violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

“If I broke something or did something badly they would beat me with a shoe or a belt. I couldn’t leavethe house, they would lock the door when they left. When my mother came the last time to visit I told herI wouldn’t stay at that house any more. I said, ‘Either I go with you or I will run away or kill myself ’.”Boy, 14, domestic labourer, North Africa, 2005 V244Violence against children in places of workChildren in certain high-riskwork settingsAmong workers in informal employment, certainoccupations in which violence is a particularrisk as a result of personal, workplaceand/or environmental factors require specialexamination. Children whose occupations areon the street or in other ‘open’ locations arenot specifically examined here, because theirmajor risk is less often occupational than theresult of being beyond the safety of a protectedspace. (See the chapter on violence againstchildren in the community).Child domestic labourersThe taking-in of children from other householdsto perform domestic chores has longbeen seen in many societies as a form of surrogacy,adoption or assisting a child from aless fortunate family. In West Africa, there isa tradition of children migrating from rural tourban areas to work for others as part of theirupbringing. In most of sub-Saharan Africa,exchanges of children between couples withinthe extended family used to be standard formsof mutual support.Today, such practices have become increasinglycommercialised. Millions of childrenlive in the households of others at ever furtherdistances from home, and undertake domesticwork as ‘helpers’ or employees. Althougha small proportion are boys, domestic workis normally consigned to females and is thelargest employment category of girls under 16years in the world. 35 Recruiters and traffickersin many regions supply rural girls from disadvantagedgroups, depressed areas, and neighbouringcountries to feed urban demand fordomestic help in countries all over the world. 36Increasingly, this has become a form of unregulatedemployment and exploitation, even ofservitude. This picture is confirmed by severalrecent studies pointing to the extreme vulnerabilityof child domestic labourers. 37,38,39,40The situation of child domestic labourers isusually considered by their parents to be safesince the child may live in better accommodationthan at home, may eat better, and isare under the care of the employers and familymembers. However, the closed nature of thehousehold, the child’s isolation and the ‘invisible’nature of the employment puts a child atconsiderable risk. Children in domestic labourare at the mercy of the employer and otherhousehold members. Child domestics describethe relationship as often starting well, but laterbecoming intolerant and abusive. 41 Wheresocial stigma towards lower-status groups isentrenched, a female employer may behavewith impunity, subjecting her ‘girl’ or ‘boy’ toimpossible demands, extreme forms of physicalpunishment and serious violence. At the sametime, girls in domestic labour may be preyedon sexually by the men of the household. 42,43Violence of all kinds is commonViolent and abusive behaviour towards childdomestics is much more common thanrealised; this form of child labour first came tothe attention of child labour activists a decadeago, and in several countries has been designateda ‘worst form’ of child labour under ILOConvention No. 182. 44 It includes extremeoverwork (16-hour days are not uncommon);