Stop Child Labour. It is a great cursed in the world. A group of 60 working children from 12 organizations, their major problems at a workshop organized by Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) with the support from UNICEF described their basic problems:-Can not continue regular studies doing work. Do not get adequate salary for work. Subjected to hazardous form of labor forcefully. Do not get medical facilities properly.
According to the International Labour Organisation definition (right), there are about 3.2 million child labourers in Bangladesh. Children are forcefully trafficked out of the country. The physical handicapped do not adequate attention. Subjected to physically torture by employers and anti-socials.
. Working children often live away from their families in situations where they are exposed to violence, abuse and economic exploitation. Their vulnerable situation puts them at risk of trafficking as they seek a better life for themselves. A rapid assessment of commercially sexually exploited children showed that half worked in other sectors before being lured into sex work. Additionally, more than half had been forced or trafficked into the industry, lured by false promises of jobs or marriage. The life of a child sex worker is one of violence, exploitation and physical and psychological health problems. The majority are depressed and three-quarters of the child sex workers were ill in the three months before the rapid assessment survey, many with sexually transmitted diseases. In the 3-12 months prior to the survey, one-quarter of the children were beaten, and another quarter were raped . 3,400 children work in brick/ stone breaking for the construction industry. A survey of these child workers found that almost all had some sort of respiratory problem and were not provided with any safety gear or protection from brick dust. Other child workers in hazardous jobs include 123,000 children working as rickshaw pullers, 153,000 children working in restaurants or tea stalls, and 56,000 working in carpentry. This work is inappropriate for children. Another work is motor mechanic. This working children working with chemical and acid. Acid used in car battery. If this acid went into the eye than that would destroy the vision . Bangladesh enacted the Labour Act in 2006, which includes a chapter on child labour. This new law prohibits employment of children under 14 years of age, as well as prohibiting hazardous forms of child labour for persons under age 18. The Ministry of Labour and Employment has recently adopted a National Child Labour Elimination Policy 2010, which provides a framework to eradicate all forms of child labour by 2015. UNICEF was one of many stakeholders to provide feedback on this policy. Its aims include: withdrawing children from hazardous jobs; improving income generating opportunities for parents so they are not so reliant on child income; offering incentives for working children to attend school; enacting laws and improving law enforcement to eliminate child labour. A Child Labour Unit has been established as part of this policy, which will have responsibilities including collecting and disseminating data relating to child labour. According to this policy, the criteria for defining hazardous work for children includes: working more than five hours a day; work that creates undue pressure on physical and psychological wellbeing and development; work without pay; work where the child becomes the victim of torture or exploitation or has no opportunity for leisure.
My opinion regarding child labour
There are 3.2 million child labours in Bangladesh. In 2006 The Government of Bangladesh enacted a Labour Act to prohibits the employment of children under the age of 14 years. In spite of the enactment of the Act child labour increasing day by day. Thus the Ministry of Labour and Employment has recently adopted a ‘’National Child Labour Elimination Policy 2010’’, which provides a frame work to eradicate all forms of child labour by 2015.It is necessary to take proper steps to stop child labour & provide them better life through appropriate education ,proper habitation.
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