| Total
Child Labour |
NATIONAL STATISTICS
* A 2000 report
published by UNICEF and the National Action Commission in Favor
of Children reported that approximately 3.5 million children between
the ages of 6 and 18 work regularly. Approximately 1.2 million children
work in agriculture, particularly in the northern states. (US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001,
March 2002)
* UNICEF and
the DIF, in a 1999 study of working children in the 100 largest
cities, estimated that 150,000 children work in those cities. (US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001,
March 2002)
* Some 5 million
children and teenagers in Mexico work for 5 to 8 dollars a day. ("Over
5 Million Child Labourers in Mexico", Xinhua: Comtex, 14 September
2000, citing National System for the Integral Development of the Family
(DIF), "Prevention, Attention, Discouragement
and Eradication of Childhood Labor")
* 64% of working
children are working in the farming, fishing and service sectors.
("Over
5 Million Child Laborers in Mexico", Xinhua: Comtex, 14 September
2000. citing National System for the Integral Development of the Family
(DIF), "Prevention, Attention, Discouragement
and Eradication of Childhood Labor")
* For the year 2000, 1022859 children between 10-14
years and 4463952 children between 15-19 were economically active.
(ILO, Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 2001)
* 8 out of every
10 kids begin working before they are 14 years. ("Over
5 Million Child Laborers in Mexico", Xinhua: Comtex, 14 September
2000. citing National System for the Integral Development of the Family
(DIF), "Prevention, Attention, Discouragement
and Eradication of Childhood Labor")
* For the year
2000, the ILO projects that there will be 517,000 economically active
children, 182,000 girls and 336,000 boys between the ages of 10-14,
representing 4.88% of this age group. (ILO,
International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active
Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
* 1,263,478 children
between 10-14 years and 4,609,967 between the ages of 15-19 are economically
active. (ILO, Yearbook of Labour Statistics,
1999)
* The Director
of the National Education Council reported in August 1998 that 1.7
million school-aged children were not in school because their poverty
obligated them to work. (US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25
February 2000)
* In 1998, the
Mexican Social Security Institute affiliated with 11.1 million workers,
29,075 of whom were aged under 15 years old, and 1.4 million between
15-19, showing the increasing participation of children in the formal
work force in Mexico. (Pilar Franco,
"Latin America: Millions of Minors in Virtual Slavery", IPS, 19 February
1999)
* The ILO reported
18% of children between 12-14 years of age work, often for parents
and relatives. (US
Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998)
* 2.8 million children
are working. (US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child
Labour, 1998)
* In 1995, there
were 699,000 economically active children, 246,000 girls and 453,000
boys between the ages of 10-14, representing 6.73% of this age group.
(ILO, International Labour Office -
Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT
Working Paper, ILO 1997)
* 11 million children
are working. (UNICEF, The Progress of
Nations, 1995)
*
8-11 million children under the age of 15 years are working in Mexico.
(US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children, 1994, citing US Dept of State,
Human Rights Report, 1993)
LOCAL STATISTICS
*
Mexico City's central market employs approximately 11,000 minors
between the ages of 7 and 18, who work as cart-pushers, kitchen
help, and vendors. (US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001,
March 2002)
*
About 28% of child labourers work in northern Mexico, where they
are engaged in agricultural work. ("Over
5 Million Child Laborers in Mexico", Xinhua: Comtex, 14 September
2000, citing National System for the Integral Development of the
Family (DIF), "Prevention, Attention,
Discouragement and Eradication of Childhood Labor")
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
*
The problem of child labour is particularly pronounced among migrant farming
families. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
|
| Child
Slavery |
- |
| Child
Trafficking |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
* Between August 1996
and February 1998, at least 20 young Mexican women and minors were trafficked
into Florida and southern Carolina in the US under the illusion of jobs,
but were forced into prostitution.
(ECPAT International)
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
* Mexico is a source country for trafficked persons to the United
States, Canada, and Japan, and a transit country for persons from
various countries, especially Central America and China.
(US
Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)
* There are an increasing number of persons from Brazil and Eastern
Europe transiting to through Mexico, some of whom are trafficked
Salvadorans and Guatemalans, especially children, are trafficked
into Mexico for prostitution, particularly on the southern border.
Internal trafficking is also a problem. (US
Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)
*
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)
* 16 and 17-year-old
girls from Central America are being trafficked to Chips, Mexico for prostitution.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing "Women and Low Intensity Warfare", SIPAZ Report, January
1998)
* 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 Russian Mafia
has been organising for Eastern European women to be trafficked to Mexico
for the commercial sexual exploitation in Mexican nightclubs. (ECPAT
International)
* The United Nations
lists Mexico as the number one center for the supply of young children
to North America. The majority are sent to international paedophile organisations.
Most of the children over 12 end up as prostitutes.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Allan Hall, The Scotsman, 25 August 1998)
* 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)
|
| Child
Prostitution and
Pornography |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
* A report by the Center
for Research and Advanced Study in Social Anthropology counted 5,000 minors,
90% of them female, working as prostitutes or subjects of pornography.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
*
Nearly 100 children and teenagers a month fall into the hands of the child
prostitution networks, which are mafias or organised crime syndicates.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Elena Azola and Diego Cevallos, "Sterile at Age 12, AIDS
at 14", IPS, 10 February 1998)
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)
* 16 and 17-year-old
girls from Central America are being trafficked to Chips, Mexico for prostitution.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing "Women and Low Intensity Warfare", SIPAZ Report, January
1998)
* The United Nations
lists Mexico as the number one center for the supply of young children to
North America. The majority are sent to international paedophile organisations.
Most of the children over 12 end up as prostitutes.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Allan Hall, The Scotsman, 25 August 1998)
* Mexico is one of the
favoured destinations of paedophile sex tourists from Europe and the United
States. (CATW
Fact Book, citing "Global law to punish sex tourists sought by Britain and
EU", The Indian Express, 21 November 1997)
* Child victims of prostitution
are present in large numbers. (US
Dept of Labor, Prostitution of Children, 1996)
* In 1996, U.S. Postal
Service announced that Mexico City was one of the leading producers of child
pornography videos. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Diego Cevallos, "Sterile at Age 12, AIDS at 14", IPS,
10 February 1998)
* Well-organised networks
in the Cuauhtemoc Zone, which has the highest concentration of sex trade
in the country have a system of exploitation, where poor adolescents are
married and then convinced to work to pay off some exceptionally incurred
debts. (ECPAT
International)
|
| Children
in Crime |
GENERAL JUVENILE
CRIME STATISTICS
* 3,794, 2,986 and 1,695 juveniles
were dealt by different authorities for different offences.
(International
Save the Children Alliance, Children's Rights: Reality or Rhetoric?,
1999)
|
| Child
Soldiers |
OPPOSITION GROUP
STATISTICS
*
Most of the fighters in the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN)
are said to be 18-20 years old, but according to Rädda Barnen some fighters
under 18 have also been reported. (CSUCS,
Americas Report, July 1999, citing Rädda Barnen)
RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS
*
Volunteers from 16 years of age are taken in the armed forces. (Rädda
Barnen, Childwar database)
*
The minimum age for conscription is 17 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 GOVERNMENT FORCES
*
There are indications of under-18s in the government armed forces
as the minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the Armed Forces
is only 16. There are also reports of under-18s being recruited
by paramilitaries and armed groups. (CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001)
*
It has been said that the paramilitary groups search for young people aged
between 15 and 20 years. (Rädda
Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of children as soldiers in
Latin America, May 1999)
*
Children are forcefully recruited in the paramilitaries. (CSUCS,
The Use Of Child Soldiers in Latin America, May 1999)
NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS
* In April 1994, local
and international reporters were invited by the guerrillas to their jungle
hideout, where they watched a procession of child rebels as young as 6 years
old. (CSUCS,
Americas Report, July 1999, citing Diego Cevallos, "Minors recruited by
Army and Guerrillas", IPS, 2 July 1998)
* The smaller Popular
Revolutionary Army (EPR) and the Revolutionary
Army of the Insurgent People (ERPI) are reported
to have minors within their ranks. (CSUCS,
Americas Report, July 1999, citing Diego Cevallos, "Minors recruited by
Army and Guerillas")
.
|
| Domestic
Child Servants |
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)
|
Other
Hazardous
Child Labour |
ASSORTED
STATISTICS
* In Mexico, 5-10
million youngsters are employed illegally often in hazardous jobs
making products for export to the USA.
(Mary E. Williams, Child Labour And
Sweat Shops, 1999)
* There are 115,000
children working in the streets, markets, tourist and other areas
of 108 cities in Mexico. 70% are boys and 30% girls, and around 60%
of them are found in just 20 cities.
(Pilar Franco, "Latin America: Millions
of Minors in Virtual Slavery", IPS, 19 February 1999, citing UNICEF
and the National System for the Integral Development of the Family
(DIF))
*
Mexico City's central market employs approximately 11,000 minors
between the ages of 7 and 18, who work as cart-pushers, kitchen
help, and vendors. (US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999,
25 February 2000)
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
* Most child labour
is in the informal sector, including myriad underage street vendors,
family-owned workshops, or in agriculture and rural areas.
(US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25
February 2000)
*
Extensive use of child labour is reported in household production
units. No estimates are available.
(US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children: Consumer Labels and Child
Labor, 1997)
SPECIFIC SECTORS
* Begging - Some
20% of the children survive by begging, 24% by selling goods, and
others by doing subcontracting work.
("Over 5 Million Child Laborers in Mexico",
Xinhua: Comtex, 14 September 2000, citing National System for the
Integral Development of the Family (DIF),
"Prevention, Attention, Discouragement and Eradication of Childhood
Labor")
* Commercial Agriculture
- A survey of 12 states in Mexico indicate that children in the age
group of 7-14 make up 30% of day labourers in agriculture sector.
(US Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of
Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child Labour, 1998)
* Commercial Agriculture
- In the agrarian sector children have to handle toxic pesticides
and other agro-chemical without adequate protection.
(US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child
Labour, 1998, as cited in Estudio de ninos y adolescentis trabajadores
a nivel nacional 1998, Ministerio de Trabajo y Promocion Social, 1998)
* Footwear Production
- Children involved in moccasin-style shoe production at home.
(US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children: Consumer Labels and Child
Labor, 1997)
* Manufacturing
- There is extensive use of child workforce in the maquiladora sector.
(US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children, 1994, as cited in Defence
for Children International, "Out of the Equation: Children and North
American Economic Integration", 1993)
*
Street Children - In urban areas, over 10,000 children aged 6 to
14 work on the streets. ("Over
5 Million Child Laborers in Mexico", Xinhua: Comtex, 14 September
2000, citing National System for the Integral Development of the
Family (DIF),
"Prevention, Attention, Discouragement and Eradication of Childhood
Labor")
*
Street Children - The National System for the Integral Development
of the family asserted that more than 114,000 children worked on
the streets of large cities. (US
Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998)
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