Child exploitation is a broad term which includes forced or dangerous labour, child trafficking, and child prostitution. The term is used to refer to situations where children are abused – physically, verbally, or sexually – or when they are submitted to unsatisfactory conditions as part of their forced or voluntary employment. Many of the children who suffer from exploitation do so because they have no other choice – their parents may need the added income, or the children may be orphaned or responsible for their siblings as a result of war or disease (particular HIV/AIDS). They may also have been trafficked or forced into slave labour, either in their own country or somewhere internationally, and may be living a life of struggle, suffering and invisibility within the community.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) believes that up to 1.2 million children are trafficked annually all over the world. The ILO defines human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring and receipt of people (including children) by means of force, threat or coercion. Trafficking is only the beginning of the suffering for victims – generally those that are taken will be forced to work in industries that the ILO defines as some of the ‘Worst Forms of Child Labour’ (set out in the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention). This includes prostitution, the drugs trade, and working dangerous jobs under ground, under water, in confined spaces, or in environments which can be harmful to the health. The ILO believes that no child should be submitted to these forms of employment, even if they are over the minimum work age decided upon by the country they work in. Unfortunately it is easy for governments to turn a blind eye to such child exploitation, and millions of children – 120 million to be exact – work in these ‘Worst Forms’ all over the world.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) believes that up to 1.2 million children are trafficked annually all over the world. The ILO defines human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring and receipt of people (including children) by means of force, threat or coercion. Trafficking is only the beginning of the suffering for victims – generally those that are taken will be forced to work in industries that the ILO defines as some of the ‘Worst Forms of Child Labour’ (set out in the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention). This includes prostitution, the drugs trade, and working dangerous jobs under ground, under water, in confined spaces, or in environments which can be harmful to the health. The ILO believes that no child should be submitted to these forms of employment, even if they are over the minimum work age decided upon by the country they work in. Unfortunately it is easy for governments to turn a blind eye to such child exploitation, and millions of children – 120 million to be exact – work in these ‘Worst Forms’ all over the world.