OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS television news cameras have focussed on the developing world where children as young as five years of age slave away making products for Western consumption. Last year, a Canadian teenager drew North American attention to the Dickensian plight of Pakistani children who stitch together soccer balls for the sporting goods manufacturer, Nike, or work in dark, poorly ventilated explosives factories making fireworks for Fourth of July, Guy Fawkes Night, and Canada Day celebrations.Although by turns naive and self-righteous, this crusade and others like it pricked the conscience of the Western world. Bargain-hungry North American and European consumers and 'evil'.multinationals were blamed for exploiting defenceless Third World children. Few escaped scrutiny. Kathy Lee Gifford, a United States television personality, was embarrassed to learn that the clothing bearing her name on sale at hundreds of Wal-Mart stores was made by exploited workers, many of them under 16 years old, in Central American sweatshops.Throughout Europe and North America, organized labour, non- governmental organizations, and other lobby groups managed to rally public support for fair labour standards by shaming multinationals into action. But while anti-child labour crusaders focussed their efforts against large corporations doing business in Third World countries, they virtually ignored what was happening in their own backyard. Then in September 1995, police raided sweatshops in California and New York which employed illegal Thai workers. According to main-stream press reports, the workers, some of them children, were confined against their will and forced to make clothing that was sold in large and profitable American retail chains. Although the reports of virtual slavery were indeed shocking, many interest groups preferred to confine their campaigns to the squalid conditions in the developing world. Perhaps it was easier and more politically advantageous to blame multinationals and seemingly uncaring Third World legislators for the problem than to try to rectify such complex inequities at home.James Cooper teaches advanced public international law at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto. A barrister and solicitor, he has lectured on comparative and international law throughout Europe and North America.Child labour is an enormous and widespread global issue. Although the problem is most prevalent in the Third World, the exploitation of children in labour is an age-old concern, affecting both the industrialized and underdeveloped worlds. In the Third World, the statistics are predictably grim. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), in developing countries as many as 250 million children between the ages of five and fourteen are engaged in some kind of economic activity. At least half are employed full-time. Between 15 and 20 per cent are under the age of ten. Many are employed in conditions that harken back to the early days of the Industrial Revolution. They work in factories and warehouses, in forced or bonded labour conditions, sometimes at the behest of their parents. They make matches and fireworks, toil in mines and brickworks. They are exposed to a number of lethal hazards, including pesticide poisoning and toxic fumes. Outside the factories, millions of children work in the agriculture and fishing industries. Millions more work as domestic servants and as prostitutes.Child labour knows no boundaries. The ILO claims that the biggest problem is in Asia, which has an estimated 153 million child workers. Africa comes second with 80 million child labourers. There are an estimated 17.8 million child labourers in Latin America. But such broad strokes do not adequately explain the situation. Brazil, the largest Latin American economy, has more children aged 14 or under at work than does India. Turkey has 24 million child labourers, while Thailand has more than 16 million.The problem also exists in industrialized European countries. …
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May 10, 2016
Caroline Caron + 4
Open Access