To: irra
Subject: child labour and slavery
In personal correspondence a few members of the irra net have suggested that my reference to
issues such as child prostitution and slavery suggest that I am a crank rather than a sober and
serious individual desiring to enter into reasoned debate. A new publication by the ILO provides
evidence on the existence and extent of these practices. Here are a few excepts from the most
recent ILO publication World of Work.
"The commercial sexual exploitation of children is on the rise, even though the subject
has in recent years become an issue of global concern... Children are increasingly being
bought and sold across national borders by organized networks. The ILO report states
that at least 5 such intl networks exist: from Latin America to Europe and the Middle
East; from south and south-east Asia to northern Europe and the Middle East; a European
regional market; an associated Arab regional market; and a west African export market
in girls... Some 1 million children in Asia alone are victims of the sex trade..."
I admit it. I am very cranky about the existence of this stuff.
Roy J. Adams
Professor of Industrial Relations and Director,
Theme School on International Justice and Human Rights
McMaster University
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To: irra
Subject: child labour and slavery
As a member of the ILO's Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and
Recommendations, I can vouch for what Roy Adams says. Members of the committee read
reports of these practices. We always find the issues arising under Convention No. 29 (forced
labor) to be the most disturbing.
This past December, we reviewed reports from several countries (e.g., Thailand) where it is
essentially undisputed that families in villages turn over their young daughter (usually about age
12) for a sum of money and she is taken away to a city and put to work in a brothel for no pay
(and no way to get home even if her family would take her back). [For an unofficial report of
this practice, see last Sunday's London Times' article on the young Nepalese prostitutes in India.]
Reports from Sudan (which is experiencing what one might call a civil war) indicate that
people, especially children ages 10-13, are being taken captive and taken back home by the
victors and put to work at no pay. If the child's parents tries to get the child back, the possessor
demands an exorbitant fee (in one case, $50,000). This is today, not something out of Aida.
Even today, the losers can be taken away into slavery.
Last year we had a case from Brazil, where urban parents turned their young sons (ages 9-12)
over to a person in return for money. The boys were taken to a remote location, over a 1000
miles to the west and put to work in mines for no pay. An Amnesty International-type
organization discovered this example of slave labor. It was the Committee's opinion that this
violated the convention on forced labor. The Brazilian government has taken action to stop this
particular operation.
In the Indian subcontinent, young children (as young as 5) are indentured as part of the
repayment arrangement on a parental debt. They work for no money.
By the way, the United States has taken a strong stance at the ILO conference against child labor,
child sexual labor, and slavery.
Janice Bellace
Wharton School - Univ of PA