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FIGHT CHILD LABOUR AND YOU WILL STOP CHILD TRAFFICKING

Save the Children has launched a two-month campaign in preparation for Anti-Child Labour Day calling on the public in India and around the world to Say NO to Child Labour and Child Trafficking.

Please join the campaign today: your support has the power to influence decision makers to enforce the laws that were created to protect children. By refusing to support child labour you will help to end the supply of children through trafficking. Save the Children's campaign aims to raise public awareness about  the reality of child labour and trafficking and let people know how to take action against these issues.

To join the campaign and 'Say NO to Child Labour and Child Trafficking' Sign Our Pledge. It costs nothing and will contribute to a global movement to change the lives of exploited children throughout India.

The Government of India has banned child labour but many forms still exist and we see them every day.  Employment of persons under the age of 14 was banned in domestic work, hotels and restaurants on 10th October 2006 by an amendment to the Child Labour Prevention Act after much lobbying from organizations including Save the Children.  However, Save the Children estimates there are 50,000 child domestic workers in the city of Kolkata and nationally 74% of child domestic workers are between 12 to 16 years old (Child Domestic Work: A Violation of Human Rights, 2005).

Child domestic work is abundant and accepted in Indian society because of misconceptions about child labour.  It is often considered charitable to provide employment to children from poor families and many parents believe work offers their children better prospects and they will receive a good income, adequate care and the chance for education. In reality children in all forms of labour are exploited and very often abused because, away from their families, children are extremely vulnerable.  Child domestic workers are often physically, mentally or sexually abused, work extremely long hours and in dangerous occupations without adequate food or care.  Trafficked  children are easily sold into the commercial sex industry without the knowledge of their parents. Traffickers exploit the lack of parent’s knowledge of the reality of the life of child labours. 

THE FACTS

• Child domestic workers can work 15 hours a day without breaks for little pay
• 68% of the children surveyed had faced physical abuse and 46.6% had faced severe abuse that had led to injuries
• 32.2% have had their private parts touched by the abuser, 20% had been forced to have sexual intercourse
• 50% of children do not get any leave in a year, 37% never see their families
• 78% of workers receive less than Rs. 500 per month.

SAVE THE CHILDREN IS CALLING FOR

•  The age limit for child domestic workers to be raised from 14 to 18 years.  This would be in line with the Juvenile Justice (care and protection) Act 2000, which defines a child as a person less than 18 years of age.
• Effective implementation of currant laws by state governments
• Strictly enforced penalties for employers who employ child labourers and strict action against those who employ child domestic workers.
• Close scrutiny of and action against placement agencies that act as facades for trafficking
• Effective plans backed by an adequate budget from the government to rehabilitate former/rescued child workers and help them to re-enter schools and provide appropriate vocational education.  Also to help families in source areas for child workers to access poverty alleviation programs, social protection scheme and safety net schemes to lessen the financial pressures that lead families to send their children to work. 
  

Save the Children’s Response
Save the Children aims to change attitudes about child domestic work through disseminating factual information.  We want to make child domestic work socially and culturally unacceptable so it can be successfully reduced and gradually abolished. 

 

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