| Total
Child Labour |
NATIONAL STATISTICS
* In Guatemala,
2.7 % of children from 7 to 9 years are registered as a part of
the economically active population refining their activities in
family work. The majority of them are boys and are located in the
rural area. In General, for 1998, it is calculated that 1.6 millions
children and adolescents participated formally, informally or marginally
in economic activities forced by poverty (56 % of them didn't receive
any salary, welfare protection or vacation and 46 % worked without
sufficient legal protection. (DNI, "La prevención y
eliminación de las peores formas de trabajo infantil y adolescente
un reto para la democracia y el desarrollo humano." citing
Guatemala, The Rural Face of Human Development, 1999 DNI- Costa
Rica, 2001)
* Some 2 million
children toil at hard, dangerous and poorly paid jobs in Guatemala,
the country with the second-highest rate of child exploitation in
Latin America, behind Ecuador. ("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)
* According
to the National Statistics Institute, from 1998 to 1999 there were
326,095 children doing paid work, and 495,780 doing chores in the
home. An estimated 80 percent of work accidents involve 15 to 18
year old workers who lack proper safety training. (US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001,
March 2002)
* 23% of the country's
children between the ages of 10-14 worked in Guatemala. ("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)
* Agriculture is
the most child-labour intensive industry, employing around 320,000
children, followed by manufacturing, with some 65,000 child labourers.
("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)
* Working children
account for 17% of Guatemala's labour force. ("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)
* For the year 2000,
the ILO projects that there will be 219,000 economically active children,
51,000 girls and 168,000 boys between the ages of 10-14, representing 14.18%
of this age group. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
* The Association for
Girls and Boys in Central America (PROVINCE)
estimates that approximately 2 million children work. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* 154,492 children between
10-14 years and 497,372 between 15-19 years are economically active. (ILO,
Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 1999)
* An ILO/UNICEF study
notes there are approximately 900,000 children between 10-17 years
employed in Guatemala. (US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child
Labour, 1998)
* Estimates put
the population of Guatemalan child labourers at over 200,000. ("Child
Labour Continues in Guatemala", 13 December 1998)
* Of the 3.7 million
children between the ages of 7-14 years, 152,000 are child workers
(4.1%). (US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child
Labour, 1998, citing the study by the Secretary of Social Welfare
of the Confederation of United Union of Guatemala, 1995)
* In 1995, there
were 221,000 economically active children, 46,000 girls and 175,000
boys between the ages of 10-14, representing 16.22% of this age group.
(ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
* One million Guatemalan
children, aged 7 and above are working. (US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children, 1994, citing "Children Bear
Brunt of Guatemalan Civil Strife", Notimex Mexican News Service, 8 June
1992)
*
According to the 1994 census, there are some 130,802 child labourers
between the ages of 10-14. (Casa Alianza,
Ann Birch, "Guatemala's Brothels are Another Workplace",
Child Labour News Service (CLNS), Global March International Secretariat,
1 November 1999)
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
*
Many children work in the streets and at night. Some children beg
to get by, and some are engaged in such dangerous activities as
prostitution, drug trafficking, the running of contraband and robbery.
(IACHR,
Country Report - Guatemala, 2001)
*
According to the ILO, child workers are found mainly in cities,
particularly in the capital, and in Quetzaltenango in the west,
Escuintla in the south and Puerto Barrios on the Caribbean coast.
("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)
* The UN Committee
on the Rights of the Child is seriously concerned that the majority
of children of school age are not attending school, but are involved
both in the informal and formal work sectors. (UN
CRC, Concluding observations on Guatemala, 1996)
* 65% of child
labourers are linked with agriculture. (ILO-IPEC,
El trabajo infantil en America Central, 2-6 August 1993)
|
| Child
Slavery |
- |
| Child
Trafficking |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
* Police in
late 1996 estimated that more than 2,000 minors were being exploited
in approximately 600 clandestine bars and brothels in Guatemala
City, approximately 1,200 of them were Salvadoran, 500 were Honduran
and Nicaraguan, and the rest were Guatemalan. (ECPAT
International)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* The UN Special
Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child
pornography concluded following her mission to Guatemala, characterized
the trafficking of babies and young children as existing on a large
scale in Guatemala. (IACHR,
Country Report - Guatemala, citing Report of the UN Special Rapporteur
on the Sale of Children, child Prostitution and Child Pornography,
2001).
* Guatemala
is a source and transit country for international trafficking of
persons. In a few instances, it is also a destination country. Trafficked
persons come mainly from other Central American countries and Ecuador.
(US
Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)
* Victims trafficked to Guatemala are usually young women or children
who are brought in for sexual exploitation. Those trafficked from
Guatemala for sexual exploitation are usually minors, both boys
and girls, from poor families. (US
Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)
*
The sale of children is of particular concern in Guatemala. The
sale and/or trafficking of children mainly occurs for the purpose
of inter-country adoption, but there are also reports of the trafficking
of children into Guatemala for the purpose of prostitution.
(UN
Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and
Child Pornography, Report on the mission to Guatemala, 27 January
2000)
*
Along the border with El Salvador, many children are brought into
the country from El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras by organised
rings, who force them into prostitution.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Eight El Salvadorian
girls were rescued from a nightclub raid in Guatemala City, where
they had been trafficked under false pretenses and sexually exploited.
(ECPAT
International)
* Honduran girls,
13-and 14-year-olds, were trafficked by organised crime groups in
central America from the cities of Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and
El Progreso under false pretenses, such as job offerings and scholarships
and sold to brothels in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing "More Honduran Girls Prostituted", Reuters, 28 February
1998, citing INTERPOL)
* International
bands of traffickers are reported to be recruiting Guatemalan adolescents
on the border with Mexico and exploiting them in regional brothels.
(ECPAT
International)
|
| Child
Prostitution and
Pornography |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
*
60% of the prostitutes are between 16 and 18 years of age. 20% of
prostitutes are under 15 years. (International
Save the Children Alliance, Children's Rights: Reality or Rhetoric?,
1999)
LOCAL STATISTICS
*
Child prostitution is very visible in Guatemala City. The police
estimate that over 2,000 girls and boys are being exploited in over
600 brothels in the capital alone. The NGO Rädda Barnen confirmed
this. (UN
Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and
Child Pornography, Report on the mission to Guatemala, 27 January
2000)
*
Police in late 1996 estimated that more than 2,000
minors were being exploited in approximately 600 clandestine bars
and brothels in Guatemala City, approximately 1,200 of them were
Salvadoran, 500 were Honduran and Nicaraguan, and the rest were
Guatemalan. (ECPAT
International)
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
* The Ministry
of Labour, UNICEF, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Sale of
Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography, who visited
the country in July 1999, have noted a marked increase in child
prostitution over the past 2 years in the towns along the borders
with Mexico and El Salvador. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
* Along the
border with El Salvador, many child prostitutes were brought into
the country from Nicaragua and Honduras by organised rings, who
force the children into prostitution. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
* In its annual report for 1999 on the state of children, ODHAG
clearly identified the growing problem of child prostitution as
linked inextricably to that of trafficking in persons. The report
notes that no child prostitute "got there alone" without
inducement and exploitation by adults. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
* The most common
and visible form of commercial sexual exploitation of children in
Guatemala is prostitution. The use of children in pornography is
also known to exist, but the secrecy that surrounds this kind of
exploitation makes it more difficult to establish.
(UN
Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and
Child Pornography, Report on the mission to Guatemala, 27 January
2000)
* The Police Commissioner acknowledged to the Special Rapporteur
that there are many children in prostitution in the country, most
of them between the ages of 15 and 17.
(UN
Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and
Child Pornography, Report on the mission to Guatemala, 27 January
2000)
*
Honduran girls, 13-and 14-year-olds, were trafficked by organised
crime groups in Central America from the cities of Tegucigalpa,
San Pedro Sula and El Progreso under false pretenses, such as job
offerings and scholarships and sold to brothels in Guatemala, El
Salvador, and Mexico. (CATW
Fact Book, citing "More Honduran Girls Prostituted", Reuters, 28
February 1998, citing INTERPOL)
*
International bands of traffickers are reported to be recruiting
Guatemalan adolescents on the border with Mexico and exploiting
them in regional brothels. (ECPAT
International)
* The majority
of the street girls attended by Casa Alianza in their programs in
Guatemala are victims of prostitution.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Casa Alianza, Bruce Harris, "The Situation of
Street Children in Latin America", 9 October 1997)
* Among the internally
displaced communities in Guatemala some parents have been forced to
prostitute their children. (UN,
Graca Machel, Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, 26 August 1996)
* In Guatemala,
rebel groups used girls to provide sexual services.
(UN, Graca Machel, Impact of Armed Conflict
on Children, 26 August 1996)
* Eight El Salvadorian
girls were rescued from a night-club raid in Guatemala City, where
they had been trafficked under false pretenses and sexually exploited.
(ECPAT
International)
|
| Children
in Crime |
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
* The main sources
of income for the street children is robbery.
(UN
Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and
Child Pornography, Report on the mission to Guatemala, 27 January
2000)
|
| Child
Soldiers |
RECRUITMENT
LAWS AND REGULATIONS
* The minimum age
for conscription is 18 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)
COMBINED
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
* There are no indications
of under-18s in government armed forces. During the internal armed conflict,
child soldiers were used by both the government forces and opposition forces.
Opposition fighters were subsequently demobilised and reintegrated. (CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001)
NOTES FROM PREVIOUS
ARMED CONFLICTS
*
In August, the ODHA released a report on the forced "disappearance"
of children during the civil war, attributing 92% of the eighty-six
documented abductions to the military. (HRW,
World Report 2001)
*
At the time of demobilisation, of the 2,778 URNG troops who responded to
a survey, 99, including 30 females, were between the ages of 10 and 15
years and 737, including 153 females, between the ages of 16 and 20 years.
(CSUCS,
Americas Report, July 1999, citing Rädda Barnen, Childwar Database)
* The Civil Defence
Patrol (PAC), which was effectively demobilised in 1996, is believed to
have forcibly recruited at least 20,000 children below the age of 15, namely
2% of their total strength. (CSUCS,
Americas Report, July 1999, citing Guatemalan Historical Clarification
Commission, "Guatemala: Memory of Silence", 25 February 1999)
* Of 2,959 guerrillas
who have reported to the camps for their demobilisation, 214 were minors.
(CSUCS,
Americas Report, July 1999, citing Guatemala News Watch, Vol. 12, No. 3,
March 1997)
* Children, some as young
as 10, were recruited by both sides in the 1960-1996 civil war. (Rädda
Barnen, Childwar database, citing UN, Graca Machel, Case Study on
Guatemala, 1994-1995)
* In Guatemala,
rebel groups use girls to prepare food, attend to the wounded, wash
clothes, and are also forced to provide sexual services. (UN,
Graca Machel, Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, 26 August 1996,
citing Almquist, Kate, Robbie Muhumuza and David Westwood, "The
Effects of Armed Conflict on Girls", Geneva, World Vision International,
May 1996)
|
| Domestic
Child Servants |
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)
|
Other
Hazardous
Child Labour |
ASSORTED
STATISTICS
* 75% of the
working children do the menial jobs, such as street vending and
domestic service, or work as shoeshine boys, car caretakers, and
in agriculture. ("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)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* Significant
numbers of children work in such dangerous places as quarries, cutting
rock by hand, and mines, as well as all kinds of factories, including
clandestine factories for making gunpowder. (IACHR,
Country Report - Guatemala, citing, Oficina de Derechos Humanos
del Arzobispado, 6 April 2001, 2001)
*
They serve as heavy labor, work with heavy machinery, work as roving
vendors and shining shoes, work with pesticides and fertilizers,
and work as pickers and cutters. (IACHR,
Country Report - Guatemala, 2001)
*
The majority of child labourers work in agriculture - coffee, and
sugar cane harvesting - while others work in domestic service, construction,
various family businesses, stone quarrying and fireworks manufacturing.
(US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999,
25 February 2000)
*
Thousands of children who work illegally are open to exploitation.
(EI,
EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector,
1998)
SPECIFIC SECTORS
* Fireworks Production
- A large number of children work at high risk to their lives. Among
the most dangerous jobs, it specifically mentioned children working
in fireworks plants, commonly referred to as the 'gunpowder children',
those who grind stone and as those who work as flame throwers.
("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)
* Fireworks Production
- Some 5,000 children aged between 6 and 14 were recently found working
in secret and illegal workshops in the country's capital. They were
engaged in the manufacture of fireworks and other explosive products,
thus exposing themselves to highly toxic, flammable and explosive
materials in workshops lacking safety and hygiene measures.
(Casa Alianza, Ann Birch, "Guatemala's
Brothels are Another Workplace", Child Labour News Service (CLNS),
Global March International Secretariat, 1 November 1999)
* Garment Manufacturing
- The Secretary General of the Confederation de Unidad Sindical de
Guatemala CUSG, Edgar Patras reports San Pedro de Sacatepequez known
as the cradle of apparel industry has working children in every home.
(US Dept of Labor, Industry and Codes
of Conduct, 1996)
* Manufacturing
- Child labour is rampant in Guatemala's maquiladora sector.
(US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children, 1994)
* Mining and Quarrying
- Children are employed in the mining and refining of lime, and also
in the stone quarries along the Sumala river in Retalhuba.
(US
Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998)
* Street Children
- The main sources of income for the street children are robbery,
prostitution or begging. (UN
Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and
Child Pornography, Report on the mission to Guatemala, 27 January
2000)
* Street Children
- Most credible estimates, including a May report by the Presidential
Secretariat on Social Work and NGOs, put the number of street children
at approximately 6,000, with the majority of these youths concentrated
in Guatemala City. (US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25
February 2000)
* Street Children
- In 1994, it was estimated that there were between 1,500 and 5,000
street children in Guatemala, most of whom could be found in Guatemala
City. 20 to 30% of street children are females and 65% of all the
street children in Guatemala City are between the ages of 10 and
17; 3% are under 10. Most (60%) are from Guatemala City itself,
while the rest are from rural Guatemala, Honduras or El Salvador.
(UN
Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and
Child Pornography, Report on the mission to Guatemala, 27 January
2000)
|
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