Child Labour - Exploitation of the Little One’s

Child labour is the illegal act of forcing young children to work. In India, multiple industries force children to work illegally. Among many sectors, the agriculture sector attracts more children to engage in agricultural activity to earn their living. Eighty-five per cent of children are from Indian rural sectors, which are employed due to various social factors that fail to meet their lifestyle.

To abolish child labour, many constitutional provisions were made. Despite that, many children are exploited under unsafe work conditions. Many children tend to leave their studies for paid labour to support their families. The cruel world ceases their childhood joys.

Against child labour and cruelty only enacted provision by the Indian Constitution was The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. Other provisions like the factories Act,1948, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act-2000, and so on for prevention against child labour lacks proper implementation and enforcement.

The children are forced to work like adults at a young age; this act is called Child Labour. It simply ceases the childhood of small children. It leads to physical, social, and moral harm to little children. The number of children who are forcefully employed is undetected in India. 

The children are sometimes forced to work under bad working conditions and inadequate wages, food, or rest. Many children are affected physically, sexually, mentally, and emotionally.

The use of children in producing goods and services is called child labour. They are provided with minimum wages, which leads to their exploitation. They are forced to work for longer hours and get a very low amount for the same. 

The children can easily be manipulated and forced into any type of work. Some parents willingly send their children to get involved in such activities. 

Some of their parents are unable to generate adequate income for meeting the basic requirements of the family. However, some parents refrain from sending their children to work to earn their living.

Child Labor And Exploitation

Child labour deprives children of their right to go to school and reinforces intergenerational cycles of poverty.

According to data from Census 2011, the number of child labourers in India is 10.1 million of which 5.6 million are boys and 4.5 million are girls. A total of 152 million children – 64 million girls and 88 million boys – are estimated to be in child labour globally, accounting for almost one in ten of all children worldwide.

Children belong in schools, not workplaces. Child labour deprives children of their right to go to school and reinforces intergenerational cycles of poverty. Child labour acts as a major barrier to education, affecting both attendance and performance in school.

Child trafficking is also linked to child labour and it always results in child abuse. Trafficked children face all forms of abuse-physical, mental, sexual and emotional. 

Trafficked children are subjected to prostitution, forced into marriage or illegally adopted; they provide cheap or unpaid labour, are forced to work as house servants or beggars and may be recruited into armed groups. 

Trafficking exposes children to violence, sexual abuse and HIV infection.

UNICEF works with government and for-profit agencies to put in place the necessary policy framework to end child labour. 

It works with businesses to assess the supply chains and to find sustainable options to address business practices that lead to child labour. It works with families to support the ending of labour that is a result of bonded or debt labour. 

UNICEF supports state governments to integrate programmes that would end child labour. 

We also support communities in changing their cultural acceptance of child labour, while ensuring alternative income to families, access to preschools, quality education and protection services.

Listening to Children is Vital to Achieving Success in the Fight Against Child Labour 

A key message in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is that children have a right to voice their views on matters affecting them and to have these taken into account. Children have the power to play a significant role in preventing and responding to child labour. 

They are key actors in child protection and can give valuable insights into how they perceive their involvement and what they expect from the government and other stakeholders.

Conclusion

It is time to consign child labour to the history books and to allow all children to realise their rights. Child labour is a fact of life for children and it is an issue that effect of all us in any country. 

It is the duty of everyone to contribute to the stop child labour – governments, trade unions, businesses, international organisations, communities, employers, teachers, parents, children and you. 

The ‘school is the best place to work’ campaign believes that child labour of any type of work is harmful to a child’s development including affecting full-time quality education. 

The main key to eliminate child labour is political mobilisation and practical action. Despite promises made by the world to care for every child, they still lack in it.

The main two objectives of this Campaign 

• To bring a chance, all forms of child labour and to challenge those who would argue for its relation.

• To support the global campaign for education which seeks to provide Education for All (EFA)?? The main source of information on child labour comes from the International Labour Organisation (ILO). 

• They conduct research and publish reports on the issue and have a special department dedicated to the elimination of child labour – the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). 

Is All Child Labour Hazardous?

Child labour is any labour that prevents a child from receiving full-time formal education. Helping around the house or working in a local shop on weekends or for a few hours after school during the week is not child labour. 

In fact, this kind of work can be good for a young person- it helps them learn valuable life skills and knowledge. 

However, if this work prevents a child from receiving full-time formal education and when it contravenes existing laws on the minimum age and condition for employment, it leads to child labour.

"Life Of Little Ones Are Destroyed, When Child Labour Is Employed.."


Written By - Akshita Sharma

Edited By - Akash Verma