Where Have They Gone?
Child Slavery
What is Child Slavery?
How many children are affected by Child Slavery?
Some 180 million children aged 5–17 (or 73 per cent of all child labourers) are believed to be engaged in the worst forms of child labour, including working in hazardous conditions such as in mines and with dangerous machinery. Of these children, 5.7 million are forced into debt bondage or other forms of slavery, 1.8 million are forced into prostitution or pornography and 600,000 are engaged in other illicit activities.
Why Child Slavery?
Roman Catholic Church Teachings on Child Slavery
2258 - "Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being."
Pope Leo XIII issued the warning:
“In regard to children, great care should be taken not to place them in workshops and factories until their bodies and minds are sufficiently developed. For, just as very rough weather destroys the buds of spring, so does too early an experience of life's hard toil blight the young promise of a child's faculties, and render any true education impossible”.
What can we do about it?
-Raising awareness about the affects and problems of child slavery.
- Talk to businesses involved in the production of goods and ask them what measures they take to ensure that the goods they produce are child labour free.
- Recruit others into the campaign. In your region, establish contact with other young people in schools and community groups who could work with you in your action against child labour.
- Involve your wider community in events such as World Day Against Child Labour observed yearly on 12 June, or organise an child labour awareness week to attract the greatest public attention possible.
No individual, no organization, even the largest one, can begin to stop child labour on its own, and no action, even the smallest, can be dismissed as being too small to bring about change. It is only through joining the forces of goodwill on all levels of society that we can hope to put an end to child labour.
“Few human rights abuses are so widely condemned, yet so widely practised. Let us make (child labour) a priority. Because a child in danger is a child that cannot wait.” - Kofi Annan,
Former UN Secretary-General