Measures to Combat Child Slavery and trafficking Reshma Rajagopalan Chair of HRC 2 Overseas Family...
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Transcript of Measures to Combat Child Slavery and trafficking Reshma Rajagopalan Chair of HRC 2 Overseas Family...
Measures to Combat
Child Slavery
and trafficking Reshma Rajagopalan Chair of HRC 2
Overseas Family School
Topic Summary Slavery was the first human rights
issue to arouse wide international concern (from the 1700s) yet it still continues today. Slave-like practices remain a grave and persistent problem today
The global market for child trafficking is over $12 billion a year
215 million children work in child labor
In sub-Saharan Africa, 40 per cent of all children work, in Asia and Latin America approximately 20 percent
Asia has the largest number of child laborers, accounting for 61 per cent of the world's total child slavery
Terms Defined
Child (as defined by the UN) – a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier
Child Slavery – work or service, including forced or bonded labor, which is forced from a child under the threat of any penalty and for which the said child has not voluntarily offered itself
Child Trafficking – the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receiving of children for the purpose of exploitation
Timeline 1839 – Anti Slavery International is created
1919 – The International Labor Organization (ILO) is founded
1926 – The Slavery Convention defines slavery
1930 – ILO Convention 29 concerning Forced or Compulsory Labor broadens the previous definition of slavery
1974 – Economic and Social Council establishes the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, which monitors the application of slavery conventions and submits proposals for action on national and international levels
Timeline
1989 – Convention of the Rights of the Child is established as a legally binding instrument including the civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights of children
1992 – International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) is created by the ILO
1999 – ILO Convention 182, Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention is created to take further measures against forms of child labor including trafficking, slavery, bonded or forced labor and illicit activities
Timeline 2000 – Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children defines child trafficking and acknowledges it as a violation of children’s rights. The protocol has been ratified by 135 member nations
2007 – Human Rights Council Resolution 6/14 establishes the Mandate on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, its Causes and Consequences, which succeeds the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery
2007 – United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) establishes the Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT)
Organizations/Bodies Most Connected
ILO – a U.N. agency made up of 183 member states, with government, employer, and worker representatives, which oversees international labor standards [International Labor Organization]
IPEC – created by the ILO in 1992, the IPEC works towards eradicating child labor and is funded by member nation donors [International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labor]
Anti-Slavery International – a non governmental organization formed in the United Kingdom which is the oldest international human rights organization in the world
What has been done by the UN? Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions Similar to Slavery (1956)
ILO Convention 182, Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention (1999)
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2000)
Optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (2000)
Relation to UN Policies
Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that ‘No one shall be
held in slavery or servitude: slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their
forms’
Yet, slave trade, especially in children, continues.
Current SituationThe UN estimates approximately 8.4 million in the worst forms of child labor, with a further 1.2 million children involved in trafficking. This results in a total of 9.6 million children who are in instances similar to enslavement.
Although the presence of child slavery has been decreasing in recent years, apart from in Sub Saharan continent of Africa where it is increasing, it continues to harm the physical and mental development of children and adolescents, while interfering with their education. The ILO estimates that only 5% of child laborers are paid.
Current actions to combat child slavery are limited, despite no state recognizing slavery as a legal practice and with many states signing relevant treaties. Measures taken to combat child trafficking in the developing world are also not only rare but quite limited.
Current Situation
The Trafficking in Persons Report identifies countries according to how much countries are doing to stop human trafficking
Useful Links
http://www.freetheslaves.net/
http://www.productsofslavery.org/
http://www.antislavery.org/english/
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/gender.shtml
http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58009.html
http://www.ilo.org/ipec/Regionsandcountries/lang--en/index.htm
Bibliography
“ C182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999.” International Labor Organization. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. <http://www.ilo.org/ ilolex/ cgi-lex/ convde.pl?C182>.
“Child Labor.” UNICEF. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. <http://www.unicef.org/ protection/ 57929_58009.html>.
“International Standards.” UNOHCHR. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. <http://www.ohchr.org/ EN/ Issues/ Slavery/ SRSlavery/ Pages/ InternationalStandards.aspx>.
“Millenium Development Goals.” UN.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. <http://www.un.org/ millenniumgoals/ index.shtml>.
“Slavery and Forced Labor.” Human Rights Education Associates. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. <http://www.hrea.org/ index.php?doc_id=430#top>.