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CHAPTER VIII
Substantive provisions of labour legislation:
The Effective Abolition of Child Labour

• Introduction
• Legislative prohibition of child labour
  • Legislation on minimum age for admission to work 
  • Implementation of legislation on minimum age for admission to work
    • Sanctions for violation of legislation
    • Investigation, inspection and other means of enforcement
  • Social and economic measures to eliminate child labour
    • Preventive and protective measures 
    • Education
• Elimination of the worst forms of child labour
• Slavery or practices similar to slavery
  • The sale and trafficking of children
  • Debt bondage and serfdom
  • Forced or compulsory labour, including the forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict
  • Other forms of slavery and practices similar to slavery and forced or compulsory labour
• Child prostitution and pornography
• The use of children for other illicit activities 
• Work that jeopardizes the health, safety or morals of children
• Special groups and hidden work situations
• Implementation and enforcement
• Other measures for the enforcement and implementation of provisions on the worst forms of child labour
   

Introduction

Children’s work is as old as humanity itself and is still very common in certain regions. But a consensus has emerged over the past two centuries or so, leading to almost universal recognition that child labour is harmful for children, bad for families and detrimental to national development and economic performance. Children who spend their youth working are in their great majority denied access to education and personal development. They are thereby denied the fundamental right to equality of opportunity, which is essential to any democratic society. The elimination of child labour is an integral part of the process of national development and poverty alleviation.

More recently, there has been overwhelming recognition of the urgent need to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, as witnessed by the extremely rapid and widespread ratification of the ILO’s Convention on this subject.

Under the terms of the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work of 1998, all ILO member States have an obligation to promote, respect and realize the principle of the effective abolition of child labour.  The Declaration calls upon the ILO to assist member States in doing so and to encourage other international organizations to support their efforts. The Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) and Recommendation No. 146, and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) and Recommendation No. 190, are the ILO’s primary instruments governing the progressive elimination of child labour, giving priority to its worst forms. The legislative guidance provided in this chapter draws primarily on these instruments.

Convention No. 138 sets forth a series of standards with respect to the minimum age for admission to employment or work, the application of which should be at the heart of any member State's policy to eliminate child labour, even if the effectiveness of such a policy rests largely on complementary policy measures in the fields of education, employment and health, as outlined in Recommendation No. 190.  When countries ratify Convention No. 138, they must at the same time declare a minimum age for admission to employment or work which cannot be lower than the age of completion of compulsory schooling and, in any case, not less than 15 years. Member States whose economy and educational facilities are insufficiently developed may initially specify a general minimum age of 14 years.

While a large number of countries have set national minimum age standards that are within the parameters of Convention No. 138, in many cases the effective abolition of child labour in all economic sectors remains a long-term objective, requiring important economic advances before it can fully be met.  Some forms of child labour, however, cannot be condoned, even as a temporary measure over a longer period of time.  For this reason, the ILO adopted Convention No. 182 according to which ratifying countries commit themselves to taking immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency.

The following sections provide guidance on how to give effect to these two approaches, firstly the legislative prohibition of child labour as defined by Convention No. 138, and secondly the elimination of the worst forms of child labour.

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Legislative prohibition of child labour

Legislation aiming to effectively eliminate child labour across all economic sectors should:

• establish a series of minimum ages for admission to employment;
• ensure effective implementation and enforcement measures;
• provide for social and economic measures aimed at preventing child labour and protecting and rehabilitating children who are already in the labour market.

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Legislation on minimum age for admission to work

(1) Legislation on the minimum age for admission to work should:

• establish a general minimum age for all types of work which, must not be less than the age of compulsory schooling, and in any case not less than 15 years;¹
• all types of work include, for example, domestic work, work in family undertakings, work as a self-employed person and maritime work, unless the ratifying State has decided (in accordance with the provisions of the Convention) not to apply the Convention to particular occupations or particular sectors.

Countries which have declared 14 years to be the initially applicable general minimum age, because they consider that their economic and educational facilities are insufficiently developed to set a higher minimum age (developing countries), may establish a general minimum age of 14 years. ²

(2) Legislation on the minimum age for admission to work should also:

• require a minimum age of 18 years for admission to all work that is likely to jeopardize the health, safety or morals of young persons (hazardous work); and
• determine hazardous occupations, either by:
  • listing these occupations in the legislation, or by;
  • delegating such determination to the executive or a competent authority, or by;
  • outlining a procedure to come to such determination, possibly involving an advisory committee to ensure consultation with the social partners and obtain expert input with respect to safety and health matters.

(3) Legislation on minimum age for admission to work may provide for a lower minimum age for light work. To be in conformity with the Convention, such legislation must:

• specify a minimum age of 13 to 15 for light work (or 12 to 14 in developing countries);
• identify a competent authority to determine activities which constitute light work, that is work that is unlikely to be harmful to the health and development of the child worker and that will not affect school attendance, nor the ability to benefit from schooling;³
• mandate the same authority to determine the number of hours during which and the conditions under which such employment or work may be undertaken.

In the cases where young persons have not yet completed compulsory education, the legislation may specify a minimum age of 15 for light work.⁴

Legislation may provide an exemption from the general minimum age:

• for such purposes as artistic performances (for example, any public performance in the interest of the arts, science or education, in [commercial or non-commercial] advertising, modelling etc). To do so in conformity with the Convention, the legislation should:
  • identify a competent authority that grants permits in individual cases;
  • mandate the authority to limit the working time and prescribe the conditions of work;
• for work done in schools as part of a publicly authorized programme of education or training;
• for work done in enterprises as part of a publicly authorized programme of education or training (apprenticeship), provided that the legislation specifies a minimum age of 14 years.

Table

MINIMUM AGES FOR ADMISSION TO EMPLOYMENT

ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138)

Example

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Implementation of legislation on minimum age for admission to work

The effective implementation and enforcement of minimum age legislation requires sanctions for violators of minimum age laws, proper investigation to identify the existence of child labour and effective inspection of workplaces.

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Sanctions for violations of legislation

Minimum age provisions should be enforced through sanctions. The legislation should:

• provide for penalties and other necessary measures for violations of child labour provisions;⁵
• ensure that the law provides for sanctions for all persons responsible for under-age employment (e.g. employers, parents, guardians, etc.);
• ensure that the sanctions are sufficiently deterrent;
• diversify sanctions between criminal, civil and administrative sanctions;
• diversify sanctions as a function of the seriousness of the offence, e.g. heavier sanctions for the employment of children in hazardous than in non-hazardous work, heavier sanctions for repeat offenders;
• facilitate the access of children to legal remedies, e.g. by ensuring that children can join trade unions as soon as they are admitted to work, or by guaranteeing legal standing for trade unions (or other civil society organizations concerned with child labour) to represent children in law;
• ensure that laws do not subject children themselves to penalties for engaging in under-age work even if the activity is illegal.

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Investigation, inspection and other means of enforcement

Investigation. In order to properly enforce child labour laws and create effective programmes aimed at the elimination of child labour, instances of child labour and the circumstances surrounding such labour first have to be identified. The legislation can support the identification of occurrences of child labour by:

• mandating a systematic review of the national child labour situation,⁶  including the collection of detailed information and statistical data on the nature and extent of child labour, including information on:⁷
  • the sex of child workers, their age, occupation, branch of economic activity, status in employment, school attendance and geographic location;⁸   
  • violations of national provisions for the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour;9 and
• ensuring that NGOs, trade unions, religious institutions, charitable organizations and other concerned groups play a role in the investigation of child labour.¹⁰

Inspection. Once the existence of child labour is established, compliance with minimum age legislation should be actively pursued. Labour inspection services normally carry out this function, and a legal mandate is important to ensure that their work is bolstered by the necessary authority and carried out equitably. In providing for such a mandate, the legislation could:

• establish a framework for the operation of labour inspection setting out certain necessary entitlements, including training to detect abuses in the employment of children and young persons and to correct such abuses, adequate transportation in order to inspect rural areas, etc;¹¹
• ensure that labour inspection services have the power to secure the enforcement of legal provisions relating to the employment of children and young persons;
• ensure that the mandate of the labour inspection services extends to all workplaces where child labour actually exists;
• establish the role of inspectors in supplying information and advice on effective means of complying with child labour provisions and securing their enforcement;¹²
• mandate a gender balance within the labour inspection services;
• ensure that labour administration services (including labour inspection services) work in close cooperation with the services responsible for the education, training, welfare and guidance of children and young persons;¹³
• provide that the labour inspection services have a duty to respond to alleged violations reported by trade unions or any other public or private organizations which, in the discharge of their functions, are liable to obtain critical information on violations of the provisions relating to child labour;

Example

• entrust the labour inspection services or administrative services with the authority to hand down administrative sanctions (fines, suspension of operating licenses, etc.);

Example

• ensure that records are kept of violations, and that best practices on the elimination of child labour are publicized;¹⁴
• ensure that anyone obstructing the inspection process is subject to sanctions.

Example

Other means of enforcement.  In instituting other methods of implementation and enforcement of child labour provisions, the legislation may:

• ensure the verification of ages by:
  • maintaining an effective system of birth registration;¹⁵
  • requiring employers to keep and make available documents indicating the names and ages of all workers under 18 years of age;¹⁶
  • reversing the burden of proof with respect to the actual age of a child (and therefore making the employer responsible for proving that the persons employed are over the minimum aage for admission to employment or work);
  • establishing an alternative procedure for establishing the age of a young worker; and
• require employers to keep accurate records of all children and young persons employed.

Example

To improve the justiciability of rights, legislation may also:

• ensure access to the courts or appropriate tribunals for the victims of child labour or their representatives;
• establish special complaints procedures and provide for the protection from discrimination and reprisals of those who expose violations of the prohibition of the worst forms of child labour;¹⁷
• entrust national institutions for the promotion of human rights with a mandate to investigate and monitor child labour policy, and particularly cases of child abuse;

Example

• provide for the adverse publicity of convicted violators;¹⁸
• ensure that free legal aid is given to victims of child labour;¹⁹
• provide for child-friendly procedures, such as:
  • informing children of their role and the scope, timing and progress of the proceedings, as well as the disposition of their cases;
  • allowing their views and concerns to be presented and considered at appropriate stages of the proceedings;
  • providing proper assistance to victims throughout the legal process;
  • taking measures to minimize inconvenience to victims;
  • protecting their privacy;
  • ensuring their safety (as well as that of their families and witnesses) from intimidation and retaliation;
  • avoiding unnecessary delay in the disposition of cases and the execution of orders or decrees granting awards to victims.

Example

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Social and economic measures to eliminate child labour

Preventive and protective measures

The effective elimination of child labour requires the implementation of social and economic programmes designed to prevent future use of child labour and to protect children who are already working.²⁰  In order to optimize the effectiveness of these programmes, it is necessary to involve the concerned groups, such as organizations of parents, child protection agencies, employers’ and workers’ groups, and NGOs in the development of the social and economic measures adopted to combat child labour.

Prevention.  Legislation plays a role in preventing child labour by providing a legal basis for the adoption of measures and programmes intended to remedy the economic and social causes that are at the roots of child labour.²¹  Such legislation could:

• promote employment-oriented development²² by establishing programmes aimed at stimulating economic expansion with a view to creating sufficient adult employment and rendering child work superfluous;²³
• institute social and economic measures to alleviate poverty, such as more equitable access to productive assets (e.g. land, equitable inheritance rights) and the establishment of minimum wages;²⁴
• provide for social security and family welfare measures aimed at ensuring child maintenance,²⁵ including:
  • measures that provide for a minimum level below which family incomes should not fall;²⁶
  • services such as low-cost community health and education which can help maintain the health and development of children;²⁷
• ensure the strict application of a non-discriminatory wage policy through the requirement of equal wages for work of equal value for young persons and adults, thereby eliminating some of the economic motives for employing children;
• provide for preparatory training, not involving hazards, for types of work for which the minimum age is higher than the age of completion of compulsory full-time schooling;
• provide for vocational training for children who do not have families, who do not live with their own families, migrant children or children who live and travel with their families.

Protective measures.  Young persons can lawfully work when they have reached the minimum age for admission to employment or work. For those who are below this minimum age, it may be that national law has not (yet) prohibited their admission to work, since Convention No. 138 allows the progressive application of its provisions under certain conditions. In both cases, young persons should enjoy special legal protection so that they work in conditions that are not harmful to their well-being. Legislation could:

• establish a general provision that under no condition must a young person below 18 years of age carry out work that is likely to be harmful to his or her health, safety or morals, and that whoever employs a young person has the duty to ensure that she or he is assigned to work that is not hazardous, or that any hazardous element is removed from the work situation;

Example

• ensure that young persons have the same rights as adults under labour laws and are aware of their rights;
• regulate the hours of work of young persons, allowing time for rest, leisure, school attendance and home work;²⁸

Example

• require a minimum consecutive period of 12 hours night rest and weekly rest days;²⁹
• require annual holidays with pay of at least four weeks;³⁰
• require fair remuneration, bearing in mind the principle of equal pay for work of equal value;³¹
• require that all working young persons are covered by social security schemes, including employment injury, medical care and sickness benefit schemes;³²
• require periodic medical examinations to evaluate the health of young workers and their capacity to do the work in which they are engaged;³³
• provide child workers with non-formal education in the evenings and on weekends, as a transition to formal education.³⁴

Example

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Education

Education is not only the key to enabling young persons to obtain productive work once they have reached the minimum age, it is also the single most important factor in preventing child labour and rehabilitating those who have been withdrawn from child labour. In this regard, it is important to:

• ensure that the minimum age for admission to work is not less than the age of completion of compulsory schooling;³⁵
• raise the age of completion of compulsory education where it is below the minimum age for admission to employment or work;
• ensure that basic education is free for all, and in particular for those who have been removed from situations of child labour.³⁶

Example

Legislation could also:

• require full-time attendance at school or participation in approved vocational orientation or training programmes up to an age at least equal to that specified for admission to employment;³⁷
• ensure that work does not interfere with a child's schooling;
• ensure the development of adequate facilities for education and vocational orientation and training appropriate to the needs of children and young persons;³⁸
• provide for the organization of flexible schooling to help students who cannot yet be feasibly removed from work (such as evening or week-end classes);³⁹
• ensure that schools make children aware of the hazards of child labour and inform them of the rights of child labourers;⁴⁰
• provide for the improvement of the training of teachers to meet the needs of children;⁴¹
• provide for the enhancement of family protection through non-formal education on child labour in communities where child labour is a concern.⁴²

Example

Legislation should ensure that children and their families, local communities, non-profit-making organizations, employers’ and workers’ groups and agencies concerned with protecting children are included in the development of preventive and protective measures to combat child labour.⁴³

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Elimination of the worst forms of child labour

While national policy should ultimately aim for the elimination of all forms of child labour, priority has to be given to the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour.⁴⁴ In both cases, legislation is a key instrument in consolidating national policy. Convention No. 182 requires member States to take immediate and effective measures to combat the worst forms of child labour, which are defined as:

• all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;
• the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;
• the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties;
• work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.⁴⁵

The legislation should in all cases:

• prohibit the worst forms of child labour;⁴⁶
• provide for the determination and periodical revision of the types of hazardous child labour (that is, work which by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of boys or girls below 18), either directly or by mandating a competent authority to do so;
• establish measures aimed at eliminating the worst forms of child labour;⁴⁷
• apply measures addressing the performance of the worst forms of child labour by all persons below the age of 18;⁴⁸
• identify the special needs of certain groups of children who are particularly at risk;⁴⁹
• establish effective implementation and enforcement measures.

 In addition, the legislation could:

• establish a framework for monitoring the occurrence and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, or provide for monitoring in particular instances;

Example

• lay down a procedural framework for establishing programmes of action to eliminate the worst forms of child labour (such as the aspects to be covered, participants, mandatory gender review, timeframe);
• authorize mutual legal assistance;
• mandate international cooperation;
• mandate cooperation between authorities which have responsibilities for the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour;

Example

Where measures for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour overlap with forced labour provisions, the legislation should ensure that children are afforded the protection set out in those provisions as well as the additional forms of protection recommended below.

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Slavery or practices similar to slavery

Legislation on the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour must include measures to combat all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, including:

• the sale and trafficking of children;
• debt bondage and serfdom;
• forced and compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;
• other forms or practices similar to slavery or forced or compulsory labour.⁵⁰

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The sale and trafficking of children

Convention No. 182 does not define the sale and trafficking of children, nor does it indicate its constituent elements. This omission grants member States reasonable discretion under Convention No. 182 to consider precisely when a particular situation amounts to a practice similar to slavery. This discretion is however circumscribed by the detailed definitions contained in other international instruments. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography defines the sale of children as any act or transaction whereby a child is transferred by any person or group of persons to another for remuneration or any other consideration. The United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime gives the following definition of trafficking:

Article 3.  Use of terms

For the purposes of this Protocol:

(a) "Trafficking in persons" shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.  Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs;

(b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used;

(c) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered "trafficking in persons" even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article;

(d) "Child" shall mean any person under eighteen years of age.

In the light of the above, legislation aimed at the prohibition and elimination of child trafficking should:

• recognize the trafficking of boys and girls as a crime against the person and not only a crime against the State. The law should punish the various intermediaries involved up to and including the point of exploitation, and target both sexual and labour exploitation. The law should provide criminal penalties for the perpetrators of trafficking;

Example

• diversify the penalties according to the seriousness of the violation;

Example

• ensure that the use of all methods of pressure to which a boy or girl up to the age of 18 years is normally susceptible (e.g. physical violence, psychological coercion and deception) are explicitly punished;

Example

• explicitly penalize the unlawful deprivation of liberty, debt bondage, servile and exploitative conditions (see the case of Hungary);

Example

• penalize the illegal deprivation of identity documents;

Example

• ensure that the victims of child trafficking are not treated as illegal aliens, but are protected against expulsion on the basis of illegal residency status including, where necessary, through the provision of temporary residence permits;

Example

• provide for the protection of witnesses;

Example

• diversify sanctions to include civil and administrative penalties and remedies;

Example

• make provision for assistance to the victims of trafficking;

Example

Legislation may also:

• provide for the improvement of transnational cooperation by permitting mutual legal assistance and extradition.

            Article 1. 

[…]2. Mutual assistance […] may include:

(a) Taking evidence or statements from persons;

(b) Assisting in the availability of detained persons or others to give evidence or assist in investigations;

(c) Effecting service of judicial documents;

(d) Executing searches and seizures;

(e) Examining objects and sites;

(f) Providing information and evidentiary items;

(g) Providing originals or certified copies of relevant documents and records, including bank, finance, corporate or business records.

• envisage the provision of assistance to foreign countries to help them meet international standards with respect to trafficking;

Example

• take the form of extra-territorial criminal laws against child (sexual or labour) exploitation in those countries that still do not have these laws. Such laws are commonly used to combat child sex tourism, but can apply to any situation where a citizen is instrumental in the exploitation of children abroad.

Example

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Debt bondage and serfdom

Debt bondage is a condition in which an individual has pledged her/his services or the services of a person under his/her control as security for a debt owed to an employer.⁵¹ These situations develop into forced labour where the services are not reasonably applied to the elimination of the debt. The individual is therefore forced to continue working to repay a debt that does not diminish and in some cases even increases if it is necessary to take out further loans (see Chapter VI). Serfdom is a situation in which an individual is bound to render services and work on land belonging to another person and is not free to change her or his status.⁵² Children are particularly vulnerable to these forms of bonded labour. They often inherit debt from their parents or are born into a condition of serfdom. In some cases, families sell their children into bonded labour in exchange for money.

Legislation concerning children subject to debt bondage and serfdom should:

• adopt the measures set out in Chapter VI for the elimination of debt bondage in the context of forced labour, especially measures prohibiting or limiting the advancement of wages or loans by the employer;
• ensure that enforcement measures regarding forced labour are applied to children who are engaged in bonded labour or serfdom;
• prohibit anyone other than the young person concerned from entering into a labour contract for her/his employment;
• ensure that no third party is a recipient of the wages earned by a young person;
• provide special protection in addition to that afforded by forced labour enforcement provisions (see Other measures for the enforcement and implementation of provisions on the worst forms of child labour below).

Example

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Forced or compulsory labour

The Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105), are the primary ILO instruments addressing forced and compulsory labour (see Chapter VI). They apply to children as well as adults. In order to protect children from these forms of labour, legislation should address forced labour in general and in addition should provide specific protection for children. Special attention should also be paid to the forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict.

Legislation concerning children in situations of forced or compulsory labour should:

• ensure that no person under 18 years of age performs any form of forced or compulsory labour;⁵³
• ensure that enforcement measures regarding forced labour are applied to children (see Chapter VI);
• provide special protection for children, in addition to that afforded by the provisions on forced labour (see Other measures for the enforcement and implementation of provisions on the worst forms of child labour below).

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Forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict

Legislation to prevent and eradicate the forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict should:

• establish 18 as the minimum age for forced participation in hostilities and for forced recruitment into all armed forces and armed groups;
• foster a wider concept of child soldier than just children who carry arms: child soldier should include any person under 18 years of age who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to cooks, porters, messengers and those accompanying such groups other than purely as family members: it includes girls recruited for sexual purposes and forced marriage;
• mandate proper recruitment procedures and the means to enforce them, bringing those responsible for illegally recruiting children to justice.

• requirement of proof of age;
• safeguards against violations;
• dissemination of the standards to the military, and especially to recruiters;
• dissemination of the standards and safeguards to the civilian population, especially children at risk of recruitment and their families and the organizations working with them;
• where the government establishes, condones or arms militias or other armed groups, including private security forces, it must also regulate recruitment into them.⁵⁴

Example

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Other forms of slavery and practices similar to slavery and forced or compulsory labour

Legislation addressing the worst forms of child labour should cover all other forms of forced or compulsory labour and practices similar to slavery, including:

• domestic work, where children are aften mistreated or humiliated, and other types of work or activities where the child is delivered to and wholly dependent on the employer⁵⁵ (see Chapter VI, The elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour);
• commercial sexual exploitation (see Child prostitution and pornography below);
• all other forms of slavery or slave-like practices.

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Child prostitution and pornography

Convention No. 182 does not define prostitution or pornography, but with the same reservation expressed before under the section on the sale and trafficking of children, reference can usefully be made to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Protocol defines child prostitution as the use of a child in sexual activities for remuneration or any other form of consideration, and child pornography as any representation, by whatever means, of a child engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities or any representation of the sexual parts of a child for primarily sexual purposes.

Legislation addressing child prostitution and pornography should:

• prohibit the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;⁵⁶
• ensure that enforcement measures regarding forced labour, in particular those regarding trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation (see Chapter VI), are applied to children;
• provide for special protection for children in addition to that afforded by forced labour enforcement provisions, including penal and other sanctions (see Other measures for the enforcement and implementation of provisions on the worst forms of child labour below).

See Interpol database of legislation on sexual offences against children.

Example

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The use of children for other illicit activities

In addition to addressing the situation of children who are victims of trafficking, prostitution and other hazardous forms of work, legislation on child labour should also explicitly prohibit the use of child labour in other illicit activities, including:

• the production and trafficking of drugs;
• the trafficking of other goods;
• gambling operations;
• begging;
• stealing;
• other organized criminal activities;⁵⁷
• activities which involve the unlawful carrying or use of firearms or other weapons.⁵⁸

Legislation targeting child labour in these types of activities should:

• prohibit the involvement of children in illicit activities;
• provide for adequate enforcement mechanisms, including penal and other sanctions, for those who use, procure or offer children for use in such activities (see Other measures for the enforcement and implementation of provisions on the worst forms of child labour below)

Example

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Work that is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children

All forms of work, which by their nature or the circumstances in which they are carried out are likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children, must be prohibited and eliminated. This obligation under Convention No. 182 adds focus to the already existing (and still valid) obligation under Convention No. 138 to outlaw the admission of persons below 18 years of age to work which is likely to jeopardize the health, safety or morals of children below 18 years of age. The hazardous child labour envisaged by Convention No. 182 is work that directly affects the health, safety or morals of children, can be identified in practice within a national context and must subsequently be subject to a programme of action containing immediate and effective measures to eliminate it.

From this perspective, the hazardous work determined in accordance with Convention No. 182 may take the form of a core list selected from an enumeration of hazardous types of work drawn up in accordance with Convention No. 138. It may accord with this list, or it may be an entirely new list, depending on the assessment of the government in consultation with the social partners.

Legislation can play the following role in the process of prohibiting and eliminating the engagement of children in work that is likely to harm their health, safety or morals:

• establish a prohibition in general terms of the admission of boys and girls below 18 to hazardous work;
• mandate tripartite consultations to determine hazardous work, starting from the following broad categories:
  • work which exposes children to physical, psychological or sexual abuse;
  • work underground, under water, at dangerous heights or in confined spaces;
  • work with dangerous machinery, equipment and tools, or which involves the manual handling or transport of heavy loads;
  • work in an unhealthy environment which may, for example, expose children to hazardous substances, agents or processes, or to temperatures, noise levels or vibrations damaging to their health;
  • work under particularly difficult conditions, such as work for long hours or during the night or work where the child is unreasonably confined to the premises of the employer;⁵⁹
• pay attention to work situations which are hazardous by nature, and work situations which are hazardous by the circumstances in which the work is carried out (in which case, for example, adjustment of the circumstances may render the work acceptable), taking into account the fact that:
  • girls and boys may be exposed to different hazards;
  • no category of work or economic sector is in principle free from harmful circumstances;
• ensure the periodical revision of the list, for which purpose, the legislation may;
  • delegate the determination of types of hazardous work to a specified competent authority (rather than petrifying the list of hazardous forms of work in the legislation itself);
  • outline a procedure to determine hazardous work, such as mandating an advisory committee to the government which ensures gender-balanced participation of the social partners, other concerned organizations, occupational safety and health experts, paediatricians, etc.

• provide for penal, civil and administrative sanctions for violators of the respective provisions.

For examples of the types of work governments have considered hazardous for children and young people, see ILO, Child labour: Targeting the intolerable, p.49, Annex 5.⁶⁰

Example

See the other example in the section above on Legislation on minimum age for admission to work.

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Special groups and hidden work situations

Legislation can also establish measures to reach out to children at special risk,⁶¹  who include:

• girls;⁶²
• younger children; ⁶³
• children with special vulnerabilities or needs⁶⁴ (such as children with disabilities and street children)⁶⁵;

Example

• children of minority groups;⁶⁶

Example

• children in hidden work situations,⁶⁷such as child domestic workers⁶⁸ (see Chapter II).

The measures taken in this respect should aim to:

• reach out to communities where children are at special risk;⁶⁹
• pay particular attention to children at special risk when identifying the existence of situations of child labour and establishing programmes to combat child labour⁷⁰ (see Investigation, inspection and other means of enforcement above).

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Implementation and enforcement

In order to ensure the implementation and enforcement of provisions concerning the worst forms of child labour, legislation should provide for penal and other sanctions and should support other measures, such as the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour, the establishment of rehabilitation programmes and measures focusing on children at special risk.

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Other measures for the enforcement and implementation of provisions on the worst forms of child labour

    The legislation should also support measures for:

• the identification and denounciation of the worst forms of child labour⁷¹ (see Investigation, inspection and other means of enforcement above);
• the prevention of the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour (see ⁷² Preventive and protective measures above)
• the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and their protection from reprisals;⁷³
• the rehabilitation and social integration of children who have been removed from the worst forms of child labour through measures addressing their educational, physical and psychological needs;⁷⁴
• the access of all children removed from the worst forms of child labour to free basic education, and where possible and appropriate, vocational training;⁷⁵
• the provision of special attention to children at special risk⁷⁶ (see Special groups of children above);
• ensuring that all programmes are developed and undertaken in consultation with relevant government institutions, and employers’ and workers’ organizations, taking into consideration the views of other concerned groups⁷⁷ (such as children, parents, community organizations⁷⁸);
• the provision of an effective complaints procedure; and
• enhanced international cooperation and/or assistance, including:
  • support for social and economic development, poverty eradication programmes and universal education;⁷⁹
  • the creation of mechanisms for gathering and exchanging information with other states concerning criminal offences involving child labour.⁸⁰

Other measures essential to the enforcement and implementation of provisions on the worst forms of child labour include establishing effective labour inspection systems and instituting social and economic programmes aimed at preventing child labour and protecting child workers. These are discussed above in connection with the measures aimed at eliminating all forms of child labour in general.

Example

1. Convention No. 138, Article 2(3).

2. Ibid., Article 2(4).

3. Ibid., Article 7(1).

4. Ibid., Article 7(2).

5. Ibid., Article 9(1).

6. Bequele, pp. 23-27.

7. Recommendation No. 190, Paragraph 5(1).

8. Ibid., Paragraph 5(2).

9. Ibid., Paragraph 5(3).

10. Bequele, op. cit., pp. 24, 43-57.

11. Recommendation No. 146, Paragraph 14(1)(a).

12. Ibid., Paragraph 14(2).

13. Ibid., Paragraph 14(3).

14. Recommendation No. 190, Paragraph 15(g).

15. Recommendation No. 146, Paragraph 16.

16. Convention No. 138, Article 9(3).

17. Recommendation No. 190, Paragraph 15(i).

18. From recommendations on the enforcement of legislation against child bondage, ILO, 1992, pp. 7-8.

19. Idem.

20. See Bequele, op. cit., p. 31.

21. Ibid., op. cit., pp. 29-41.

22. Recommendation No. 146, Paragraph 2(a).

23. Bequele, op. cit., p. 33.

24. Recommendation No. 146, Paragraph 2(b).

25. Ibid., Paragraph 2(c).

26. Bequele, op. cit., p. 34.

27. Ibid., pp. 34-35.

28. Recommendation No. 146, Paragraph 13(1)(b).

29. Ibid., Paragraph 13(1)(c).

30. Ibid., Paragraph 13(1)(d).

31. Ibid., Paragraph 13(1)(a).

32. Ibid., Paragraph 13(1)(e).

33. Bequele, op. cit., p. 38.

34. Ibid., p.38.

35. Convention No. 138, Article 2(3).

36. Convention No. 182, Article 7(2)(c); and Bequele, op. cit., pp. 130-133.

37. Recommendation No. 146, Paragraph 4.

38. Ibid., Paragraph 2(d).

39. Bequele, op. cit., p. 38.

40. Ibid., p. 141.

41. Recommendation No. 190, Paragraph 15(j).

42. Bequele, op. cit., p. 40.

43. Convention No. 182, Article 6(2); Recommendation No. 190, Paragraph 2; and Bequele, op. cit., pp. 43-54.

44. For an overview of the magnitude of the problem of children engaged in the most egregious forms of child labour, see Child labour: Targeting the intolerable, Report VI(1), ILC, 86th session, Geneva, 1998, pp. 3-22.

45. Convention No. 182, Article 3.

46. Ibid., Article 1.

47. Ibid., Article 1.

48. Ibid., Article 2.

49. Ibid., Article 7(d).

50. Ibid., Article 3(a).

51. United Nations Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, Article 1(a).

52. Ibid., Article 1(b).

53. Convention No. 29, Article 11(1).

54. Principles and Best Practices on the Prevention of Recruitment of Children into the Armed Forces and Demobilization and Social Reintegration of Child Soldiers in Africa (the "Cape Town Principles"), adopted by the participants at the Symposium on the Prevention of Recruitment of Children into the Armed Forces and Demobilization and Social Reintegration of Child Soldiers in Africa, organized by UNICEF in cooperation with the NGO Sub-group of the NGO Working Group on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Cape Town, 30 April 1997.

55. The ILO Committee on Child Labour agreed that domestic work where children are mistreated or humiliated and other types of work or activities where the child is delivered to and wholly dependent on the employer are covered by the phrase practices similar to slavery. Report of the Committee on Child Labour, ILC, 86th Session, Geneva, 1998, para. 130.

56. Convention No. 182, Article 3(b).

57. See Report of the Committee on Child Labour, op. cit., para. 134.

58. Recommendation No. 190, Paragraph 12(c).

59. Ibid., Paragraphs 3 and 4.

60. Child labour: Targeting the intolerable, op. cit.

61. Convention No. 182, Article 7(d).

62. Ibid., Article 7(2)(e).

63. Recommendation No. 190, Paragraph 2(i).

64. Ibid., Paragraph 2(iv).

65. Report of the Committee on Child Labour, ILC, 87th Session, Geneva, 1999, para. 228; and Report of the Committee on Child Labour, 1998, op. cit, para. 256.

66. Report of the Committee on Child Labour, 1999, op. cit., para. 228.

67. Recommendation No. 190, Paragraph 2(iii).

68. Report of the Committee on Child Labour, 1999, op. cit., para. 222; and Report of the Committee on Child Labour, 1998, op. cit., para. 130.

69. Recommendation No. 190, Paragraph 2(d).

70. Bequele, op. cit., pp. 23-25.

71. Recommendation No. 190, Paragraph 2.

72. Convention No. 182, Article 7(2)(a).

73. Ibid., Article 7(2)(b).

74. Convention No. 182, Article 7(2)(b); and United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 39.

75. Convention No. 182, Article 7(2)(c).

76. Ibid., Article 7(2)(d).

77. Ibid., Article 6.

78. Recommendation No. 190, Paragraph 2.

79. Convention No. 182, Article 8.

80. Recommendation No. 190, Paragraphs 11 and 16. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child also calls for States parties to take all appropriate bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of, or trafficking in children (Article 35).