| Total
Child Labour |
NATIONAL STATISTICS
* A May 1999 study
by the ILO estimated that approximately 70,000 children between the ages
of 7 and 14 were working in cities, and that approximately 300,000 children
in the same age group were working in rural areas. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001 citing ILO study, May 1999)
* For the year
2000, 248236 children between 10-14 years and 370506 between 15-19
years were economically active. (ILO, Yearbook of
Labour Statistics, 2001)
* For the year
2000, the ILO projects that there will be 111,000 economically active
children, 49,000 girls and 61,000 boys between the ages of 10-14,
representing 11.35% of this age group. (ILO,
International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically
Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
* The economically active
population between the ages of 10-14 years is 214,238. (ILO-IPEC,
El trabajo infantil en America Latina - CD-ROM, August 1999)
* According to a study
by the ILO, approximately 369,385 children between the ages of 7 and 14
work, 23% of that age group, in uncontrolled and sometimes unhealthy conditions.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* 270,327 children between
10-14 and 381,013 between 15-19 are economically active. (ILO,
Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 1999)
*
In 1995, there were 126,000 economically active children between the ages
of 10-14, representing 14.36% of this age group. Of these, 56,000 were
girls and 69,000 were boys. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
GENERAL NOTES AND
OBSERVATIONS
* The results
of the Inquiry (Encuesta nacional de empleo 1997) show that the
majority of children economically active work in the commercial
sector (32%), manufacturing sector (26%) and finally in private
homes (17.3%). These activities are suitable to an urban area because
the inquiry took place in the capital cities of the department.
(ILO-IPEC, Taller Latinoamericano
para la formación de estadísticos y diseño
de encuestas sobre trabajo infantil, Colombia, julio de 1998)
* The results
(Encuesta nacional de empleo 1997) show that child domestics work
about 49 hours per week, whereas in the transportation and construction
sector, they work 39 and 37 hours per week, respectively. The commercial
sectors follow with (25 hrs/wk), then the agricultural sector (22
hrs/wk), community and personal services (21 hrs/wk), manufacturing
sector (18 hrs /wk), and activities targeted to businesses (12 hrs/wk).
(ILO-IPEC, Taller Latinoamericano
para la formación de estadísticos y diseño
de encuestas sobre trabajo infantil, Colombia, julio de 1998)
* Rural children often
work with their parents from an early age.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
|
| Child
Slavery |
ADULT STATISTICS
* Over 10-20
million people are subjected to debt bondage largely in India, Bolivia,
Brazil, Peru and Philippines. (Debt Bondage: The
Challenge for the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery,
submission to the UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery,
June 1996)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* Criaditos are indigenous
children of both sexes, usually 10 to 12 years old, whom their parents
indenture to middle and upper-class families to perform household work
in exchange for education, clothing, room, and board. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Some rural indigenous
workers are kept in a state of virtual slavery by employers. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
|
| Child
Trafficking |
GENERAL NOTES AND
OBSERVATIONS
* There were
unconfirmed press reports that children sometimes were sold to sweatshops
in Argentina. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
|
| Child
Prostitution and
Pornography |
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* Child prostitution
is a growing problem, particularly among girls between the ages
of 14 and 18. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
* Child victims of
prostitution are present in large numbers. (US
Dept of Labor, Prostitution of Children, 1996)
|
| Children
in Crime |
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* On
May 15, Defense of Children International, an NGO, criticized narcotics
traffickers for using children under the age of 14 to transport
drugs as "mules." (US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001,
March 2002)
GENERAL JUVENILE
CRIME STATISTICS
* In 1998 there
were 2,499 reported cases of juvenile crime, representing 5.05%
of all criminal cases. The specific offences were: 2 cases of murder
(0.10% of all murders) 90 cases of serious assault (2.05% of all
cases) 190 cases of all types of theft (2.37% of all cases) 122
cases of aggravated theft (1.59% of all cases) 5 cases of robbery
and violent theft (2.03% of all cases) 1 case of breaking and entering
(2.05% of all cases) 0 cases of other theft (0.01% of all cases)
18 cases of fraud (0.15% of all cases) 0 cases of counterfeit currency
offences (0.01% of all cases)
(INTERPOL, International Crime Statistics
for 1998, citing National
Statistics)
|
| Child
Soldiers |
GOVERNMENT
FORCES STATISTICS
* Almost half
of Bolivia's armed forces are under 18, including some children
as young as 14. (CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001)
* According
to one source, some 40% of the armed forces are under 18, and 50%
of these are under 16. (CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing letter
by Juan Ramon Quintana, Director, Centro Latinoamericano de Estudios
para la Paz, to the CSC, La Paz, 2/6/99)
RECRUITMENT
LAWS AND REGULATIONS
* Bolivian authorities
acknowledged that "although the minimum age for performing military service
is 18 years, when the annual intake into the armed forces cannot be made
up on a voluntary basis, compulsory recruitment is indiscriminate, an occasion
for forcibly recruiting poor adolescents, including some as young as 14,
by means of organised sweeps". (CSUCS,
Americas Report, July 1999)
*
The minimum age for conscription is 21 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994)
NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS
* Tupac Katari Guerrilla
Army (EGTK), which was believed to have disappeared in 1992, appears to
be still in existence in rural areas and is thought to be in contact with
the rebels of the Chilean Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FPMR). These
groups have recruited young, educated and marginalised Indians, using the
same methods as Shining Path for their recruitment. (CSUCS,
Americas Report, July 1999, citing J. M. Balencie and A. de La Grange,
Mondes rebelles, 1999)
|
| Domestic
Child Servants |
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* The old practice
of "criadito" service still persists in some parts of the country. Criaditos
are indigenous children of both sexes, usually 10 to 12 years old, whom
their parents indenture to middle and upper-class families to perform household
work in exchange for education, clothing, room, and board. There are no
controls over the benefits to, or treatment of, such children, who may
become virtual slaves for the years of their indenture.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
|
Other
Hazardous
Child Labour |
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* Urban children sell
goods, shine shoes, and assist transport operators. Rural children often
work with parents from an early age.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Practices of child
apprenticeship and agricultural servitude by indigenous workers exist in
the country. Some rural indigenous workers are kept in a state of virtual
slavery by employers.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
|
|
