Child Labour Essay

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Recommended: Eradication of child labor

Processing of Findings
In researching, I decided to separate the information into categories of focus questions with regard to child labour. These are: how widespread slavery and child labour is today; how it affects society as well as the children themselves; why it exists and what solutions are being pursued.
How Widespread is Slavery and Child Labour Today?
It is important to know what slavery actually means. It is the situation in which a person finds himself when having to work against his will for the profit of another individual and is not able to escape this situation. A person is a slave when he lives and works under the control of another person or persons and cannot determine the course of his life or have any benefit from the work that he does. Children are the easiest people to exploit as they are usually weak and vulnerable, particularly in the developing world and highly overpopulated countries such as those in South East Asia or Africa. They easily fall prey to being used as child labour as slave traders or the owners of slaves are easily able to identify their vulnerability. Many of these children are captured and kept by force but many are also ‘sold’ by their families who believe that they are the answer to be able to provide for their impoverished relatives with income for their survival. Children used in child labour are exploited for little or no pay. Children used as slaves are common in India, Pakistan, Nepal and other nations in Southern Asia but the practice is found throughout the entire world.
It is stated that over 186 million children aged between five and fourteen work for a living. (Chambers, 2005) Most of these children have no benefit at all from the meagre wages that they earn and usually neve...

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...ganisations. However, their work is made difficult by many extreme factors such as wars, environmental destruction and economic crises. Some children are rescued and slaveholders are prosecuted but addressing poverty before children are used for child labour is crucial to stop the cycle of abuse. Anti-slavery laws are also a vital step forward in the fight against using children for child labour.
There are numerous bodies campaigning against child labour. Noteworthy ones are The International Labour Organization (ILO). The ILO is an agency of the United Nations that aims to promote social justice and give international recognition to human and labour rights. It was founded in 1919 and formulates international standards in the form of Conventions and Recommendations by setting minimum standards of basic labour rights- in the area of work related issues. www.ilo.org

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