<%-- Page Title--%> Fact file <%-- End Page Title--%>

August 29, 2004 

Economic exploitation and rights of the child

Oli Md. Abdullah Chowdhury

Children in our country have to undergo through various experiences both bitter and sweet throughout their childhood. However, the experience of children from disadvantaged group is mostly bitter. A good number of children in our country are employed in economical activities from their childhood due to their socio-economic condition of their parents. As a result, they are economically exploited very easily. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the most venerated human rights convention guarantees child's right to be protected from economic exploitation.

All human rights mechanism covers both adult and children. But a special UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was required because existing human rights norms have proven inadequate to meet children's special needs. Though Bangladesh is one of the earliest signatory of UNCRC, rights of the child domestic workers are greatly violated in our country. Obviously, there are examples of good practices and better treatment received in some homes where children work. In order to protect children from economic exploitation, there should be safeguards also.

However, it has been declared in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. It has been articulated in the Article 23 of UDHR.

Child domestic workers are both deprived of free choice and a favourable condition. Although they have the right to equal pay for equal work, children seldom get it.

Moreover, it has been asserted in the article 24 of UDHR, that everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay. Let alone rest and leisure, children domestic workers neither have any working hours nor do they enjoy periodic holidays. Some of them are generally given an opportunity to go home once in a year. Even they have to work on the day of Eid, the greatest religious festival in Bangladesh.

Furthermore, UNCRC has made State Party accountable for the protection of child from economic exploitation. "States Parties recognise the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development"- as stated in Article 32(1) of UNCRC. Later part of the article gives clear guidelines, nevertheless. States Parties shall in particular: (a) Provide for a minimum age or minimum ages for admission to employment; (b) Provide for appropriate regulation of the hours and conditions of employment;(c) Provide for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure the effective enforcement of the present article. It has been reported in the newspaper that children employed in some industries are engaged in force labour. Being a signatory of not only UNCRC but also ILO Convention 182, children employed in dry fishes industries in the remote islands of Sundarban lead their lives like almost slaves as reported in a weekly, nevertheless.

Again, Children Act, 1974 has preceded UNCRC by 15 years and theoretically is a good piece of legislation. Practice of the last almost 30 years shows that the law in its present form may not be implemented in many cases. Suppression of violence against women and children act and other laws regarding children does not always match with either Children Act 1974 or the international convention like UNCRC, signed and ratified by Bangladesh as state party. As a result, these laws have failed to serve the best interest of the child as described in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

To recapitulate, children have the rights to be protected from economic exploitation. Law-enforcing agencies should be proactive in those areas where communication is difficult for example, in the remote islands of Sundarban. On the other hand, a separate law could be enacted for children that would also cover the issue of child domestic workers since the Suppression of Violence against Women and Children Act covers very little area of child rights apart from Children Act 1974.

Author is a human rights worker.