DUSHANBE, June 12, 2013, Asia-Plus — To mark the World Day Against Child Labor, the International Labor Organization (ILO) publishes a report outlining the abuses suffered by millions of children working in family homes.
The ILO says an estimated 10.5 million children worldwide – most of them under age – are working as domestic workers in people’s homes, in hazardous and sometimes slavery-like conditions.
Six and a half million of these child laborers are aged between five and 14 years-old. More than 71 per cent are girls.
According to the latest figures in a new ILO report, Ending Child Labor in Domestic Work, they work in the homes of a third party or employer, carrying out tasks such as cleaning, ironing, cooking, gardening, collecting water, looking after other children and caring for the elderly.
Vulnerable to physical, psychological and sexual violence and abusive working conditions, they are often isolated from their families, hidden from the public eye and become highly dependent on their employers. Many might end up being commercially sexually exploited, the report says.
The report calls for concerted and joint action at national and international levels to eliminate child labor in domestic work.
It is estimated that an additional 5 million children, who are above the minimum legal age of work in their countries, are involved in paid or unpaid domestic work globally.
Child domestic work is not recognized as a form of child labor in many countries because of the blurred relationship with the employing family, the report says. The child is “working, but is not considered as a worker and although the child lives in a family setting, she or he is not treated like a family member.”
This familial and legal “care vacuum” disguises an “exploitative arrangement”, often characterized by long working hours, lack of personal freedom and sometimes hazardous working conditions. The hidden nature of their situation makes them difficult to protect.
The report calls for improved data collection and statistical tools so that the true extent of the problem can be ascertained. It also presses for governments to ratify and implement ILO Convention 138, concerning the minimum age for admission to employment and ILO Convention 182, on the worst forms of child labor.
However, it stresses that domestic work is an important source of employment, especially for millions of women. This has been recognized in the landmark ILO Convention 189 concerning decent work for domestic workers which, the report says, should also be promoted as part of the strategy to eliminate child labor in domestic work.
