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10 million 'slave kids' - UN

2004-06-10 20:31

Geneva - South Africa is among the countries where an estimated 10 million children worldwide work in slave-like conditions in other people's homes, says the United Nations' labour agency on Thursday.

But, says a study by the International Labor Organisation, the problem is largely ignored in many countries,

The children, mostly girls, suffered at the hands of employers for whom having servants was often a sign of social status.

They rarely got paid, sometimes were sexually abused and even forgot their own names after years of being called simply "girl" or "boy", said June Kane, author of the 112-page ILO study.

Kane declined to single out any countries, but the report cited cases in Latin America, Asia and South Africa.

Social reformers ended European practice

The report, "Helping Hands or Shackled Lives?", was released in connection with the annual World Day Against Child Labour on Saturday.

Kane said child labour was common in Europe a century ago, but that social reformers ended the practice.

Child servants had to light fires before their employer's family woke up, the report said. They cooked, cleaned and took other youngsters to school - "one of the saddest things, said Kane.

Some combined tasks around the house with jobs in home-based workshops, where they might end up operating dangerous machinery or handling hazardous chemicals.

The report said that about two million children worked as domestics in South Africa, 559 000 in Brazil and 264 000 in Pakistan.

About 700 000 children worked in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, alone; 300 000 in Dhaka, Bangladesh; and 150 000 in Lima, Peru.

"Sadly, many countries don't see domestic child labour as a problem," Kane said.

Employing youngsters was not only widely accepted, but often considered an alternative for poor families who no longer had to feed them, the study found. Parents rarely received money in exchange.

Increasing numbers of Aids orphans and the traditionally low status of women and girls in many countries also pushed children into domestic labour, said the ILO.

Domestic service also was seen as preparation for marriage for girls, and employers often were viewed as benefactors, it said.

'Governments must act'

The New York-based group Human Rights Watch said it had conducted a similar study and found the same problems.

"Child domestic workers around the world endure abuse as well as exploitation," said Jo Becker, head of Human Rights Watch's campaign for youngsters.

"Instead of turning a blind eye ... governments need to take steps to ban it."

The group's investigations in West Africa, Central America and Asia found girls as young as eight working 15 or more hours a day, seven days a week, for little or no pay.

On the Net:

International Labour Organisation, http://www.ilo.org

Human Rights Watch, http://www.hrw.org

- AP

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