Child Labor Current Event

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Recommended: Solution to child labor

Ethan Harris
Mrs. Liebl
World History HON
21 September 2017
Child Labor Current Event
In the article, “Forced Labor and Child Trafficking in India’s Garment Sector”, By Geeta Sekhon, the exploitation of children in the workforce is brought to light as the largest number of child workers is in the Asian-Pacific region. The International Labour Organization reported that almost 11% of the world’s children are working. The International Labour Organization estimated that around 5.8 million children aged 5 to 17 years old work under poor conditions in India alone. This being the highest rate of child labor anywhere in the globe. In India, the agriculture industry currently has the highest number of forced child laborers, but other industries such …show more content…

India has been taking continuous steps to fight these employers of illegal child labor with new Acts such as the 1986 act which aims to regulate employment of children in occupations including handling of toxic, flammable or explosive materials, mining and other hazardous processes, and articles of the constitution, such as article 24 which prohibits employment of children under the age of 14 in factories, mines, and other hazardous fields. However, the 1986 Act only helps those in the organized sector which equates to only about 10% of the child labor force. The other 90% are left out of the regulations still struggling with the employment of children in dangerous jobs. Sekhon says that, “ In response to ongoing criticism,India’s government strengthened the Act last year, establishing that ‘no child under the age of 14 should be employed nor permitted to work in any occupation with the exception if that child helps his family or family enterprise in non-hazardous occupations, after school hours, or during school holidays’.”These steps show a promising outlook for the ban of child labor in India, but the concern is no longer over what laws are in place, more so how much these laws will be enforced to stop the employers …show more content…

Similar to the industrial revolution, India’s garment industry doesn’t have many laws against poor work conditions and those that it does have are not very heavily enforced. This causes a vast majority of the workers to end up being injured at some point in their career, sometimes to the point of being crippled for life. Furthermore, children in India may actually have it worse than the children did during the industrial revolution. During the revolution, most children were made to work about 12 hours a day 6 days a week. Children in India can be forced to work more than 14 hours a day for 6 or even 7 days a week. Lastly, children in India can start work as early as five years old. During the industrial revolution children could also start as early as this and possibly earlier at four years old. This was and still is a problem as it jeopardizes the child's safety, prevents children from gaining the education that they both deserve and need, as well it prevents them from having the ability to experience a childhood. Overall the concerns during the industrial revolution are still present today all over the world, and with efforts are being taken to stop this issue that is currently plaguing the Asian-pacific area we can one day hope to no longer have children stripped of their

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