According to UNICEF figures, some 115 million children worldwide are victims of child labor , with many of these in extremely dangerous situations, including factory work or in mines without any of the necessary protections, or spending days and nights on the streets doing odd jobs such as shoe-shining or selling cigarettes.
In Honduras, child labor is a major concern, with
Casa Alianza Honduras documenting 412,222 cases of child labor (between 5 and 17 years old) in the country. In order to try and tackle this problem, in October 2011, the Human Rights Observatory of
Casa Alianza Honduras called “Violence Watch” published an informative and detailed 40- page report addressing the situation in Honduras and calling for change. The report offers a definition of child labor as well as a discussing it from a human rights perspective, providing statistical information on the number of victims, the causes of child labor in Honduras, and some of the worst examples in the country.
The report also includes various case studies about the dangers and risks faced by children at work. One such study is of a girl, who, from four years old, was sent out by her parents to work in the rubbish dumps. Her father was an alcoholic, and regularly beat her if she did not provide enough for him to be able to pay the rent. She only ever attended one year of school. One day, when she was 11 years old, while working in the rubbish dump, she was beaten up and raped by five men. It was in this same garbage heap that a passer-by offered her the chance to escape and work in a new center. Upon accepting, she found that once again she had been deceived, and the passer-by who had pretended to offer a new chance at life, had in fact sold her to a brothel where she forced to sleep with at least 10 men on a daily basis, to pay off her ‘debts’.
The report also examines the issue of child labor from a legal point of view, analyzing the violations of both domestic and international law for which the state of Honduras needs to be held accountable. The report concludes by making recommendations and proposals including:
- 1) inspection and monitoring of all areas where children are working, especially those areas that affect their health and safety
- 2) state policies that provide economic alternatives for families so that sending their kid is not a necessity
- 3) training for all employers and business owners regarding the crime of child labor and
- 4) a program led by the government, judicial authorities and civil society actors, demanding an end to child labor in Honduras.
As is clear throughout the report, child labor is a violation of the human rights of children both on a domestic and international level. Casa Alianza Honduras believes that measures must be taken to stop this crime and to provide sustainable alternatives so that children are not forced to find such risky employment. The report has been circulated to government, legal and local authorities in Honduras, and around the world. It is hoped that with this information, Honduran citizens will unite to bring an end to this crime.
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