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Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention of the Rights of the Child 2003, para. 39e
- Paragraph text
- [In exercising their obligations in relation to the health and development of adolescents, States parties shall always take fully into account the four general principles of the Convention. It is the view of the Committee that States parties must take all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the realization and monitoring of the rights of adolescents to health and development as recognized in the Convention. To this end, States parties must notably fulfil the following obligations:] To protect adolescents from all forms of labour which may jeopardize the enjoyment of their rights, notably by abolishing all forms of child labour and by regulating the working environment and conditions in accordance with international standards;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Trafficking in persons, especially women and children, is a gross human rights violation. It is also a lucrative crime that generates US$150.2 billion per year in illegal profits. The flow of trafficking in persons evolves with the changing socioeconomic realities of society and traffickers adapt their modus operandi accordingly.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur expects to focus on the prevention of labour exploitation, including of vulnerable or marginalized groups such as migrants, children, national, ethnic or racial minorities, asylum seekers and refugees, by engaging with businesses, trade unions and other relevant parties, and by further exploring ways to better regulate and monitor the activities of recruitment and employment agencies, with a view to preventing abusive practices leading to debt bondage, trafficking and exploitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention (Descent) 2002, para. (pp)
- Paragraph text
- [Recommends that the States parties, as appropriate for their particular circumstances, adopt some or all of the following measures:] Take measures to address the special vulnerability of children of descent-based communities to exploitative child labour;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2002
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Children working as domestic servants experienced a variety of abuses, including physical and sexual abuse, long working hours, isolation and little to no access to education. According to the University of Nairobi, "child domestics [experience] significantly more psychological problems than other children (both working and non-working children). Frequent headaches, eating problems, nightmares, tiredness and unhappiness were found to be very common amongst child domestics". These children were found to be extremely vulnerable to becoming victims of slavery.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- A number of sources have reported that children are subjected to contemporary slavery in Ghanaian fisheries by "fisher-entrepreneurs" or middlemen who take them far from their homes to work in fisheries. Recruiters reportedly deceive families with promises of educational opportunities in exchange for a few hours of work each day. Children are also often promised cash or in-kind payments for their labour, such as a cow for boys or a sewing machine for girls. Parents may be offered an advance for their child's work, thus placing the child in a situation of debt bondage. Lake Volta is a popular destination for child slaves, as fishery resources have been depleted and children are considered cheap sources of labour. Tasks in the fishing sector are gendered: boys paddle canoes, pull in nets and carry fish; girls sort, pack and transport fish; and both boys and girls are often tasked with deep-water diving to clear entangled nets. Children usually work six to seven days a week, at least 12 hours a day, and fishing expeditions can last for many days. These children are exposed to dangerous working conditions, long hours, sexual and physical abuse, and even death due to drowning, snake bites or physical abuse at the hands of boat or equipment owners.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Even in countries in which authorities have the will and resources to combat contemporary slavery, they face the difficulty of locating victims. Contemporary forms of slavery often involve hidden populations, some of whom perform illicit work. Slavery often occurs in isolated areas and access can be challenged or compromised when workers are involved in illegal activities, when they are geographically isolated, or when they work in violent or politically unstable countries or regions. The challenge of accessing women and children can increase in countries with cultural norms that restrict them from having contact with outsiders or strangers, or their general freedom of movement. For example, the Special Rapporteur has reported that it is difficult to access forced child labourers working in mines and quarries located in remote areas (see A/HRC/18/30).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- There has been a series of improvements to legal frameworks on both an international and national level that represent best practice in combating contemporary forms of slavery. At the national level, a wide range of countries have passed comprehensive legislation prohibiting and sanctioning contemporary forms of slavery. For example, in 2007 Mauritania passed a law criminalizing slavery. Additionally, in Brazil, article 149 of the Penal Code establishes a sentence of between two and eight years' imprisonment for subjecting a person to forced labour, arduous or degrading working conditions or holding workers at workplaces through surveillance, debt bondage, restriction of movement and retention of personal identification documents or property. The sentence is increased by 50 per cent for cases involving children or discrimination based on religion, gender or race. Brazilian law also prohibits and penalizes other activities related to forced labour, including debt bondage. Nevertheless, owing to the variety of mechanisms used to subject individuals to slavery, many countries have also necessarily looked beyond traditional laws on forced labour and human trafficking. For example, some have established mechanisms to combat exploitative recruitment and hiring practices which increase the risk of contemporary forms of slavery. The Contract Act in Bangladesh, for example, establishes that all employment contracts must be made with the free consent of all parties without coercion, undue influence, fraud or misrepresentation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Child participation 2012, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- The Worst Forms of Child Labour Recommendation, 1999 (No. 190), under the auspices of the International Labour Organization, also states that the programmes of action referred to in the Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (Convention No. 182) should be designed and implemented in consultation with, and taking into consideration the views of, children directly affected by the worst forms of child labour (para. 2). The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, requires States to provide assistance to enable the views and concerns of victims of trafficking to be presented and considered at appropriate stages of criminal proceedings against offenders (art. 6 (2) (b)).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Child participation 2012, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- In Guatemala, peer educators at the Education Programme for Working Children and Adolescents, an institution of some 1,800 students providing education to working children, created a mural to raise awareness. The aim of this microproject was to ensure that young people and adolescents were aware of the dangers of commercial sexual exploitation of children. It provided a fun and interactive way to discuss the sensitive issues of commercial sexual exploitation of children, trafficking of children and HIV/AIDS with the most at-risk young people.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Employers also wield physical and psychological power over the children that they employ. Consequently, although unaccompanied children may be allowed to leave the mine or quarry, they are unlikely to leave their jobs as they have a real or imagined fear of the repercussions. The Special Rapporteur notes that the combined elements of coercion, fear, restriction on freedom of movement and complete dependence on the employer exhibit characteristics which amount to contemporary forms of slavery.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The mines and quarries in which children work are often informal and situated in remote areas of a country; they remain out of reach of the rule of law in communities commonly referred to as "frontier communities", where traditional social structures of society and ethical value systems have broken down. These communities are often characterized by violence, crime and substance abuse. The people living in these communities are usually very poor and economically and socially marginalized. Children growing up in this type of community are vulnerable to various types of violations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- The position followed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child when considering periodic reports from State parties is that, "any work carried out by children in conditions below those established by the United Nations Convention [on the Rights of the Child] or by ILO standards should be considered as economic exploitation" (report of the Secretary-General on status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, A/64/172, para. 9).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- In 1993, the Committee on the Rights of the Child devoted its second day of annual discussion to the economic exploitation of children (see CRC/C/20, para. 186-196). On this occasion, the indivisibility and interrelatedness of the rights of the child stipulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child were highlighted, as was the fact that they are all inherent to the human dignity of the child. Therefore, a holistic approach should be taken when looking at the implementation of the right enshrined in article 32.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- The lack of or insufficient legal framework, policies and institutions to combat child slavery and to support and protect children from slavery is a significant cause of child slavery in the mining sector. This is often compounded by a weak institutional framework whereby there is a lack of clarity about the roles and responsibilities of Government bodies and often a lack of sufficient human and financial resources to implement, where they exist, Government programmes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Artisanal mines are often based in remote places which make it easy for armed groups to control. For instance, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, armed groups force both adults and accompanied and unaccompanied children to work in artisanal mines to extract minerals such as gold and coltan. Coltan is used in the manufacture of products such as mobile phones, laptops and rechargeable batteries. The minerals are then sold to fund the activities of the armed groups (A/HRC/13/63, para. 21).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Some parents take out loans against their children's labour. Other parents sell their children and, upon their arrival in the mines, the children are charged exorbitant prices for their transportation to the mines, food and tools by the employer or middleman. In both these instances, the children are often unable to leave the mines or quarries until they have paid off the debt owed to the middleman or employer. In majority of the cases, children become bonded as a result of their parents' debt. Bonded labour is prohibited under the 1956 Supplementary Convention. Many children report not being able to save or even earn enough money to send back home. This results in them being unable to leave their situation until their debt is paid. In 2010, the Special Rapporteur received information that Bangladeshi and Nepali children were being purchased by middlemen or abducted and sold by gangs to mining employers in India. The price of the child varied from 50-75 USD. According to the information received, the children are forced to work to pay off their debt. The middlemen bring both boys and girls to work in the mines. The girls living and working in the mines are often sexually abused by adult mine workers and employers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- HIV/AIDS has had a huge impact on all of society, not least those subject to child slavery in mining and quarrying. In central and southern Africa the scourge of AIDS has left many orphans. This situation - coupled with the fact that there is already a lot of pressure on the disintegrating traditional extended family support system - means that many orphans end up working unaccompanied in this sector.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Children start to work with their families (parents or relatives), unpaid, in mines and quarries from the age of 3. They start by performing small tasks such as lifting stones, supplying adults with tools, breaking stones and sifting gravel in order to support the family and eventually end up involved in all aspects of mining and quarrying. Children in artisanal mines and quarries also cook and clean for their families and other adult mine workers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Children working in the mines and quarries are vulnerable to physical, sexual, moral and social harm. Artisanal mining and quarrying is inherently informal and illegal -as either it costs too much to get the legal permit to mine or there is no need to get a permit as the law is not enforced. These "frontier communities" are riddled with violence, crime, trafficking in young girls and women for sexual exploitation, prostitution, drug and alcohol use (ibid.). There have been reports that children are given drugs so that they are able to fearlessly extract minerals underground or underwater. Children also take drugs and alcohol in the belief that it makes them stronger and as a result of peer pressure. The drug abuse (particularly amphetamines and marijuana) and alcohol (commercial and/or local brew) destroy their health and keep them in the vicious circle of poverty. Children who arrive alone to work in this sector are even more vulnerable to abuses (see A/HRC/18/30/Add.2).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Poverty
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Working in "frontier communities" or in remote mines, children are often subject to moral turpitude. They are continuously exposed to physical violence from adult miners and their employers. Children are also at risk of sexual violence such as rape and other forms of sexual abuse. In some cases, children are also forced into prostitution. This has a huge impact on the child's mental well-being and exposes the child to HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Without any proper guardianship, unaccompanied children fall easily prey to alcohol and drug addictions, which further perpetuate their poverty (ibid.).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Poor living and working conditions have an impact on the health and safety of children. As a result of unsanitary living conditions, children often suffer from diseases such as tuberculosis and diarrhoea.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- Children working in mines are physically and economically exploited, as they are required to spend long hours in poorly lit and ventilated underground mines for little or no payment. When they are paid, children performing the same tasks as adults are paid less than adults. These makeshift mines may run to over 80 metres underground and, in some instances, can only accommodate the width of children who crawl to excavate the ore. Children also set explosives to blast rock underground and carry heavy loads of ore to the surface. Children who do not work inside a mine may be found digging for long hours in rivers beds, shifting through sand or silt and then carrying heavy loads of mud on their heads or backs for further processing. The long hours working outside, without proper clothing or shelter results in exposure to extreme heat, cold, dryness and moisture.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Children who work above ground (carrying and breaking coal) are exposed to heatstroke and sunstroke. They also work longer hours than the children who work underground (cutting, digging and pulling trolleys of coal). For the children who get wages, the long hours are not reflected in their wages. According to the information received by the Special Rapporteur, children who ask for more pay are often verbally or physically threatened, punished by being beaten or left locked in mines.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Some children try to combine working in the mines or quarries and going to school, as many of them need to work in order to assume the costs related to their education. However, these children are often tired, physically and mentally, and hence are often absent from class or lack the time to do their homework, rest in an adequate way or participate in recreational activities. This combination of factors results in their repeating classes, either a semester or a whole year. The school dropout rates increase drastically at 10 years old and is more pronounced at the secondary level of education, the majority of mining communities lacking secondary schools.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Studies show that such child slavery not only has a negative impact on the health, well-being and education of the child, but also later has a negative economic impact on communities and countries. According to the findings of these studies, children who work are more likely to have children who will also work and not go to school. Consequently, the poverty gets passed on from one generation to another.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- Girls, especially unaccompanied girls, working in and around the mines and quarries are vulnerable to rape and sexual exploitation. Sexual exploitation can start from the age of 9 but many of the girls involved are aged between 13 and 17 years. In some mining communities like those in Burkina Faso and Niger, it is believed that male child miners will have greater luck in the mining pits if they have sexual intercourse with a virgin or have unprotected sexual intercourse and do not wash before going underground (see E/C.12/MDG/CO/2). Child prostitution also occurs in the mining communities. For example, in Ghana, girls as young as 12 living in gold-mining communities are found in prostitution (ibid.). A United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) study on sexual exploitation of children around mines and quarries found four main types of exploitation: prostitution on a regular basis, occasional prostitution, companionship or temporary unions, and forced prostitution.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- The present chapter shows how if one principal crime goes unpunished, it makes way for -sometimes more complex - subsequent secondary crimes which are dependent on the principal crime. In this case, the fact that child slavery in mines and quarries goes unpunished has led to a series of other human rights violations, such as rape and sexual exploitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- First, there are legal and enforcement challenges. This is due to the absence of legislation or inadequate legislation, lack of criminalization and the lack of enforcement or adequate enforcement of legislation relating to children working in slavery within the artisanal mining and quarrying sector. Where legislation exists, it is often complex and only favours the owner of the mine or quarry, not the workers - particularly in the case of the children. Additionally, where legislation exists in the form of bans on artisanal mining and quarrying, such activity is driven further underground. This increases the risk of violations of the rights of the children who work, as they are even more isolated and restricted in their movements in order to keep their work secretive.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- In order to address poverty, social protection programmes that provide compensation to families for the loss of earnings from children's labour can be effective. Programmes such as Bolsa Familia in Brazil, conditional cash transfer programmes which provide direct cash transfers to poor families who keep their children in school and under regular medical supervision, have significantly contributed to the reduction of child labour. Between 2003 and 2007, Bolsa Familia had successfully raised 20 million people out of poverty, reducing poverty from 22 to 7 per cent.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph