| Total
Child Labour |
NATIONAL STATISTICS
* For the year
2000, the ILO projects that there will be 0 economically active children
between the ages of 10-14. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
* The government's Central
Office of Statistics and Information reports that 12% of the country's children
between the ages of 10-17 are working, have worked at some time, or are
seeking work. Of that number, approximately 70% work in the informal sector
of the economy. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* An estimated 1.2 million
children work in the informal sector, mostly as street vendors. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* The economically active
population between the ages of 10-14 years is 80,781. (ILO-IPEC,
El trabajo infantil en America Latina - CD-ROM, August 1999)
* The Venezuelan
National Children's Institute calculates there are 302,000 children
working in the formal sector of the economy, 1.1 million in the unregulated
informal sector and 206,000 in activities such as begging, theft and
prostitution. (UNICEF, State of the World's Children,
1996, citing Washington Post, 18 November 1996)
* The number of
children at work has climbed from 8.5% in 1981 to 13.9% in 1991. (UNICEF,
State of the World's Children, 1996, citing Washington Post, 18 November
1996)
* 1.6 million children
are forced to work for a living. ("Venezuela losing
war against sexual exploitation of children", ECPAT Bulletin, October
1996)
* In 1995, there were
23,000 economically active children, most of them boys between the ages
of 10-14, representing 0.95% of this age group. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
|
| Child
Slavery |
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* Children are being
trafficked from Ecuador to Venezuela. The children work in virtual slavery
conditions as street vendors, domestic workers and prostitutes. They are
abducted, sold by parents or lured by false promises.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Vladimir Villegas, Congressional Human Rights Commission,
Estrella Gutierrez, "Child Traffic in Venezuela Tip of the Iceberg", IPS,
11 January 1998)
* In January 1998,
two Ecuadorian girls aged 14 and 17 escaped and informed the police of
200 enslaved children. (ECPAT
International)
|
| Child
Trafficking |
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
*
Unconfirmed reports dating back to 1998 state that Ecuadorian children
are trafficked to Venezuela for work in the sex trade. The children
are reportedly abducted, sold by their parents or lured with false
promises of employment. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* In 1997, 14% of the persons working as prostitutes in Venezuela
were not Venezuelan nationals. There have been reports of a large
number of cases of disappearances of children and juveniles, of
which most were girls between the ages of 12 and 17. It is thought
that these disappearances may be connected with trafficking. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
*
There were reports of trafficking in children from other South American
countries to work in Caracas as street vendors and housemaids.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Trafficking of
children from other South American countries to work as street vendors
and house maids. (US
Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998)
*
Women are trafficked to Spain, where their passports are taken away
and they are prostituted in massage parlours and brothels. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Patrick J. O'Donoghue, "Venezuelan Sex-Slaves
Sold in Trade-Offs to Spanish Wayside Brothels", Vheadline, 18 November
1997)
* The main concentrations
of prostituted Dominican women working abroad are in Austria, Curacao,
Germany, Greece, Haiti, Italy, the Netherlands, Panama, Puerto Rico,
Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela and the West Indies. (CATW
Fact Book, citing "Trafficking in Women from the Dominican Republic
for Sexual Exploitation", IOM, June 1996)
* The second
largest migrant group of women in prostitution in Germany is from
Latin America, mostly from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Colombia,
Venezuela and Brazil. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Licia Brussa, "Transnational AIDS Prevention Among
Migrant Prostitutes in Europe", TAMPEP, 1996)
|
| Child
Prostitution and Pornography |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
* 40,000 Venezuelan
children aged between 8 and 17 years are affected by prostitution,
22% of these are male. ("Venezuela
losing war against sexual exploitation of children", ECPAT Bulletin,
October 1996)
* 40,000 children
in Venezuela are affected by prostitution. (ECPAT
International, Child Prostitution and Sex Tourism, citing UNICEF,
Report on Child Prostitution, 1995, based on a study conducted in
1993)
ADULT
STATISTICS
*
In 1997, 86% of the prostitutes were from the country itself, the other
14% were foreigners. There were 350,000 prostitutes registered with the
Health Ministry in 1995. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Patrick J. O'Donoghue, "More Venezuelan Women Are Becoming
'Sex Workers' Because of the Economic Crisis", Vheadline/VENews, 6 December
1997)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
*
According to a study conducted by the government in 1996, the average
age that children are first exploited through prostitution is 12
years. However, there have been children as young as 7 found in
situations of sexual exploitation. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
*
There were reports that women were trafficked to Spain for purposes of
prostitution. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Venezuela has
a well-documented child sex trade with the thriving sex tourism sector.
(June Kane, Sold for Sex, Aren Ashgate Publising Limited Gower House, 1998)
* Children are being
trafficked from Ecuador to Venezuela. The children work in virtual slavery
conditions as street vendors, domestic workers and prostitutes. They are
abducted, sold by parents or lured by false promises. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Vladimir Villegas, Congressional Human Rights Commission,
Estrella Gutierrez, "Child Traffic in Venezuela Tip of the Iceberg", IPS,
11 January 1998)
* Women are trafficked
to Spain, where their passports are taken away and they are prostituted
in massage parlours and brothels. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Patrick J. O'Donoghue, "Venezuelan Sex-Slaves Sold in
Trade-Offs to Spanish Wayside Brothels", Vheadline, 18 November 1997)
|
| Children
in Crime |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
* A survey by the
National Institute for Minors in 1994 determined that 206,000 children
were involved in illicit activities, principally begging but also petty
theft, prostitution, and drug trafficking. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* Many minors
are convicted for criminal activities. (DCI,
International Child Rights Monitor, October 1994 to March 1995)
|
| Child
Soldiers |
GOVERNMENT FORCE
STATISTICS
*
An estimated 2,500 child soldiers are in the armed forces. (CSUCS
website, www.child-soldiers.org)
RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS
* The minimum age for
voluntary recruitment is 18 years. (Rädda
Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of children as soldiers
in Latin America, May 1999)
*
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)
NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES
*There
are indications of under-18s in government armed forces but numbers
are believed to be very small. (CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001)
*
According to Amnesty International , in a very small number of cases
17-year-olds present themselves for recruitment, and they have to
pass more demanding tests in order to be admitted. (Rädda
Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of children as soldiers
in Latin America, May 1999)
*According to Amnesty
International, the requirement of 18 years of age for compulsory military
service is respected. (Rädda
Barnen, Childwar database)
*
An NGO, Provea, reported in 1998 that military officers forcefully
recruited young people from public areas without verifying their
documents. According to War Resisters' International, the officers
are paid for each young man they recruit. (Rädda
Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of children as soldiers
in Latin America, May 1999)
NOTES
ON FOREIGN OPPOSITION GROUPS
* Although there is
no armed conflict in Venezuela, it has been reported that Venezuelan children
have been abducted by the Colombian guerillas - Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia (FARC) and used as soldiers. (CSUCS,
Americas Report, July 1999)
|
| Domestic
Child Servants |
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)
|
Other
Hazardous
Child Labour |
SPECIFIC
SECTORS
*
Street Children - There were reports of trafficking in children
from other South American countries to work in Caracas as street
vendors and housemaids. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Street Children
- Children are being trafficked from Ecuador to Venezuela. The children
work in virtual slavery conditions as street vendors, domestic workers
and prostitutes. They are abducted, sold by parents or lured by false promises.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Vladimir Villegas, Congressional Human Rights Commission,
Estrella Gutierrez, "Child Traffic in Venezuela Tip of the Iceberg", IPS,
11 January 1998)
|
|
