Exploitation of child labor: legislation, features and requirements. Child labor as an obstacle to education

About 250 million children around the world are still deprived of a normal childhood. Their destiny is hard work and often in unbearable conditions. The global community is doing a lot to ensure that children have access to education and health care, but child labor undoubtedly remains one of the main problems. modern world.

The International Labor Organization estimates that around 250 million children in the world work instead of studying.

The financial crisis has only exacerbated this situation, so it is unlikely that the problem will be overcome until 2016, as previously planned by international children's organizations. What to do?

Benin. Learn, learn and learn

A market in the city of Cotonou, a transit point and destination for thousands of exploited children in West Africa. This is the largest child labor market in the region, where we can find almost everything, including the worst examples of child exploitation.

Approximately 200,000 children are estimated to be victims of human trafficking each year in West Africa. They work around the house, on farms, in mines, or in markets like this one. Benin, one of the poorest countries in the world, has become a key player in this business. Almost 800 kilometers of the border with Nigeria is poorly controlled on both sides.

Many local NGOs, such as the Don Bosco Association, have been fighting this problem for years. Every day the doors of the organization are open for “children from the street”. The work of educators here is not only teaching reading or writing.

In 2011, the NGO helped over 2,500 street children in the markets of Kotonou, Portonova and Sema, the latter two just a few meters from the Nigerian border. Thanks to the Association, the children took their first steps in education and acquired professional skills. Now it is easier for them to integrate into society.

Geneva: international program to eliminate child labor

According to the International Labor Organization, despite all the efforts of the world community and numerous projects, the number of working children is growing. In Geneva, the World of Knowledge program met with experts in the field of child labor. The results of the conversation are in our next story.

Our interlocutor is Patrick Quinn, Senior Specialist of the ILO International Child Labor Programme. He takes us through the big picture and explains how best to act to eliminate the worst forms of child labor entirely by 2016:

“250 million children around the world are forced to work. And more than half of that number work in what we call the worst forms of child labour. This is a job that is hazardous to the health and development of children.

Nearly 70 million children in the world do not go to school. This is a global problem that needs to be addressed. More than 60% of children work in hazardous areas such as mining and agriculture.

In Africa in general and in Benin in particular, over the past four years we have seen the most alarming trend in which the number of children in hard work is only increasing. So this is a serious problem.

In Southeast Asia, we are seeing some progress in the fight against child labour. But against the background of huge overcrowding, the concentration of child labor here is still the highest in the world.

Poverty is the root cause of child labour.

Need to improve the system social protection so that poor families do not have to look for funds to send their child to school. It is necessary to provide work for adults.

For example, children work in mines, agriculture with pesticides, in construction. All this is very dangerous. First, we must do our best to ensure that children learn. We must develop social protection programs so that poor families in the event of a crisis are not forced to take their children out of school and send them to work. Second, there must be a legal basis for compulsory education and for employers not to use child labor. Finally, adults should have decent job so that they can feed their families, then the children will go to school.”

India: “Lord, help me to endure, to become the salt of the earth and the light of the world”

Our next hero lives in South Asia, in India, which has always been considered a black hole in the labor market, where no laws are enforced. His name is Suzai. He had to overcome a lot in order not to break. Today he works for a charity that helps abused children.

Fleeing from the bloodshed in Burma, where he was born, Susa found himself in India. I had to start a new life.

Susa is from a large family. Four of his siblings have died. He was forced to work to feed those who survived.

Sousa became close to a Christian charity, and under their influence began to fight for the rights of working children. But life has prepared a new blow. His 15-year-old son drowned.

In 1994, Susa created a charity in memory of his son. Over the past 18 years, his organization has helped thousands of children. Now many “children from the street” have found shelter here, as well as those who work in a rice mill and in a brick factory where Susa himself worked as a child. The organization also advocates for the rights of workers in general, helps fight unfair working conditions and poor living conditions.

When the going gets tough, Suza prays, “Lord, help me to endure, to become the salt of the earth and the light of the world.”

Since 1995, the organization founded by Susa has helped nearly 5,000 children complete their primary education. Three-quarters of them ended up in schools.

In the last decades of the XVIII century. in England, for the first time in the world, machines began to be widely used in industry. This was a major step forward in the development of mankind (see p. 305).

In our time, under socialism, each new machine facilitates the work of people and increases the well-being of society. It is a different matter under capitalism, in a society divided into exploiters and exploited. The appearance of machines there brought new troubles and suffering to the working people. Previously, when there were no machines and production was carried out manually, it required physical strength, dexterity, skills, sometimes acquired as a result of long-term training. Manufacture of industrial products was mainly done by men. The first machines were extremely simple in their design. Women and children could work for them. The capitalists preferred to employ them. Children could be paid significantly less than adult men; children could not resist the manufacturers and protect their interests.

For many years, the growth of English industry was due to the most severe exploitation of the labor of not only adult workers, but also hundreds of thousands of children.

Hopeless need forced parents to send their children to factory hard labor. Children of seven, six and even five years worked in the factories. Work began at half past six in the morning and continued until 8-9 pm, that is, 2-3 pm a day. In the days of industrial fever, when the demand for goods increased, the working day was still lengthened. There were times when work began at 3 o'clock in the morning and ended at 10 o'clock in the evening. With difficulty, the parents of their children, exhausted by overwork, woke up in the morning. It was impossible to be late, for this the overseers severely beat the juvenile workers.

During the whole working day, the children stood by the cars. Sitting down was strictly forbidden. It was impossible to talk, to be distracted from work.

The factories produced cotton fabrics. There was a suffocating smell of the mixture in the working rooms. engine oil, cotton dust and fumes from tallow candles. Cotton dust so saturated the air that everything seemed to be in a fog. Small figures swarm along the long rows of cars. High wooden blocks were tied to the legs of the kids so that they could reach the cars. Outside visitors to the factory were immediately struck by the exhausted appearance of the children: their faces were wrinkled in an old age or painfully puffy, their eyes were lifeless or full of longing.

Twice a day there were half-hour breaks for meals. But even at that moment the children were working: they were lubricating the stopped cars. They swallowed the meager food they brought with them on the go.

The torments of the children became unbearable in the evening, when fatigue and exhaustion were especially pronounced. An involuntary drowsiness closed their eyes. Every now and then the overseers used the whip.

The children grew up frail and weak, many of them twisted their legs and spine from standing behind a car for a long time. The little workers were often severely injured.

Children also worked underground, in mines. There they loaded coal into trolleys and rolled them along the rails. The smallest ones opened and closed the air dampers. The passages in the mines were often so low that one had to crawl on all fours, tying the trolley to the belt and passing the belt between the legs.

Women's and children's labor supplanted the work of men. Many working-class families subsisted on the pennies earned by women and children. It happened that the child was the sole breadwinner of the whole family, and adults unsuccessfully tried to find work.

Job Joe went one day to visit his friend Jack, whom he had not seen for several years. Finding Jack's shack, he went down to the low cellar. In the corner, Joe saw a pile of straw covered with old sheets. She served as a bed. Jack sat on a tree stump in front of the fire, mending his wife's stockings.

Damn it, Jack, what are you doing! Where is your wife? Joe exclaimed.

Factory wife. She goes there at half past six in the morning and works until eight in the evening. When Mary returns, she is completely broken and cannot do anything. I don't have a job and haven't had one for three years. Yes, Joe, there is enough work for the women and children in our area, but not for the men. It's easier to find a hundred pounds on the street than to find a job. Everything is upside down now. Mary has to work, and I have to stay at home, look after the children, sweep, wash, cook and darn. You know, Joe, it's very hard for a man who is used to other work.

One of Joe and Jack's friends related this bitter conversation in a letter, which fell into the hands of Friedrich Engels, and he published it in his book on the condition of the working class in England.

Engels arrived in England at the end of 1842. With deep interest he began to study the position of the proletariat in that then advanced capitalist country. Engels read many books and documents concerning the condition of the workers. He visited the quarters where the workers huddled and saw with his own eyes the appalling poverty. Engels walked along narrow crooked streets surrounded by tall factory buildings and covered with eternal soot. Dirty multi-story houses from the basement to the very roof were packed with tenants. He saw frail, sickly children dressed in the rags of women crawling out of damp cellars into the daylight. Engels went into the apartments of the workers, where often two families huddled in one small room and five or six people slept on one bed.

Engels wrote a vivid and truthful book, The Condition of the Working Class in England. It was published in 1845 and was a formidable indictment against capitalism and the bourgeoisie. Even before Engels, many portrayed the suffering of the proletariat. These people turned to the capitalists with requests to help the workers. Engels was the first to say that the proletariat is not only a suffering class. The proletariat fighting against capitalism can itself change its position.

Indeed, the workers of England bravely and staunchly fought the capitalists. They demanded to reduce the working day, increase wages, protect children from merciless exploitation.

In the 30-40s. 19th century a mighty Chartist movement unfolded in England (see p. 350).

In August 1842 there was a strike by workers in Lancashire, known as the "cork strike". The strikers took with them plugs from steam boilers to prevent the resumption of work in factories. The strikers went from factory to factory calling on all the workers to join them. In a few days the strike swept tens of thousands of workers. It was suppressed only with the help of troops and police.

In March 1844, 40,000 miners in the northern regions of England, having learned about the intentions of the mine owners to reduce wages, threw down their picks and went on strike. In order to force the workers into submission, the owners of the mines and houses offered the workers to clear the apartments they occupied. All 40 thousand families were thrown out into the street. The sick and the weak, the elderly and children were ruthlessly dragged out of their beds and pushed out of their homes. Still, the workers did not give up. Only in the sixth month of the strike, facing the threat of starvation, did the workers stop resisting. Engels wrote that the miners fought with endurance, consciousness and courage, which aroused admiration.

The struggle of the workers forced the British Parliament to take measures to limit the exploitation of children. In 1833, a law was passed, according to which the work of adolescents from 13 to 18 years old was limited to 12 hours, the work of children aged 9 to 13 years was limited to 8 hours, and the work of children under 9 years of age was prohibited (with the exception of silk weaving factories). But this law remained on paper. It took several more years of struggle before the workers achieved in 1844 the adoption of a new law, which established control over the observance of the working conditions of children. In 1847, the workers of England succeeded in limiting the work of teenagers to 10 hours a day. In fact, men began to work for 10 hours, as they worked in one shift with women and children. In those years this was a great conquest for the British proletariat.

Since the end of the 40s. 19th century the use of child labor began to decline. By this time, many advanced complex machines had appeared that children could not manage to manage.

The inhuman exploitation of children in the first decades of factory production in England convincingly shows the price at which the progress of industry and the growth of wealth were achieved in this advanced capitalist country of Europe.

Child labour applied not only in England. So it was in France, Germany, Russia, the USA, Japan and other countries. And even now in the capitalist countries the children of the workers and the poor are not protected from exploitation.

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Today's topic will be extremely interesting and revealing. First, you will learn why child labor and women's labor were in high demand in Russian Empire and the use of such labor only grew, secondly, you will find out how much those who worked in production in the Russian Empire and in European countries earned, and how this affected their well-being, and thirdly, you will learn about how prices rose in relation to wage growth, whether the working person became more prosperous, or vice versa, became poorer ...

The source of today's material is N.A. Rubakin "Russia in numbers" (St. Petersburg, 1912).

The table below allows you to visually see how male, female and child labor is distributed in some industries. This table refers to 1900 and covers more than one and a half million workers, of which 80 thousand worked on the side:

Out of every thousand workers:

1. Metal processing: men - 972, women - 28, incl. minors of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 11 children.

2. Processing nutrients: men - 904, women - 96, incl. minors of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 14 children.

3. Wood processing: men - 898, women - 102, incl. minors of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 12 children.

4. Mineral processing (especially glass production): men - 873, women - 127, incl. juveniles of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 63 children.

5. Processing of animal products: men - 839, women - 161, incl. minors of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 17 children.

6. Processing chemical substances: men - 804, women - 196, incl. juveniles of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 2 children.

7. Paper processing: men - 743, women - 257, incl. juveniles of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 58 children.

8. Processing of fibrous substances: men - 554, women - 446, incl. juveniles of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 27 children.

9. Oil refineries: men - 995, women - 5, incl. juveniles of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 4 children.

10. Distilleries: men - 986, women - 14, incl. juveniles of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 4 children.

11. Fruit, grape, vodka: men - 937, women - 63, incl. juveniles of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 40 children.

12. Brewery: men - 914, women - 86, incl. minors of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 15 children.

13. Beet sugar: men - 876, women - 124, incl. minors of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 17 children.

14. Vodka: men - 570, women - 430, incl. minors of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 23 children.

15. Match factories: men - 518, women - 482, incl. minors of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 141 children.

16. Tobacco: men - 322, women - 678, incl. juveniles of both sexes (12-15 years old) - 69 children.

“It is hardly necessary to prove that the owners industrial enterprises they do their best, wherever possible, to replace men's labor with women's and children's labor, as cheaper, and all kinds of economic disasters that fall on the country undoubtedly increase the supply of women's and children's labor, and therefore lead to a fall in wages. The same phenomenon is facilitated by a policy that is excessively favorable to the owners. Every year, women's and children's labor finds more and more use for themselves, which cannot be otherwise with the support that the owners of plants and factories find in the government. This growth of women's and children's labor, and their greater and greater replacement of men's labor, is evident from the following table:

Out of every 1000 workers there were:

Women:

In tobacco factories: in 1895. - 647 people, in 1904. - 678 people

In match factories: in 1895. - 451 people, in 1904. - 482 people

In breweries: in 1895. - 24 people, in 1904. - 86 people

Children:

In tobacco factories: in 1895. - 91 people, in 1904. – 69 people

In match factories: in 1895. - 105 people, in 1904. - 141 people

In breweries: in 1895. - 4 people, in 1904. – 14 people

From this it can be seen that the use of female labor has increased in all three industries mentioned above, and the labor of children in match factories and breweries. Interestingly, even among minors, girls are gradually crowding out boys, because. and here their labor is paid less than that of the latter. For example, in 1895 in match factories, for every thousand young workers, there were 426 girls and 574 boys, and in 1904. already 449 girls and 551 boys. The number of female workers in tobacco factories increased even more over the same period of time (from 511 to 648 in every thousand). Female workers also appeared at sugar factories, where there were none at all before (from 0 to 26 per thousand). These numbers speak for themselves."

And now let's evaluate how the work of a worker in general and child labor in particular were paid in the Russian Empire.

Let's take an ordinary laborer. According to the Washington Bureau of Labor in 1904, average earnings laborer per month was equal to:

In the United States - 71 rubles. (with 56 working hours per week);

In England - 41 rubles. (with 52.5 working hours per week);

In Germany - 31 rubles. (with 56 working hours per week);

In France - 43 rubles. (with 60 working hours per week);

In Russia - from 10 rubles. up to 25 rubles (with 60-65 working hours per week).

Even more clearly visible is the huge difference in the average wages in Russia and abroad from the following table by Dr. E. Dementiev, who compares in it the average monthly earnings in the Moscow province, in England and in America in rubles (for all industries without exception):

a) Moscow province: male - 14.16 rubles, women. - 10.35 rubles, a teenager - 7.27 rubles, a youngster - 5.08 rubles.

b) England: men. - 21.12 rubles, women. - 18.59 rubles, a teenager - 13.32 rubles, a youngster - 4.33 rubles.

b) Massachusetts: men. - 65.46 rubles, women. - 33.62 rubles, a teenager - 28.15 rubles, a youngster - 21.04 rubles.

This information refers to the 80s, but this does not reduce their comparative significance, because. wages rose in England, and in America, and in Russia from 1880 to 1912, moreover, in a proportion even less favorable to the Russian worker. As is known, under the pressure of economic and other troubles, which force the population to work even for meager remuneration, the wages of Russian workers, who are deprived of almost any opportunity to fight for their increase by peaceful means, show a relatively small tendency to increase. The prices of laborers in England and America are rising from year to year. Thus, the already significant difference in earnings, noted by E. Dementiev, has now become even more significant.

“Wages, E. Dementiev stated at one time, both in individual industries and in average values ​​for all, without distinction, industries, in England, and especially in America, exceed the Russian twice, three times, even five times.” The monthly output of each worker, regardless of sex and age, is on average higher than ours: in England by 2.25 times, in America by 4.8 times. Expressing it in rubles, we find:

Monthly earnings in:

Moscow province. - 11 rubles. 89 kop.

England - 26 rubles. 64 kopecks, i.e. higher than Russian by 124.05% (!!!)

Massachusetts - 56 rubles. 97 kop. those. higher than Russian by 379, 14% (!!!)

In England, men earn 2.8 times more than ours, women 1.1 times, teenagers 1.2 times. In Massachusetts, men earn 4 times what we do, women 2.5 times, teenagers 3.2 times.

The latest data give the following comparative table of the average wages of workers in the three categories of mechanical production, taken as 100 wages of English workers:

Locksmith and turner:

England - 100, Germany - 90.6, Belgium - 67.3, St. Petersburg - 61.5

Laborer:

England - 100, Germany - 100, Belgium - 73.0, St. Petersburg - 50.2

The average budget of a working family in our country and abroad (in rubles):

England - UAH 936;

United States - UAH 1300;

Germany - 707 UAH;

European Russia - UAH 350;

St. Petersburg - 440 UAH.

But a comparison of wages in terms of their absolute dimensions says little about the position of the Russian worker. To make the picture clearer, it is necessary to compare wages and their changes, over time, with the prices of the main commodities and with the fluctuations of these prices.

Factory inspectors have collected data covering about 1,200,000 workers. According to these data, the annual earnings of workers changed over 1900-1909. in the following way:

1900 - 194 rubles;

1901 - 202.9 rubles;

1902 - 202.4 rubles;

1903 - 217 rubles;

1904 - 213.9 rubles;

1905 - 205.5 rubles;

1906 - 231.68 rubles;

1907 - 241.4 rubles;

1908 - 244.7 rubles;

1909 - 238.6 rubles.

Wages for 1990-1909 increased by 23%. It seems that the situation has changed during this time for the workers to a considerable extent. better side. But it is not so.

Let's pay attention, first of all, to those groups of goods, which include food items. In this case it turns out that:

- grain products increased in 1900-1909. by 36.1%;

- Animal products increased in 1900-1909. by 30%;

- oilseed products increased in 1900-1909. by 21.2%.

Over the same years, the group of groceries increased by 1.5%, and spinning (clothes) - by 11.3%.

The above data shows an increase in WHOLESALE prices! Retail prices have gone up even more!

For comparison:

- in England, retail (!) prices for 23 edible products for 1900-1908. increased by 8.4%;

- in the St. States, wholesale prices for food supplies for 1900-1908. increased by 19%;

- in Germany, prices increased over the years 1900-1908. by 11%.

(Finn-Enotaevsky, Cited Op. pp. 380-381)

The above table on the salary of Russian workers 1900-1909. states one very interesting fact. The fact is that the increase in wage rates occurred mainly in 1905-1907. The table shows that the annual wages in 1905 are lower than in 1904 and 1903. Why is that? This is explained by the fact that in 1905, as a result of strikes alone, the workers lost 23,600,000 working days.

In addition, due to the closure of many factories, there were massive layoffs of workers. There was also a general industrial crisis.

In 1906 the number of strikes was reduced, but the workers still lost 5,500,000 working days this year. In 1907, even fewer days were lost - only 2 million 400 thousand. Thanks to this, in 1906-1907. the average annual salary shows an increase. But during these 2 years, lockouts were already in full swing, and they no longer paid for strike days, especially in 1907. In addition, a turnaround began in the second half of 1907, and the scales tipped in favor of the entrepreneurs. The result was that while wages for 1904-1907. increased by 12.9%, all goods increased by 18.7%, grain products - by 37.2%, animals by 21.9%, spinning by 9.2%, and only groceries decreased by 1.4% ...

But the very horror of proletarian existence is especially vividly illustrated by that unemployment, in which a person who is hardworking, vigorous, strong and strong, turns out to be and feels unnecessary to anyone and nothing, and as if loses his right to exist, turns, in addition to his own will and desire, into an unproductive parasite.

It is hardly necessary to prove, and it is hardly possible to prove with general figures, that somewhere right there, around us, every day, every second, many thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people are in such an "unemployed state", and every crisis, general or particular, increases their number, sometimes to enormous proportions.

Such crises were, for example, in 1900-1902, in 1903 they were somewhat smoothed out, in 1904 they escalated again. Next to crises, we must put lockouts, the closure of factories, general layoffs, the magnitude of which can be judged, for example, by the fact that in 1905 in the capitals alone more than 170 thousand people were fired and transferred to the state of unemployed and unnecessary. Unemployment especially increased in 1906 after the Moscow uprising, when there were tens of thousands of unemployed in all large cities:

- in Odessa - 12 thousand 375 people;

- in Lodz - 18 thousand people;

- in Tula - 10 thousand people;

- in Poltava - 1 thousand people;

- in Rostov-on-Don - 5 thousand people;

- in Moscow, on one Khitrovy market - 10 thousand people;

- in St. Petersburg - 55 thousand people.

In 1907-1911. their number was not less, and even more in many places. At present, with the influx of landless and starving peasants into the cities, the number of unemployed is immeasurably greater. Unemployment finds its clearest expression, no doubt, in the statistics of suicides among the working population. So, for example, in St. Petersburg alone in 1904, the City Council ascertained 115 cases of suicides from unemployment, in 1905 - 94, in 1906 - 190, in 1907 - 310. the proletarian who has strayed from the earth has no other way out in the modern way of life, except for the grave ... "

IN Lately widespread exploitation of child labor. This is one of the most common problems in the modern world. Child labor is used not only in families and educational institutions, but also in large companies. A huge number of scandalous situations are associated with this violation of the law. In our article you can find detailed information about the bill.

General information about the bill

Every year, the exploitation of child labor is more and more common. Article 32-36 establishes the responsibility of the state in protecting the rights of minors from illegal forced labor. The document, which contains three parts, was adopted on September 2, 1990. The convention was finally formed a few years ago.

Article 32 exempts children from any work that may adversely affect health or become an obstacle to education. According to it, a minimum age for employment is set.

In the summer of 1999, a new Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted. It featured articles on the worst forms of child labor exploitation. It focuses on the abolition of slavery, forced participation of a child in armed conflicts, prostitution and drug trafficking. Countries that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child must protect minors from exploitation.

There is illegal exploitation of child labor all over the world. provides for punishment for kidnapping a person and forcing him to work. However, there is no separate draft law that would deal with the exploitation of child labor in the Criminal Code. However, the government plans to amend it in the near future.

Many bills have been created to address the problems associated with the exploitation of child labor. contains information that a minor can voluntarily get a job if this is not an obstacle to education. IN this case You will also need written permission from your parents. A minor must work in good conditions. He is also entitled to reduced working hours, benefits and vacations. However, before reaching the age of 15, it is impossible to get a job. It is forbidden Labor Code RF.

Child labor at school

The exploitation of child labor in schools often goes unnoticed. Almost all educational institutions actively use it in the form of classroom duty, summer practice, etc. Is child labor in school considered illegal?

During Soviet times, child labor was encouraged in schools. It was one of the methods patriotic education. In our time, views on child labor have changed. Numerous bills have been created to help protect the childhood of every child.

The most important condition for attracting a child to work at school is the permission of his parents. It must be in writing. If it is absent, then the child does not have the right to be forced to do any work at school. If the exploitation of child labor in an educational institution occurs regularly without permission, parents can write a complaint to the prosecutor's office or the district department of education.

In the event that permission from parents to work is present, teachers must ensure that it is carried out in compliance with all generally accepted norms. Schoolchildren are prohibited from lifting heavy objects, washing windows and cleaning near the roadway.

Implementation of bills

The law on the exploitation of child labor has been around for a long time. There are cases when school management was held accountable for releasing students from lessons for the whole day in connection with duty. For example, the prosecutor's office of the Arkhangelsk region considered and responded to a statement from the mother of a student from one of the Novodvinsk educational institutions. Her son was forced to be on duty during lessons. The prosecutor's office saw a violation of the Law "On Education" in the actions of the school director. By his actions, the head of the institution deprives the student of receiving the full amount of knowledge. Since then, the school has been cancelled.

Statistics

The statistics on the exploitation of child labor shock almost everyone. According to research, there are about 168 million working minors in the world. This is approximately 11% of all child population. However, it is known that their number is declining. Between 2000 and 2012, the number of child laborers decreased by 78 million.

In 2008, many experts assumed that due to the economic crisis, the exploitation of child labor would begin to gain momentum with renewed vigor. However, according to research by the International Labor Organization, the number of child laborers did not increase during that period. Experts explain this by the fact that the countries in which the problem of exploitation is most acute were hardly affected by the crisis.

Asia and the Pacific has the largest number of child laborers. There, according to statistics, 77.7 million minors work. The exploitation of child labor is also present in Africa. Every fifth child works there illegally.

Exploitation of children in Russia

The problem of child labor is often found in the territory Russian Federation. On the streets of almost all cities in Russia you can see a working child. Most often they distribute advertisements or put up advertisements. Teenagers claim that they want to become financially independent from their parents. That is why they start working from the age of 12-13, being subjected to illegal exploitation.

Every year on the territory of the Russian Federation draft laws are created that protect the interests of minors. According to them, any teenager whose age has reached the age of 16 should work in decent conditions. Otherwise, the employer will be punished by law.

In Russia and neighboring countries, parents often encourage their children to work. They believe that in this way the child becomes more independent and begins to understand how hard it is to earn money. Representatives of the International Labor Organization believe that the Russian mentality needs to be changed. Rimma Kalinchenko, program coordinator, says that this problem needs to be discussed. She believes that only in this case it will be possible to change the opinion of citizens about child labor.

Large companies and child labor

This year, one of the world's human rights organizations made a report. It accused three leading companies that specialize in the development of electronic equipment, namely Samsung, Apple, Sony. They were suspected of buying minerals that are mined through the exploitation of child labor. Children as young as seven years old work in mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the report. They mine minerals that are needed to create lithium-ion batteries.

The leaders of companies buying up minerals say they do not accept the use of child labor. However, eyewitness accounts suggest otherwise. Experts say that such work is hazardous to health. It is known that these mines contain high level mortality. According to eyewitnesses, more than 80 minors died there last year alone.

According to the UN Children's Fund, at least 40,000 children mine minerals in the mines of the DRC. Global companies deny this fact. They claim that they do not purchase goods obtained in this way.

Rights of a minor worker

Not every minor who wants to get a job is aware of their rights. That is why teenagers often become easy money for unscrupulous employers. It is important that the student familiarizes himself with them in advance.

IN Russian legislation the age at which a student can get a job. At the age of 15, with parental permission, a teenager can find a job. However, his work should not become an obstacle in obtaining educational material in full. A working student must attend all classes and do homework. In employment, orphans, teenagers from families of unemployed citizens, as well as dysfunctional or large families have priority.

It is worth noting that the employer cannot dismiss a minor worker without the permission of the labor inspectorate. Under the bill, teenagers under the age of 16 must not work more than 24 hours a week. Minors aged 16-18 may not work more than 36 hours per week.

Sexual exploitation and slavery

According to experts, every year in the world about a million children fall into the illegal sex business. Some are forced into it, and some are lured there by fraudulent means. Every year, the demand for children is growing more and more, since there is an erroneous opinion that such intimate relationship less likely to lead to HIV infection. Such exploitation causes irreversible harm to the health of the child. Children are often sold into sexual slavery under the guise of servants.

Article 34 of the Convention calls on states to protect children from sexual exploitation and slavery. Article 35 indicates that governments must take appropriate measures to prevent the abduction of minors.

World Day Against Child Labor

There is a fight against the exploitation of child labor all over the world. As a result, the number of working minors has significantly decreased. June 12 is World Day against Child Labor. It was adopted in 2002 international organization labor in order to draw public attention to a problem that is present in all countries.

Summing up

The exploitation of child labor is a problem that occurs in all countries. It is most common in Africa and Asia. There is also a problem on the territory of the Russian Federation. In the near future, the government plans to amend the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to which violators who exploit a child will be held accountable. To date, there are already several bills that are responsible for the preservation of childhood.

child labor in Victorian England

It's no secret that in Victorian England, children had to work on an equal footing with adults. Older children could, for example, get a job in a factory or go into the service, but even the smallest city dwellers did not shy away from work. So, a popular occupation for girls was the sale of watercress. Watercress could be harvested by yourself, but much more often it was bought in the market, and then resold for a little more. To buy watercress in the market, and even at favorable price, you had to get up early and come to the market at 4 in the morning, otherwise all the watercress would be sold out. To get at least some profit, the girls had to bargain desperately, because other traders tried to sell them less and more expensive. When the watercress was bought, it had to be washed at the pump - on cold mornings, the fingers were stiff with water - and then tied into bundles and the work day began. Little vendors knocked on doors offering their simple merchandise, or roamed the streets shouting "Cress, four bunches for a penny!" Day-to-day earnings did not fall. Thus, an eight-year-old merchant interviewed in 1851 reported that she once earned a phenomenal amount of 1 shilling and 6d per day, with the cost of watercress being 6d. Usually her income was much more modest - 3 - 4 pence a day.

The most productive period of trading fell on the interval between 6 and 10 am. Many girls had breakfast only after the watercress was sold. Breakfast often consisted of a couple of slices of bread and butter and a cup of tea. Children saw meat only on Sundays, and then not every time. After returning home from the watercress trade, the girls did not waste time and did the cleaning or helped their mothers with their work (for example, the seamstress's daughters could sew buttons on shirts). Although many had toys, there was little time for play.

Watercress Girl, 1867 by Ifold, Frederick

In addition, women and children often worked in the mines for 12 or more hours. In some mines, they were required to lift baskets of coal to the surface, in others they were required to pull a trolley loaded with coal, which was tied to the waist with a chain. To do this, I had to move on all fours. Children often pulled the trolleys along with the adults or opened the gate so that the trolleys could pass. Sarah Gooder, an 8-year-old girl who opened the door to the trolleys, described her work as follows: “I don’t get tired, but where I sit there is no light, and I’m scared. If there is light nearby, sometimes I sing, but not in the dark. Then I don’t dare to sing. I don’t like being in the mine.” In 1842, 2,350 women worked in the mines, one third of them in Lancashire. But in 1842, the work of women underground was prohibited by law. In addition, mine owners no longer had the right to employ children under the age of ten. And ten years earlier, in 1833, work hours for minors were determined - children under 13 years old could not work more than 8 hours a day, teenagers under 18 years old - only 12 hours a day. In addition, children were forbidden to work at night. However, legal obstacles could be circumvented with the help of fraud - in some cases, parents added a couple of years to their children so that they could work longer, and therefore earn more. After 1842, women and girls worked on the surface, mainly sorting coal. They were called pit brow lasses.

Women carry baskets of coal to the surface

Coal sorting

Coal sorting

Workers

Typical pit brow lassie costume.

According to the photo caption, this girl is only 17 years old.

Information sources
Joan Perkin
http://www.balmaiden.co.uk/WomenUK.htm
http://www.wiganshades.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

But the most famous children's profession of the 19th century is, of course, a chimney sweep. At that time houses were heated mainly with coal. When the fuel burns, soot is released, which partially settles on the walls of the pipe. In order for the fireplaces to work efficiently and not smoke, the pipes had to be cleaned from time to time. But the chimney is not a football field, it was often very narrow. Therefore, to clean the pipes, either special equipment or chimney sweeps were required. vertically challenged. Children, in other words. Well, since children were cheaper than new technologies, the British preferred to use them.

As apprentices to chimney sweeps, orphans were usually given from the age of 4 years - than fewer topics better. Orphanages wanted to "arrange the future" of their pupils in this way. In addition, it was quite legal to force vagrants to do this work. The owner of the little apprentice undertook to dress him, feed him and teach him the skill. Theoretically, an apprentice could reach the rank of assistant chimney sweep, but most of the boys, when their size no longer allowed climbing into the pipes, were forced to look for other work. And some died at a young age, because the profession of a chimney sweep was associated with a serious risk.

The job was to get into the pipe and clean it with a scraper or brush. At first, some children were afraid to climb up the pipe, in case you might get stuck. It was common practice to light some straw or paper in the fireplace to force the chimney sweep up. This is where the expression comes from, to light a fire under you (i.e. make someone work faster). Of course, they did not have protective clothing or respirators. In some cases, children got stuck in pipes, fell down or died right in the pipe, suffocating from the dust. And one can only imagine what psychological damage they received, every day scrambling into a narrow space - not all are born diggers, and for those who suffer from claustrophobia, this is the embodiment of nightmares.

The owners rarely cared about the well-being of the apprentices, because a small chimney sweep is not a long-term investment, it is only needed until it grows up. Children slept in cellars or attics. They fed them badly, because the thinner the journeyman, the more useful he is. In addition, the little chimney sweeps rarely bathed - no one would warm up the water for them - so, year after year, layers of soot accumulated on their bodies. Constant contact with skin and soot led, in particular, to cancer of the scrotum (not to mention lung cancer and tuberculosis).

Nobody really cared about them physical state, but the spiritual development of small workers was strictly monitored. Under London law, apprentice chimney sweeps could only work 6 days a week. Sunday was the day off when the boys were required to attend Sunday school to study the Bible. One can only imagine how the children, who had never known mercy, felt when confronted with such hypocrisy. On the other hand, religion gave them consolation and drove away loneliness. This double feeling is reflected in the poems of William Blake (see below). In the poems, one can see a play on words: chimney sweeps walked the streets and shouted "Sweep!" advertising your services. In children's mouths, the word sweep - "to clean" - sounded like weep - "to cry."

In 1803, the Chimney Sweep Child Replacement Society was formed with the goal of finding equipment capable of cleaning chimneys without the use of child labor. Such brushes were indeed invented as early as the 18th century and improved by Joseph Glass in 1828. But it was still cheaper to use children. In 1804, 1817, and 1819 attempts were made to ban the employment of children under 10, but all bills and political campaigns failed. It was not until 1840 that Parliament forbade persons under the age of 21 from climbing into the chimneys. Unfortunately, the fines were so small that few people were stopped by this law. But in 1864, through the efforts of Lord Shafstbury, the fine was increased to 10 pounds (a significant amount at that time). This new measure received both legal and public support, and the exploitation of small chimney sweeps began to decline. And now let's give the floor to William Blake, a few poems about chimney sweeps.

"The Chimney Sweeper" (from Songs of Innocence)

When my mother died I was very young
And my father sold me while yet my tongue,
Could scarcely cry weep weep weep weep.
So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep.

Theres little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head
That curi "d like a lambs back, was shav" d, so I said,
Hush Tom never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.

And so he was quiet, & that very night,
As Tom was a sleeping he had such a sight,
That thousands of sweepers Dick, Joe, Ned & Jack
Were all of them lock "d up in coffins of black,

And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he open "d the coffins & set them all free.
Then down a green plain leaping laughing they run
And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.

Then naked & white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind.
And the Angel told Tom, if he "d be a good boy,
He "d have God for his father & never want joy.

And so Tom awoke and we rose in the dark
And got with our bags & our brushes to work.
Tho" the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm.
So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

LITTLE CHIMNEY SWEEP

When I started to babble
My poor mother is gone forever
My father sold me, - I plant a scraper
And I clean the black pipe for you.

Tom, shorn bald, cried.
I consoled him: "Don't cry, because on the other hand,
As long as the curls are not overgrown again,
Not even soot can stain hair."

He fell asleep and fell asleep, leaning against the wall,
And at night dreamed of Tom in a dream
Coffins in the clearing - and there are a million of them,
And they have chimney sweeps - like him.

But the Angel appeared in the radiance of wings
And opened the coffins with a ray of light.
And a gang of children rushed to the river,
To wipe the soot in the water as soon as possible.

Throwing bags and frolicking in the wind,
They started a game in a white cloud.
The angel said to Tom: "Be pure in soul!
And God, like a father, will stand by your side."

With everyone in the darkness, our Tom woke up,
With everyone for a brush with a heavy bag -
And in the dank morning the chimney sweep will warm:
The one who works honestly before the Lord is pure.

"The Chimney Sweeper" (from Songs of Experience)

A little black thing among the snow,
Crying "weep! "weep!" in notes of woe!
"Where are your father and mother? say?"
"They are both gone up to the church to pray.

And smil "d among the winter" s snow,

"And because I am happy and dance and sing,
They think they have done me no injury,
And are gone to praise God and his Priest and King,
Who make up a heaven of our misery."
A little black thing among the snow:
Crying weep, weep, in notes of woe!
Where are your father & mother? say?
They are both gone up to the church to pray.

Because I was happy upon the heath,
And smil "d among the winters snow;
They clothed me in the clothes of death,
And taught me to sing the notes of woe.

And because I am happy, & dance & sing,
They think they have done me no injury:
And are gone to praise God & his Priest & Kingj
Who make up a heaven of our misery.

LITTLE CHIMNEY SWEEP

Covered in soot on white snow, it looms.
"I'll clean it! I'll clean it!" - screams as if crying.
"Where have your father and mother gone?"
"They went to church to sing psalms.

Then, that I sang in the spring, like a bird,
And he was happy even in winter,
They made me dress up in a shroud
And they taught to sing to a sad motive.

Then that I dance and sing again,
Calmly parents went to church
And pray to God, the Saints, the King,
That Heaven was erected on our tears." Poems and translations from here