Slave labour effects children

[Rev Willow Raine]

MM members, Here is yet another form of child abuse, one I think deserves attention. I took this article from care2.com...
The U.S. Department of Labor has released a list of goods produced by child and slave labor, targeted at Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Although this list was authorized in 2005 with the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, it has only now been compiled and released.

According to the International Labor Organization, over 12 million people are enslaved, and about 218 million children work, with the majority subjected to hazardous conditions. Those most vulnerable to slave labor include women, migrants and indigenous peoples.

The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) found 122 goods produced by slave or child labor in 58 countries.The most common goods include:
-Agriculture: cotton, sugarcane, tobacco, coffee, rice, cocoa
-Manufacturing: bricks, garments, carpet, footwear
-Mining: gold, coal

Slave and child labor stretches the globe, but some of the worst offenders are Bolivia, China, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan and North Korea. However it should be noted that although these specific countries have high levels of slave and child labor, the entire world is compliant. As long as corporations enable these conditions and consumers purchase goods, slave and child labor will continue.

Some countries were absent from the list because the government does not collect statistics on slave and child labor, or such information is suppressed. It is also often difficult to gather accurate data because slave and child labor is typically conducted in isolated or hidden locations.

The report notes that the global economic crisis has only exacerbated conditions. Those vulnerable to slave labor are typically the poorest and powerless. With rising food prices, the World Bank estimates that 100 million more people will be pushed into poverty this year.

The entire report is available here .
Read more: slavery, human rights, department of labor, child labor

Blessings, Rev Willow Raine

[DodiaFae]

Thank you for posting this, Rev Willow! It's a very important topic that really does need to be addressed.

I won't be able to do the kind of research to gather more information on this right now that I'd like to do (and maybe not for a while, as I'll be giving birth at any moment and will be on "maternity leave"), but I did find this article which I think everyone will find interesting.

I know a lot of people who will buy only "made in [insert their country of origin here] to avoid products made by exploiting workers, especially children. However, some companies have found a way around this by producing goods in countries which are "commonwealths" of their country. For example, anyone buying goods labeled "Made In The USA" may be buying goods made by children, who are often also sexually exploited as well as exploited labor. The Northern Mariana Islands is a commonwealth of the USA, but somehow it's not subject to the same laws as companies actually in the US or any of it's other provinces.

If anyone has the time to research more about the plight of children and others in these types of situations, please do so. It's a very important topic, and even if it's not actually children being exploited, women in these situations very often are and end up with children they are unable to care for properly at no fault of their own. Everyone suffers, except for those making money off their blood, sweat, and tears. The atrocities these people (men, women, and children) suffer are horrible. They're often forced to do dangerous work with little concern for their safety, they're often beaten, raped, and threatened with deportation (if they're migrant workers, as is the case with the Mariana Islands) if they complain.

Anyone who has researched this problem, especially where children are concerned, please post what you've learned here. It's a very important topic that we need to make people more aware of.

Blessings,
~DF

[Rob Taylor]

Don't forget that coyotes smuggling illegals over the border often force the women, including children, into prostitution. We have slavery here in the US that we could stop, but aren't.

[DodiaFae]

This is true. Child prostitution is a huge problem here in the US. Actually, I think to call it "child prostitution" isn't accurate at all... it's child exploitation. It's not a life that they choose, they're often tricked and/or forced into it and don't know how to get out of it. It's not just illegals from south of the boarder, either... they're smuggled in from other countries as well. And even women and children who are US citizens are victimized and exploited.