Child Labor and Exploitation in El Salvador

By: Ivette Alvarez

What is child labor?

A child (5-17) who works a harmful job, and/or keeps that child from school. Usually the child is from a very low income family.

Characteristics:
Violates a nations minimum age laws. Threatens childrens physical, mental, or emotional wellbeing. Involves intolerable abuse. (i.e. child slavery, child trafficking,

debt bondage, forced labor, or other illicit activates)

Prevents children from going to school. Uses children to undermine labor standards.

Statistics for 2012

Where most child labor occur

215 million child laborers around the world. 53% are in Asia and in the Pacific 7% are in Latin American. 30% are in sub-Saharan Africa.

Child labor can be found in every industry.

Agriculture: 60% of child labor occurs in agriculture, fishing, hunting, and forestry. Manufacturing: About 14 million children are involved in manufacturing goods.

Mining and Quarrying: The dangerous industry a child

could work in. Children as young as 6 break up rock, and 9 year olds are underground setting explosives.

Other child labor industries:

Most girl work in domestic services as young as the age of 6. Domestic services are linked to child trafficking; and are often victims of physical, emotional, and at times sexual abuse.

Another area of child exploitation are hotels,

restaurants, and some tourist areas. This areas are linked with prostitution and debt bondage.

El Salvadors child labor on sugar plantations

The leading area of El Salvadors child labor problems are on sugar plantations

Businesses, such as the Coca-Cola Company,

purchase sugar from El Salvador.

Harvesting the sugar canes requires children to

use machetes and other sharp objects to cut the

sugar cane.

Facts about El Salvadors child labor

One-third of the workers on El Salvadors sugarcane
plantations are children under the age of 18. It is estimated that as many as 300,000 children under the

age of 18 work on the plantations.

The work on a sugarcane plantation is considered the most dangerous of all forms of agricultural work, and the children are not provided with any kind of medical care.

Consequences of child labor.

Illiteracy and poverty

Damaged physical, mental or social development.

Adult unemployment and reduced bargaining power.

Poverty is both the cause of child labor and a

consequence of poverty.

Could child Labor be stopped?

With millions of children around the world, its an issue very hard to control. The International Labor Rights Forum has played a leading role trying to stop child labor by highlighting

the use of child labor in production of imported goods

from foreign countries, by rising awareness, and by promoting passage of important laws.

In conclusion.
Everyone should be educated on child labor and exploitation.

Do not buy items from known companies who

purchase items from child labor countries.

Sponsor a child in need.

Sign petitions to pass international law against child labor.

References
1. http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58009.html

2. http://www.topnews.in/law/include-agriculture-childlabour-laws-clamour-children-248862 3. http://stopchildlabor.org/ http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/child_lab or/about/what_is_child_labor.html 5. http://www.hrw.org/news/2004/06/09/el-Salvador-childlabor-sugar-plantations

4.