violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

6Though competing interpretations have beenproposed by historians for the decline of childlabour in the industrialisation process of the19th and 20th centuries, an important factorwas the changing ideology regarding childhood.14 In 19th-century Europe, child labourbegan to be viewed as wrong because it violatedthe notion that children had a right tochildhood, and that the State should protectthat right. For the first time came the publicassertion that children had the right not towork, and not to be exposed to dangers, exploitationand abuse in the ‘new’ – organised andindustrialised – workplace. 15PERU, 1996, A boy and a girl carry pumice stones, out of anunderground volcanic mine near the southern city of Arequipa.UNICEF/HQ96-0959. Alejandro BalaguerIn responding to what had become the notoriousphenomenon of ‘child labour’, socialreformers put in place a number of interventionswhich remain in the contemporaryportfolio: public inquiries, minimum age legislation,compulsory education, labour inspectorates,and providing education for workingchildren. The modern campaign has had totake into account a rather different process ofindustrialisation, and the fact that childhoodin many developing societies is constructeddifferently than in westernised settings, withcontinuing expectations that children shouldhelp shoulder family needs and responsibilitiesat an early age. 16The contemporary campaignagainst child labourThe contemporary drive against child labourhas been accompanied by international,academic and NGO attempts to enhanceunderstanding of its dynamics and remedies– although violence as a specific issue has beenneglected. The information generated enablesa picture to be drawn of occupations andworkplaces where violence can be assumed tobe more or less likely to occur.Global estimates indicate that the vast majorityof children’s work (69%) is in the agriculturalsector, followed by 22% in services and9% in industry (see Figure 6.1). 17Many child workers operate within a familysetting, and the informal economy harboursmost child workers across all sectors. Genderplays a significant role in determining the differenttypes of work done by boys and girls;for example, girls predominate in domesticlabour, while boys are heavily represented inmining and quarrying.Although analysis of sending factors showssome cultural drivers, the predominant reason239Violence against children in places of work