Domestic Child Servants

 

Country Domestic Child Servitude Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children work on family farms as domestic servants. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) Antigua and Barbuda - Argentina NATIONAL STATISTICS * UNICEF estimated that 252,000 children under 15 years of age were working and of these one third were domestics in urban areas. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) Armenia - Australia - Austria - Azerbaijan - Bahamas - Bahrain - Bangladesh NATIONAL STATISTICS * 17% of domestic workers are boys. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing an e-mail to UNICEF ICDC, citing UNICEF Bangladesh, Prevailing opinions and attitudes to child domestic work in urban middle class families, 4 February 1999) * There are an estimated 189,000 domestic servants. (ILO-IPEC, Child Labour Situation in Bangladesh, 1997) * Of the total child workers 2.89% are engaged in domestic service. (ILO-IPEC, Rapid Assessment of Child Labour Situation in Bangladesh, 1996) * About 72% of the child domestic workers were girls. (ILO-IPEC, Rapid Assessment of Child Labour Situation in Bangladesh, 1996) LOCAL STATISTICS * There are 300,000 child domestic servants in Dhaka Metropolitan City. (ILO-IPEC baseline survey report under US DOL Project, BSAF) * Shoishab Bangladesh estimates there are between 250,000 and 300,000 bandhu maids, that is, resident child servants, in Dhaka. (Jeremy Seabrook, "The Little Maids Of Dhaka", Third World Network Features, 8 July 1999) * In Dhaka, as many as 300,000 children work as domestics. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing an e-mail from UNICEF Bangladesh) * In Bangladesh, research in Dhaka concluded that more than 20% of child domestics were between 5 and 10 years old. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * A 1998 survey identified only 16% of child domestics who received their wages in hands; 45% never saw their wages, which were given to their parents or guardians; and about 25% received no wage at all. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing an e-mail from UNICEF Bangladesh, 24 November 1998) * Child domestic workers generally have to work for 15 hours a day, seven days a week. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing The Phenomenon of Child Domestic Work: Issues, Responses and Research, 19-23 November 1997) * Children who work in domestic service may work in conditions that resemble servitude and prostitution. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * There are significant numbers of young girls who are abducted for the 'slave trade, to be employed as domestic servants in the Middle East and Pakistan. (An Alternative Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, submission to the UN CRC, 1997) Barbados - Belarus - Belgium - Belize - Benin NATIONAL STATISTICS * Based on a survey of 229 children trafficked from Benin to Gabon, 198 (86%) were girls, the majority of whom were being trafficked for domestic service. More than 50% of the sample were under 16 years old. (Anti-Slavery International and ESAM, Trafficking of Children between Benin and Gabon, 1999) * In the research sample of child domestic workers by the UNICEF West and Central Africa Regional Office, 72.4% were between ages of 10-14, 19.2% below age 10 and only 8.4% above 14 . (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998) * In Benin there are estimated to be 150,000 child domestic workers aged between 4 and 14, with the majority starting work at around the age of 10. (Anti-Slavery International and ESAM, Étude sur la situation des 'enfants places' au Bénin, April 1998) * Vidomégon, children placed with another member of the family or an outsider to help with household and/or trading activities, are the most common and exploited category of child workers in urban areas. 85% of them are children, 20% are under 10 years. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998) LOCAL STATISTICS * In Cotonou, there would appear to have been an increase in the number of child domestic workers: 100 were identified in 1991; 950 in 1993. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing ILO, Improving the situation of child domestic workers, 1997) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children work as domestics in urban areas. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * It is clear that a changing social structure coupled with rapid commercialisation have helped fuel the demand for child domestic workers. (Anti-Slavery International and ESAM, Étude sur la situation des 'enfants places' au Bénin, April 1998) Bhutan - Bolivia 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) Bosnia and Herzegovina - Botswana - Brazil NATIONAL STATISTICS * According to the Government's Institute for Applied Economic Research, in 1998 there were approximately 800,000 girls between the ages of 10 and 17 working as domestic servants. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001, March 2002) * 20% of girls between the age of 10 and 14 work as domestics and the percentages rise to 35.6% in rural areas. (ILO-IPEC, Mainstreaming Gender in IPEC Activities, 1999) * There are an estimated 260,000 domestic workers between 10 and 14 years of age. (ILO-IPEC, Mainstreaming Gender in IPEC Activities, 1999) * There are an estimated 1 million child domestics. (US Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child Labour, 1998) * 22% of the working children are in domestic service. (ILO, Targeting the Intolerable, November 1996) Brunei Darussalam - Bulgaria - Burkina Faso GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * It is reported that in most of the regions of West Africa, children as young as 8 years are taken from the rural areas to towns and cities to work as domestics. Many of them work for over 12 hours a day and are subjected to mental, physical and sexual abuse. (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp) * Many children are trafficked for domestic work. (Anti-Slavery International, presentation to the Libreville Consultation, February 2000) * A study has shown that children are trafficked from Togo to Burkina Faso for use as domestic servants. (WAO-Afrique, Child Trafficking in West and Central Africa, submission to the UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, June 1999) * Suspected child trafficking activities have been identified in Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. These networks feed the domestic labour market in the main urban centres of countries like Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and the Congo. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998) Burma (Myanmar) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Burma is a country of origin for trafficking of persons, primarily of women and girls, to Thailand and other countries as factory workers and household servants, and for sexual exploitation. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001) Burundi - Cambodia GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children are employed as domestic servants. (ILO-IPEC, Child Labour in Cambodia, 1998) Cameroon GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children are trafficked from and through Cameroon to other West African countries for indentured or domestic servitude, farm labour, and sexual exploitation. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001) * Trafficking in children, which is always a problem, continues to be the subject of considerable media coverage in Benin. Most victims are abducted or leave home with traffickers who promise educational opportunities or other incentives. They are taken to places in foreign countries (according to the press, principally to Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, and Gabon) and sold into servitude in agriculture, as domestics, or as prostitutes. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * There are credible reports that children from needy homes especially girls are placed with other families to perform family chores for money. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)   Canada - Cape Verde - Central African Republic - Chad - Chile LOCAL STATISTICS * In Santiago, 5% of domestic workers are under 11, and 29% between 11 and 15. (ILO-IPEC, Mainstreaming Gender in IPEC Activities, 1999) China NATIONAL STATISTICS * 3,000 Vietnamese women and children have been trafficked to China for domestic work and to Cambodia for prostitution. (ILO-IPEC, Trafficking in Children and Women, 1999) China, Hong Kong SAR GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Hong Kong is affected by various forms of trafficking for domestic service. (CWA, "Serving Affluent Businessmen and Visitors", Child Workers in Asia, Vol. 13, Nos. 2 & 3, April - September 1997) China, Macau SAR - China, Taiwan - Colombia NATIONAL STATISTICS * In Colombia, 20% of girls between the ages of 10 and 14 work as domestics and the percentage rises to 32% in rural areas. (ILO-IPEC, Mainstreaming Gender in IPEC Activities, 1999) Comoros GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children, often as young as 7 years of age, typically work long hours as domestic servants in exchange for food and shelter. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) Congo GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * In cross-border trafficking, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo are known to be the main providers of child domestic labour to the main urban centres of countries like Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and the Congo. Suspected child trafficking activities have also been identified in Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998) Congo, Dem. Rep. - Cook Islands - Costa Rica NATIONAL STATISTICS * In Costa Rica, it is estimated that 70,000 girls and young women work as domestics. 44% of those interviewed began work at or before the age of 14. More than half of the child domestics interviewed were migrants from neighbouring Nicaragua. (Anti-Slavery International and DNI-Costa Rica, 50 niñas y mujeres adolescentes trabajadoras domésticas en Costa Rica, May 1999) * In 1992, 28% of youth between the ages of 12 and 19 were working as domestics. (ECPAT International, Child Prostitution and Sex Tourism, citing Agustin Castros, "Aumenta turismo sexual", Prense Libre, 8 June 1994) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Domestic service is a major form of female and child employment in Costa Rica. (ECPAT International, Child Prostitution and Sex Tourism, citing Agustin Castros, "Aumenta turismo sexual", Prense Libre, 8 June 1994) Cote d'Ivoire LOCAL STATISTICS * More than half of a representative sample of 200 domestic workers surveyed in the capital, Abidjan were found to be under 18 years old. (BICE-Côte d'Ivoire and Anti-Slavery International, Les petits bonnes a Abidjan, 1997) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Some children are employed as domestics and are subjected to sexual abuse, harassment, and other forms of mistreatment by their employers, according to AIDF and press reports. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * A study has shown that children are trafficked from Togo to Cote d'Ivoire, for use as domestic servants. (WAO-Afrique, Child Trafficking in West and Central Africa, submission to the UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, June 1999) * In cross-border trafficking, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo are known to be the main providers of child domestic labour to the main urban centres of countries like Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and the Congo. Suspected child trafficking activities have also been identified in Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998) * The sale of children for labour is organised around networks, which bring children from rural areas to urban centres to work for individual employers in domestic service. (CWA, Rokhaya Diop, "The Sale of Child Labour in Côte d'Ivoire", Child Workers in Asia, Vol. 10, No. 4, October - December 1994) Croatia - Cuba - Cyprus - Czech Republic - Denmark - Djibouti - Dominica - Dominican Republic - East Timor - Ecuador NATIONAL STATISTICS * 20% of girls between the ages of 10 and 14 work as domestics. The percentages rise as high as 43.8% in rural areas. (ILO-IPEC, Child Domestic Workers, 1998) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children are being trafficked from Ecuador to Venezuela. The children work in virtual slavery conditions as domestic workers. (CATW Fact Book, citing Vladimir Villegas, Congressional Human Rights Commission, Estrella Gutierrez, "Child Traffic in Venezuela Tip of the Iceberg", IPS, 11 January 1998) Egypt GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children work as domestics. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) El Salvador - Equatorial Guinea GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * In cross-border trafficking, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo are known to be the main providers of child domestic labour to the main urban centres of countries like Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and the Congo. Suspected child trafficking activities have also been identified in Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998) Eritrea - Estonia - Ethiopia GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Child domestic workers are common. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) Fiji - Finland - France GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Some diplomats have domestic slaves. They are usually foreign nationals and diplomats from places where slavery already exists, such as the Gulf and North Africa, but also include native French. (American Anti-Slavery Group, Jesse Sage, e-mail to GMIS, 6 November 2000, citing Kevin Bales, Disposable People) Gabon NATIONAL STATISTICS * Based on a survey of 229 children trafficked from Benin to Gabon, 198 (86%) were girls, the majority of whom were being trafficked for domestic service. More than 50% of the sample were under 16 years old (Anti-Slavery International and ESAM, Trafficking of Children between Benin and Gabon, 1999) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Gabon is a destination country for trafficked persons, primarily children from west and central Africa (specifically Benin and Togo) for domestic servitude. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001) * UNICEF and other concerned organisations have reported that government officials often privately use foreign child labourers, mainly as domestic help. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * A study has shown that children are trafficked from Benin to Gabon to be used as domestic servants, and from Togo to Gabon for use as domestic servants, market traders, child beggars and prostitutes. (WAO-Afrique, Child Trafficking in West and Central Africa, submission to the UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, June 1999) * In cross-border trafficking, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo are known to be the main providers of child domestic labour to the main urban centres of countries like Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and the Congo. Suspected child trafficking activities have also been identified in Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998) Gambia GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Anecdotal evidence in Gambia suggests that the existence of sexually exploitative activities amongst young people within domestic and work situation is overwhelming. (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp) * A report on the trafficking of children in West and Central Africa states that children are being trafficked to and from Senegal to neighbouring countries to work as domestics. (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp) Georgia - Germany - Ghana NATIONAL STATISTICS * In Ghana, 80% of girls working as domestics were between 10 and 14 years. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999) LOCAL STATISTICS * A recent survey shows that there are at least 39 active 'trokosi' shrines in the Volta and Dangme areas: 18 in the Tongu North (Adidome), eight in the Tongu South (Sogakope), five in Ketu, three in Keta, two in Dangme West and one in Akatsi district. In all, there are over 1,000 'Trokosis'. (Santuah Niagia, "Children forced to atone for the sins of parents", Dispatch Online, 16 March 2000) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children are trafficked to and from Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, and Nigeria for indentured or domestic servitude. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001) * NGO's report that children as young as age 7 work illegally as domestic servants. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001) * Teenage girls from rural areas are sent by relatives to work in the cities as housemaids for little remuneration. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * In cross-border trafficking, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo are known to be the main providers of child domestic labour to the main urban centres of countries like Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and the Congo. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998) * Under the Trokosi system, a traditional practice that is particularly prevalent in the Volta region, girls, usually under the age of ten, are enslaved to fetish priests in atonement for some offence committed by their families. They are subjected to forced labour and sexual abuse, often bearing the priests' children. Even after release, a woman's obligations to the shrine are life long and a replacement is expected when she dies. It is estimated that some 4,500 girls are caught up in that system (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp) Greece GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Findings of the NOW survey revealed the presence of child workers in different fields including domestic work. (EFCW, Children Who Work in Europe, June 1998) Grenada - Guatemala NATIONAL STATISTICS * Roughly 100,000 girls between 10 and 14 years of age reportedly work as domestics. (IACHR, Country Report - Guatemala, 2001) * An estimated 92,800 girls work as maids, most of them in Guatemala City. ("Two Million Children Work In Guatemala", EFE News Service, 16 September 2000, citing the report on childhood issued by the Guatemalan Archbishop's Human Rights Office) Guinea GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Refugee children from conflicts in nearby Liberia and Sierra Leone can end up as domestic workers in Guinea. They are not trafficked but displaced because of internal conflicts. (Anti-Slavery International, presentation to the Libreville Consultation, February 2000) Guinea-Bissau - Guyana - Haiti NATIONAL STATISTICS * 'Restavek', the practice of sending children to serve as unpaid domestic labour for more affluent city dwellers, exists, in the country. UNICEF estimated that 200,000 to 300,000 children 85% of them girls, are victims of this practice. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * The figure of 300,000 restavek children is a guesswork figure, not the result of a survey. (Maggie Black, e-mail to GMIS, 27 April 2000) * There are an estimated 10,000 child domestic servants. (ILO-IPEC, IPEC action against child labour, 1998-99) * There appear to be at least 200,000 child servants living at the bottom of the socio-economic scale. (UN Secretary-General, The Situation of Democracy and Human Rights in Haiti, note to the UN General Assembly, 50th session, 12 October 1995) * Of an estimated 250,000 child domestic workers or restaveks, 20% are 7 to 10 years old. (UNICEF Innocent Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights, Restavek: Child Labour in Haiti, 1993) * Restavek is a prevalent feature of Haitian society. The 1984 Conference Report estimated that 109,000 Haitian children worked as restaveks, 65,000 girls and 44,000 boys. If 109,000 children is an accurate figure today, 5% of Haitian children between the age of 5 and 18 work as domestics. (Minnesota Lawyer International Human Rights Committee, Restavek: Child Domestic Labour In Haiti, August 1990, citing E.Clesca, La domesticite juvenile est elle une consequence du sous development ou le produit de la mentalite d 'un peuple) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * A survey carried out in 1993 by the Institut Psycho-Social de la Famille found that child servants live in very poor conditions. It has been shown that the physical, moral and emotional suffering of the children is ignored. (UN Secretary-General, The Situation of Democracy and Human Rights in Haiti, note to the UN General Assembly, 50th session, 12 October 1995) Honduras NATIONAL STATISTICS * 5.5% of child labourers are domestic servants. (ILO-IPEC, El trabajo infantil en America Latina - CD-ROM, August 1999) Hungary - Iceland - India NATIONAL STATISTICS * A survey in India, noted that 17% of domestic workers were under 15 years old and also reported that girls aged 12 to 15 were the preferred choice of 90% of employing households. (UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 1997) LOCAL STATISTICS * Of the 11,280 children below the age of 14 years involved in domestic chores for a wage in 19 towns of Tamil Nadu, around 3,000 children were employed in the homes of government servants. (Ramya Kannan, "India: Study shows lack of follow-up action", The Hindu, 20 Septenber, 2000, citing The 'preliminary assessment' of the prevalence of domestic child labour, by Peace Trust, and 15 other NGOs) * In Chennai, a study found that 25% of child domestic workers interviewed began working before they were nine and a further 65% began work between the ages of nine and 12 years old. More than 80% were girls. (Anti-Slavery International and Arunodhaya, "Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Out of Reach: A study of child domestic workers in Chennai, India", 1999) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * In December 1999, domestic media reported that child labourers were being sold in an organised ring at the annual Sonepur cattle fair in Bihar. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001) Indonesia NATIONAL STATISTICS * In Indonesia, According to the statistics of Central Bureau of Statistics (1999), there are 1,341,712 domestic workers in Indonesia; 310,378 of the are between 10 and 18 years old, which is about 23 per cent. In Jakarta the estimated number of child domestic workers are 70,792. (ILO-IPEC, Trafficking of Children, The problem and responses worldwide, citing ILO-IPEC and the University of Indonesia, 2001) * Although accurate figures are unavailable, estimates put the number of child domestic workers as up to 1.5 million. Observers agree that this number increased in 1998 as a result of the economic crisis. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * An ILO statistical survey estimated that 5 million children in Indonesia are in domestic service. (ILO-IPEC, Child Domestic Workers, 1998) * It is estimated that 400,000 children under 15 are working as domestics in the greater Jakarta area, with further estimates suggesting that more than 50% of all domestic workers in the Jakarta metropolitan region are under 18. Extrapolations from these estimates suggest that *In Indonesia, According to the statistics of Central Bureau of Statistics (1999), there are 1,341,712 domestic workers in Indonesia; 310,378 of the are between 10 and 18 years old, which is about 23 per cent. In Jakarta the estimated number of child domestic workers are 70,792. (ILO-IPEC, Trafficking of Children, The problem and responses worldwide, citing ILO-IPEC and the University of Indonesia, 2001) there are between 2 and 2.75 million domestic workers under the age of 18 in Indonesia as a whole, with almost 1.5 million 14 years old or younger. (Anti-Slavery International, Child Domestic Work in Indonesia, 1995) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Many domestic workers are female children under the age of 15 years. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * Child domestic workers generally have to work for 15 hours a day, seven days a week. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing "The Phenomenon of Child Domestic Work: Issues, Responses and Research Findings", 19-23 November 1997) * It is clear that a changing social structure coupled with rapid commercialisation have helped fuel the demand for child domestic workers. (Anti-Slavery International, Child Domestic Work in Indonesia, 1995) Iran - Iraq - Ireland - Israel - Italy - Jamaica - Japan - Jordan GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Abuse of domestic servants, most of whom are foreign, is widespread. Imprisonment of maids and illegal confiscation of travel documents by employers is common. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) Kazakhstan NATIONAL STATISTICS * Domestics comprise 9.4% of working children. (ILO-IPEC, Child Labour in Kazakhstan, September 1997) Kenya NATIONAL STATISTICS * 78% of child domestics in one survey were only paid 'in kind'. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 1997) LOCAL STATISTICS * A study of the lower middle class residential area in Nairobi found that 20% of households employed children in 1982, though by 1991 this had dropped to 12%. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing ILO, Child Labour in Domestic Service, unpublished, 1993) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children often work as domestic servants in private homes. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001) * In Kenya, a study of girls working as housemaids found that of 25 girls aged 9 to 16 years who were interviewed in depth, 18 were HIV-positive. Of those 18, most had worked in several homes and reported being sexually abused in all or most of them. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001) * Children often work as domestic servants in private homes. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * Millions of children toil in private homes. (Philip Ngunjiri, "Child labour on the rise", IPS, 6 December 1998) * Exploitation of child labour, especially domestic child workers, is rampant. (Sinaga Women and Child Labour Resource Center, Domestic Child Workers: Selected Case Studies on the Situation of Girl Child Domestic Workers, July 1997) Kiribati - Korea, Dem. People's Republic - Korea, Rep. - Kosovo - Kuwait GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There are confirmed reports that some South Asian and Southeast Asian domestic servants are under age 18. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001) Kyrgyzstan - Laos - Latvia - Lebanon - Lesotho - Liberia GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Refugee children from conflicts in nearby Liberia and Sierra Leone can end up as domestic workers in Guinea. They are not trafficked but displaced because of internal conflicts. (Anti-Slavery International, presentation to the Libreville Consultation, February 2000) Libya - Liechtenstein - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Madagascar - Malawi GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * A local NGO has reported that in urban areas it is not uncommon to find young girls working as domestic servants, receiving little or no wages, and existing in a state of indentured servitude. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * There is significant child labour in domestic service. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998) Malaysia - Maldives - Mali NATIONAL STATISTICS * An even greater number than 15,000 have been pressed into domestic service. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001) Malta - Marshall Islands - Mauritania GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Suspected child trafficking activities have been identified in Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. These networks feed the domestic labour market in the main urban centres of countries like Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and the Congo. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998) Mauritius GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Child labour in homes is common on Rodrigues Island. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998) Mexico GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There have been isolated cases of organised trafficking of persons for the purpose of forced prostitution, sexual services and domestic servitude. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) Micronesia - Moldova - Monaco - Mongolia GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children are employed informally as domestics and usually receive little or no wage. The practice of adoptive servitude, in which families adopt young girls who serve as domestic servants, is socially accepted. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998) Morocco NATIONAL STATISTICS * Another study estimated that 20,000 child maids are working in Morocco's other major cities. According to the survey, over 80 percent of the child maids are illiterate and over 80 percent are from rural areas. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001, March 2002) * Children in Morocco are also exploited in domestic servitude and trafficked internally for that purpose. It is estimated that more than 50,000 children, work as child domestics in that country. (ILO-IPEC, Trafficking of Children, The problem and responses worldwide, citing Anti Slavery International: Reporter- July 2001, 2001) * A sample survey shows that of the domestic workers 27% are under 10 years and 73% are under 12 years. (ILO, Child Labour: What Is To Be Done?, June 1996, citing Moroccan League for the Protection of Children in collaboration with the Ministry of Health); 70% of housemaids interviewed in 1995 were under the age of 13 with a quarter of them below 10. (Anti-Slavery International, Children working as domestic servants: progress and challenges, submission to the UN, May 1998) * A survey found that 72% of child domestic workers began their day before 7am and went to bed after 11pm. (ILO, Targeting the Intolerable, November 1996) LOCAL STATISTICS * The Ministry of Planning and Economic Forecasting, with funding from UNICEF and through collaboration with domestic NGO's, conducted a survey from April to June 2000 of domestic employees in Casablanca. The study concluded that there are approximately 13,000 girls under age 15 employed as child maids in Casablanca. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001, March 2002) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children, particularly rural girls, are employed informally as domestics. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * The practice of adoptive servitude, in which families adopt young rural girls and use them as domestic servants in their homes, is prevalent. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) Mozambique GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * The number of children in domestic positions appeared to be rising. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001) * Children are employed in domestic positions. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) Namibia - Nauru - Nepal NATIONAL STATISTICS * 31,000 children and adolescents work as domestic servants. (US Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child Labour, 1998, citing Sinaga Women and Child Labour Resource Centre, "Domestic Child Workers", July 1997) * Some 62,000 urban domestics are under the age of 14. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing CWIN, Urban child domestic labour in Nepal, 1995) * On the basis of a survey, it can be estimated that at least, 10,600 children are working as domestics in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur in Kathmandu valley and over 31,000 are in the 33 municipalities of Nepal. (CWA, Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN), "Domestic Child Workers in the Kathmandu Valley", Child Workers in Asia, Vol. 10, No. 1, January - March 1994) LOCAL STATISTICS * In Pokhara, 5.5 percent, in Butwal, 5.6 percent and in Siddharthanagar, 8.1 perxcent of households are reported to employ domestic child labourers. (ILO-IPEC, Shiv Sharma et all, Nepal, Situation of Domestic Child Labourers in Kathmandu: A Rapid Assessment, Geneva, November 2001) * In the Kathmandu Valley, more than half of the domestic workers were boys. (UNICEF Innocent Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing CWIN, Urban child domestic labour in Nepal, 1995) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * A large number of children are involved in child labour, including in the informal sector, particularly as domestic servants, in agriculture and in the family context. (UN CRC, Concluding observations on Nepal, 1996) Netherlands - New Zealand - Nicaragua GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children work mainly in the informal sector, including in domestic service. (UN CRC, Concluding observations on Nicaragua, 1995) Niger - Nigeria NATIONAL STATISTICS * 40% of domestic workers are children. (IWGCL, Working Children: Reconsidering the Debates, 1998) * A study on children at work in Nigeria aligns women's work with domestic work and estimates the number of child domestic workers as 40,000. (UNICEF, Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998, citing UNICEF Nigeria, Situation Analysis of Children in Especially Difficult Situation, 1992) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * A study has shown that children are trafficked from Togo to Nigeria for use as Domestic Child Servants. (WAO-Afrique, Child Trafficking in West and Central Africa, submission to the UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, June 1999) * In cross-border trafficking, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo are known to be the main providers of child domestic labour to the main urban centres of countries like Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and the Congo. Suspected child trafficking activities have also been identified in Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998) * Trafficked children are made to work as domestics. (UNICEF Child Domestic Workshop, 1998) Niue - Norway - Oman - Pakistan NATIONAL STATISTICS * 6.7% of female child workers were found in domestic help. (CWA, Ghazanfer Abbas, "Child Labour in Pakistan", Child Workers in Asia, Vol. 10, No. 3, July - September 1994, citing 1990 survey jointly by the PILER in Karachi and SEBCON in Islamabad) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Child domestic workers generally have to work for 15 hours a day, seven days a week. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing "The Phenomenon of Child Domestic Work: Issues, Responses and Research Findings", 19-23 November 1997) * There are significant numbers of young Bangladeshi girls who were abducted for the 'slave trade', to be employed as domestic servants in the Middle East and Pakistan. (An Alternative Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, submission to the UN CRC, 1997) Palau - Palestine - Panama GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Child labour exists in the domestic sector. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998) Papua New Guinea NATIONAL STATISTICS * 11,500 young girls work as domestics. (US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998) Paraguay NATIONAL STATISTICS * 11,500 young girls working as domestic servants or nannies. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Many of the girls had worked from the age of 10 as servants or street vendors. Those who were sent to cities to be domestic workers were often exploited economically and sexually by their employers. (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp) Peru NATIONAL STATISTICS * 22.7% of domestic workers are children. (ILO-IPEC, Francisco Verdera, El trabajo infantil en el Peru, 1995) * There are an estimated 13,263 child domestic workers. (ICFTU, No Time to Play, 1996, citing 1987 Census) LOCAL STATISTICS * In Lima, the number of domestic workers under 18 years of age is estimated at 150,000. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing ILO, Because They're Girls, 1997) ADULT STATISTICS * 1.5 million live-in maids are sexually abused. (MHRD/UNICEF, Report on Trafficking of Children for Prostitution,1998) * A survey in Lima found that 60% of men in households with domestic workers had their first sexual encounter with a domestic worker. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing ILO, Because They're Girls, 1997) Philippines NATIONAL STATISTICS * During the year the department of labour and employment (DOLE) rescued 132 child workers in 64 operations. The rescued children were working in factories, as domestic helpers, or as sex workers. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001) * Over 300,000 children 17 years of age or younger work as family domestic workers, for whom the minimum age is 15. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001) * More than 3,000 children and adolescent are believed to work as domestics. (US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998) * 70% of child domestics are girls. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing University of Manila, A Study of Child Domestic Workers in Metro Manila, 1997) * A Government Labor Force Study shows there are 766,200 domestic workers in the Philippines aged between 10-24 years. Of that, 28,882 are within the age group, 10-14 years. But very much higher is the age group, 15-19 years - which is 272,819. (Visayan Forum, Roland Pacis, "Child Domestic Workers in the Philippines", Child Workers in Asia, January-March 1997, citing Ma. Alcestls Abrera Mangahas of ILO-IPEC) * 493,281 or 60% of total domestic workers are children. (Visayan Forum, Child Domestic Workers in the Philippines, August 1996) LOCAL STATISTICS * In Metro Manila about 25% of domestic workers are below the age of 18 but the proportion of child workers is higher in the provinces, where most commence their careers. (CWA, "Child Domestic Workers - Philippines", Child Workers in Asia, Vol. 12, No. 3, July - September 1996) * In Cebu City, the regional Social Welfare Department reveals that 80% of reported victims of rape, attempted rape and other acts of sexual abuse are child domestics. (CWA, "Child Domestic Workers - Philippines", Child Workers in Asia, Vol. 12, No. 3, July - September 1996) * In one Batangas City public school, over 80% of those enrolled in the evening classes were domestics. (CWA, "Child Domestic Workers - Philippines", Child Workers in Asia, Vol. 12, No. 3, July - September 1996) ADULT STATISTICS * There are 766,200 domestic workers in the Philippines and approximate by 30% are in the National Capital Region. (Defining Hazardous Undertakings for Young Workers Below 18 Years of Age: A Country Report, August 1997, citing findings of the Labour Force Survey as well as the National Survey on Children) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Child domestic workers generally have to work for 15 hours a day, seven days a week. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing "The Phenomenon of Child Domestic Work: Issues, Responses and Research Findings", 19-23 November 1997) * Young girls are trafficked to the Middle East as domestic labourers. (Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Action, The Flesh Trade Report, 1995-1996) Poland - Portugal - Qatar GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Women from East Asia, South Asia, the former Soviet Union, and Africa travel to Qatar to work as domestics and have reported being forced into domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001) Romania - Russian Federation - Rwanda NATIONAL STATISTICS * In 1997, in post-genocide Rwanda 200,000-400,000 children lived with families other than their own, and they were often obliged to work as housemaids. Until the 1994 conflict, child domestic work, though it is common in other African countries, had not been identified as a significant phenomenon in Rwanda. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing UNICEF, The Promotion and Protection of Children's Rights in Post-Genocide Rwanda, 1997) * A 1997 Ministry of Labour study found that child domestic workers, primarily girls aged between 10 and 14, earn the equivalent of $4 a month. They work seven days a week from 5am to 9pm, with the entitlement of a family visit often once a year. Their pay is sent home and generally used to pay siblings' school fees. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing e-mail from UNICEF Rwanda, 21 January 1999) Saint Kitts and Nevis GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Agriculture, domestic service, and illicit activities are areas in which juveniles can find work. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001, March 2002) Saint Lucia - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Samoa - San Marino - Sao Tome and Principe - Saudi Arabia GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Workers from Bangladesh, Thailand, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the Horn of Africa have reportedly being forced into domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001) Senegal NATIONAL STATISTICS * Out of the total of 88,000 domestic workers, the number of children between the ages of 6 and 18 is 33,73. Of these, 12,000 are less than 14 years old. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998, citing survey carried out in 1993 by the Statistical Department in Senegal) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * A report on the trafficking of children in West and Central Africa states that children are being trafficked to and from Senegal to neighbouring countries to work as domestics. (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp) * The number of domestics under 15 years is growing. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998) * There is concern over girls working as domestic servants. (UN CRC, Concluding observations on Senegal, 1995) Seychelles - Sierra Leone GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Refugee children from conflicts in nearby Liberia and Sierra Leone can end up as domestic workers in Guinea. They are not trafficked but displaced because of internal conflicts. (Anti-Slavery International, presentation to the Libreville Consultation, February 2000) * There have been reports that young children have been hired by foreign employers to work as domestics overseas at extremely low wages and in poor conditions. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998) Singapore - Slovakia - Slovenia - Solomon Islands - Somalia - South Africa GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Child labourers from Zimbabwe and Mozambique work in the country as domestic servants. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001) * There are unpaid child domestic workers. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998) Spain - Sri Lanka NATIONAL STATISTICS * There are 19,110 child domestics according to official estimates. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999) * UNICEF Sri Lanka suggested there are approximately 150,000 child domestic workers. (ILO-IPEC, Sri Lanka Country Paper, October 1998 citing UNICEF) * There are an estimated 75,000 domestic child workers in the whole country. (ILO-IPEC, Sri Lanka Country Report, October 1998, citing Sri Lankan Ministry of Labour) * 50,000-100,000 children are employed in domestic service.(US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998) * There are 500,000 child domestic workers. (ILO, Targeting the Intolerable, November 1996) LOCAL STATISTICS * 40,000 children are in domestic service in Colombo. (ILO-IPEC, Country Report: Sri Lanka, October 1998) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children from the streets, villages or refugee camps are sold for employment especially in domestic service. (ILO-IPEC, Country Paper: Sri Lanka, September 1999) * Migration of large numbers of women and adolescents as domestic workers (approximately 300,000 to the Middle East alone) has created a demand for younger children to work in their place. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing P. Stalker, "Refugees and migration: the impact of emigration", www.oneworld.org/guides/migration/stalker_emigration.html) * 1 in 3 households in Colombo had a child under 14 years of age as a domestic worker. Assuming that the number of middle income households in Colombo is 120,000 this would result in a figure of 40,000 children in domestic service. (ILO-IPEC, Sri Lanka Country Report, October 1998, citing UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 1997) * The Committee expresses its grave concern about the substantial number of children working as domestic servants and who are often subjected to sexual abuse. (UN CRC, Concluding observations on Sri Lanka, 1995) * Ethnic conflicts have left many children displaced and abandoned and consequently easy prey for 'job placement agents' who pick them up on the streets in villages or even from within the refugee camps and then sell them into employment, most commonly for domestic work. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing ILO, Children in Domestic Service in Sri Lanka, 1993) Sudan GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There are credible reports that government and government-associated forces seized and sold women for work as domestic servants. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * There are reports of children working as unpaid domestic servants for households in various parts of northern Sudan. (UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, June 1996) Suriname - Swaziland GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children are also employed as domestic workers. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) Sweden - Switzerland - Syria NATIONAL STATISTICS * 31% of female child labourers are engaged in domestic work. (ILO-IPEC, Amal Dibo, Child Labour in Few Countries of the Arab Region, 1999) Tajikistan - Tanzania NATIONAL STATISTICS * A survey has found 4,512 domestic child labourers, 1,808 between 6 and 14 years and 2,704 between 15 and 18 years. (CWA, Michael Kimaryo and Ron Pouwels, Kuleana Centre for Children’s Rights, "An African perspective: Child Domestic Workers in Tanzania", Child Workers in Asia, Vol. 15, No. 2, May - August 1999) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * The link between CDW and prostitution has been established with some clarity in Tanzania. An ILO-IPEC rapid assessment of children in prostitution in Tanzania (2001) indicates that as many as 25% of the children found in prostitution were former domestic workers. (ILO-IPEC, Action to Combat Child Domestic Work - Good Practice and a Methodological Guide for Direct Action, Geneva, February 2002) * Although no studies have been made so far on the problem of child trafficking in Tanzania, the practice of trafficking children for domestic work is very common. (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp) * Girls are employed as domestic servants, mostly in urban households under abusive and exploitative conditions. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * Most of the child domestic workers are between 13 and 15 years old, although some of them are as young as 6 years old, and the vast majority of them are girls. (CWA, Michael Kimaryo and Ron Pouwels, Kuleana Centre for Children’s Rights, "An African perspective: Child Domestic Workers in Tanzania", Child Workers in Asia, Vol. 15, No. 2, May - August 1999) * The working hours for child domestics can be as long as 16-18 hours a day. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing ILO, Improving the situation of child domestic workers, 1997) TFYR Macedonia - Thailand NATIONAL STATISTICS * There are an estimated 100,000 child domestic workers. (Bangkok Post, 14 February 1997, reprinted in ECPAT Bulletin) Togo NATIONAL STATISTICS * 95.6% of domestics between 7 and 17 years of age work full-time. (ILO-IPEC, Mainstreaming Gender in IPEC Activities, 1999) * 16% of child domestic workers are found to be 10 years old or younger, 50% under 14, and 65% under 15. 90% of them are girls. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing Anti-Slavery International and WAO-Afrique, Children Working in Domestic Service in Togo, 1994) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * In rural areas, parents sometimes put young children into domestic work in other households. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * A study has shown that children are trafficked from Togo to Gabon, Nigeria, the Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and also on occasions to countries in Europe for use as domestic servants. (WAO-Afrique, Child Trafficking in West and Central Africa, submission to the UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, June 1999) * In cross-border trafficking, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo are known to be the main providers of child domestic labour to the main urban centres of countries like Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and the Congo. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998) * Children are sometimes subjected to forced labour, primarily as domestic servants. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998) Tonga - Trinidad and Tobago - Tunisia GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Teenage girls are placed as household domestics. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) Turkey - Turkmenistan - Tuvalu - Uganda GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children are employed in the informal sector, often as domestic servants. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * Children are employed in private residents as cooks or servants. The majority are between 13-16 years, however there are also children as young as 5-12 being employed as domestics. (ANPPCAN Uganda Chapter, Liza Sekaggya, e-mail to GMIS, 8 June 2000) Ukraine - United Arab Emirates ADULT STATISTICS * There are an estimated 50,000 domestic workers. (Committee of Asian Women, Asian Women Workers' Newsletter, January 1996) United Kingdom GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Some diplomats have domestic slaves. (American Anti-Slavery Group, Jesse Sage, e-mail to GMIS, 6 November 2000, citing Kevin Bales, Disposable People) United States of America GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Some church leaders were illegally bringing young people from Estonia to the US to use them as domestic workers, paying them less than a minimum wage. ("Missionary group members could stand trial for smuggling children", 9 June 2000, reprinted in Stop Trafficking Archive, July 2000) Uruguay NATIONAL STATISTICS * More than 25% of child domestic workers are said to be less than 10 years old. (UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999) Uzbekistan - Vanuatu - Venezuela NATIONAL STATISTICS * 26% of domestic labourers were less than 10 years old. (ILO-IPEC, El trabajo infantil en America Latina - CD-ROM, August 1999) * 60% of working girls aged between 10 and 14 are domestic workers. (ILO, Targeting the Intolerable, November 1996) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There are reports of trafficking in children from other South American countries to work in Caracas as housemaids. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998) * Children are being trafficked from Ecuador to Venezuela. The children work in virtual slavery conditions as domestic workers. (CATW Fact Book, citing Vladimir Villegas, Congressional Human Rights Commission, Estrella Gutierrez, "Child Traffic in Venezuela Tip of the Iceberg", IPS, 11 January 1998) Vietnam GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * In 1997 UNICEF cited evidence of children working as domestic servants. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * Children employed as household servants and maids are one of the most exploited, and least protected groups of working children. The majority of domestic workers are girls, who live with their employers and are totally dependent on them. (Vu Ngoc Binh, "Vietnam Realities", Child Workers in Asia, July-September 1994) Yemen - Yugoslavia - Zambia NATIONAL STATISTICS * 1 in 3 children were involved in hazardous work, including in domestic service. (Child Labour: Harmful, Exploitative Press Clipping) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children, often female orphans, are made to work as domestic workers. (UNICEF Zambia, Child Labour in Zambia: A briefing note, March 1997) Zimbabwe GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * The Committee expressed concern at the persistence of situations of child labour, including in domestic service. (UN CRC, Concluding observations on Zimbabwe, 1996) * The work day for child domestics is 10-15 hours a day. (ILO, Targeting the Intolerable, November 1996)