficked to work
as maids in West Africa, young boys are abducted from their homes
in South Asia and forced to be camel jockeys in the United Arab
Emirates and girls are trafficked and forced into prostitution in
the United Kingdom.
Governments around the world need to demonstrate political will
in protecting children. International law developed to protect children,
such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the
International Labour Organization's Worst Forms of Child Labour
Convention No. 182 need to be ratified and universally enforced.
The key forces that lie at the root of this exploitation also need
to be addressed, such as poverty and discrimination, if children
are to be safe from slavery and work that is harmful to their health
and well-being.
See child
labour for further information |
