Child Labor in Latin America

What is Child Labor?

[According to the International Labor organization]

"For the purposes of this Convention, the term the worst forms of child labour comprises:

(a) all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;

(b) the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;

(c) the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties;

(d) work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.

More than 150 nations, backed by millions of dollars from the U.N. Children's Fund, have adopted the ILO's landmark conventions since 1995

• address the needs of individual's & communities and work with related systems (education, poverty, abuse, violence, family, government, etc.)
• implement/develop policy (job training, protective laws, etc.)

Resources/References:

http://www.ibtimes.com/bolivias-bill-ban-child-labor-opposed-child-workers-president-evo-morales-delays-vote-january

http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2099200,00.html

http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_INSTRUMENT_ID:312327

http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.asp

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/ending-child-labor-in-latin-america/

http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/lac.htm

http://www.naswdc.org/pubs/code/code.asp

wsws.org

Practice Application Presentation: Child Labor in Latin America

What We Learned Most & Remaining Questions

Diversity, Social Justice & Social Work Ethics/Values

What is our ethical responsibility for this issue?

Ethics/Values

Ethical Principals

• Service

"Social workers’ primary goal is to help people in need and to address social problems".

• Importance of Human Relationships

"Social workers understand that relationships between and among people are an important vehicle for change".

In countries like Bolivia, more than 100,000 children and teenagers have organized unions to defend their right to work, demanding government protection and improved job conditions. Current economic conditions means that children need and want to help support their families amidst labor laws and regulations. This situation reflects

NASW code 1.02, an individual's right to Self-Determination-

this code may be in conflict with NASW code 1.14, Clients Who Lack Decision-Making Capacity.

Most Surprising:

• The amount that child labor has decreased in the recent years

Child labour among girls fell by 40% since 2000, compared to 25% for boys.

• The horrible conditions that children work in.
• Bolivia has changed the legal working age from 14 years old to 10 years old.

Questions:

How would a social worker help to reconcile the differences between children wanting to work and labor organizations forbidding it?

Did children ever not work in Latin America? Will children ever not work in Latin America

Diversity

Social Justice

Jasmine Gonzalez

Benjamin Mendoza

Sam Mikos

"The traditional paradigm tendency to view the world in binary terms of either/or greatly oversimplifies the richness and multiple realities of many persons". - Schriver

"Members of oppressed groups often personally experience dehumanization and

victimization. Social Workers understand the consequences of social injustices and intervene to achieve individual and collective social and economic justice". - Miley, O'Melia & Dubois.

Acknowledge the differences of culture.

The biggest characteristic of poverty in Latin America is inequality. Mostly huge income inequalities, and also inequality of access to basic services (water, electricity, education, etc…). - Poverties.org

"Child labor is something that is engrained in Bolivian culture, with a large percentage of the adolescent population having to work".- The Independent

"The unconditional worst forms of child labor, such as commercial sexual exploitation... girls, who are often more vulnerable due to prevalent cultural and social patriarchal norms in Latin America"- ILO

Child Labor in Latin America

Who

There are 13 million (8.8%) of children engaged in child labour in Latin America

America and the Caribbean

These children range in age from ages 5-17 years old (although this may vary)

What

Latin America: 20 sovereign states expanding from the southern border of the United States of America to the southern tip of South America including the Caribbean

Where

Applying the Generalist Social Work Perspective

City markets

Mine shafts

Agriculture fields and farms

Households

Drug trafficking

Scavengers

Prevalence of the issue:

Why is this important?

What contributes to child labor?

According to Miley (2013), “Generalist social work provides an integrated and multileveled approach for meeting the purposes of social work. Generalist practitioners acknowledge the interplay of personal and collective issues, prompting them to work with a variety of human systems” (p.8).

• Children working in unsafe environments is a human rights issue
• Unemployment and child labor grow side by side.

• Poverty
• Economic Shock
• Economic Conditions (high unemployment rate for adults, children offered work in place of their parents because they are easier to exploit)
• Weak enforcement of laws against labor abuse
• Access to Education (average child has not completed the 8th grade)

Generalist Perspective

Intervention

Historical Context:

• Child labor has been around for centuries
• Child labor reached new extremes during the Industrial Revolution.

Who Benefits?

MICRO:

Individuals are engaged, their needs are presented as top priority (children hauling water multiple times a day, rough terrain, long distance) each of the families 24 houses now have faucets

MEZZO:

Community helped to build the the water tank, involvement and follow-up of the municipal government, Operation Blessing provided funding

MACRO:

Honduras government provided water expert engineers and technology, video developed to raise awareness, available on the world wide web

• Wealthy Corporations due to thier economic status
• Households (ability to provide necessities)
• Communities (opportunity for jobs)
• Consumers (benefit from cheap merchandise in large quantities)

Who suffers?

• The Children (physical injuries, long-term health/psychological issues, exhaustion)
• Indigenous populations, afro-descendant populations, (because of disproportionately high rates of poverty)
• Child migrants (many governments have discovered a link between social exclusion and child labor)