Child Labour: A Scream in the Shadows

Trigger Warning: Mentions of sexual exploitation and child abuse

Child Labor is defined as the employment (exploitation) of children in an industry or business, especially when illegal or considered exploitative, and which hinders with children’s ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially, and morally harmful. It deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their right to education, and is harmful to their physical, mental, and moral development. This mostly unpaid work takes a toll on children’s mental and physical health, and causes a myriad of issues. In this short article we will go over the causes, impacts, and nuances of child labor to better understand the problem and navigate the way forward by coming up with effective solutions to this significant issue that robs children of their childhood.

First, let’s talk about what child labor consists of and why this problem exists. A major reason is poverty, and then it´'s greed and power. On a very basic level, we understand children being forced into labor to put food on the table. Almost 700 million people worldwide live in extreme poverty, according to World Bank Group. Sending the children to school is another hassle, as that requires financial investment, which the families do not have. Children usually help around the house, or work in the fields (agriculture). They have no other choice but to go out in the streets and beg, work in factories, or are employed as servants in other people’s houses. “The number of children aged 5 to 17 years in hazardous work – defined as work that is likely to harm their health, safety or morals – has risen by 6.5 million to 79 million since 2016” - UN. On top of that, 1 in 5 children in the world’s poorest countries are engaged in child labor.

Now let’s get deeper into the problem. At the core, the children lose their right to education. We all know the importance of education, especially for children, as it highly impacts the well-being of the child, helps with the literacy rate, reduced poverty, etc. Many countries agree with the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Children (UNICEF), most of which are overlooked when we talk about child labor. When these children work as servants, they often face cruel treatment at the hands of their employer. They are usually overworked, underfed, and deprived of their childhood. They are forced to watch and prepare food while a whole family gets to eat, forced to stand silently in the corner when other kids get to play with each other, watching other children and the food and toys they get to have with desirous eyes, aching for love and care and resources. This has immense psychological impacts: it causes loneliness, social isolation, depression, accelerated cognitive decline, and more.

These children are often abused by their owners, from verbal abuse to physical and even sexual abuse, they face severe physical and psychological symptoms including bodily injuries, anxiety, panic attacks, hindered growth, etc. The UN condemns violence on children, stating “prohibiting all forms of violence against children, in all settings, including all corporal punishment, harmful traditional practices,…” However, no one is there to question the perpetrators and people continue to turn a blind eye to this matter.

Moreover, children are often lured for work and forced into trafficking, harassment, criminal activities, prostitution, slavery and other illegal pursuits. They are preyed on their vulnerability for the purpose of exploitation, and forced to survive in inhumane conditions. This mostly occurs across national borders, labor is demanded in environments that are unacceptable and dangerous to health, and children are used for sexual exploitation, drug couriering, and slavery-like practices in the informal industrial sector. Another part of the problem is trafficking of children for the sex trade; for forced child marriages, production of child sexual abuse material, organized crime - and in the digital age, this becomes a whole lot easier to implement.

Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan have the highest number of child laborers. Mainly due to war, but also not enough attention is given to this matter, which allows criminal to pass under the eyes of law, unaffected, unseen, untouched, but it is the children who are affected.

On a wider note, this issue not only affects them, it affects everyone. Not only do children lose their innocence. When their education suffers, in the future, these children won't be qualified for jobs and then will continue to live in poverty. Potential goes to waste; a lot of economic, technological, industrial potential. Likewise, criminals use children to perpetuate crime rings, which further increases the crime rate and puts everyone in danger.

The ILO (International Labor Organization) and UNICEF propose social protection, increased funding to quality education, better employment and benefits for adults, and investment in child protection systems, agricultural development, rural public services, infrastructure and livelihoods. Member States of UNICEF, businesses, trade unions, civil society, and regional and international organizations are encouraged to redouble their efforts in the global fight against child labor by making concrete action pledges. We have to put pressure on governments and governing bodies to take care of these issues. We have to keep raising our voices, we have to keep talking for the ones who are not able to raise their voices.

Recently Pakistan passed a bill that made child marriage illegal. This is a huge step towards progression: through collective efforts we can make waves.

Written by Ifrah Sajid