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The International Labor Organization says 246 million children, or one
out of six in the world, are involved in child labor. 73 million of these
working children are less than 10 years old.
The ILO says the vast majority of children work in agriculture, where
they may be exposed to dangerous chemicals and equipment. Another hazardous
occupation is fishing.
One little girl reads a letter sent to the ILO about the situation of
a young boy from Cameroon, called Thomas. She says his impoverished family
sold him to work for a fisherman.
"He was forced to fish in spite of the dangers involved," she
said. "Thomas had to fish twice a day, starting as early as 3:00
a.m. until 5:00 a.m., and then had to go fishing again at 5:00 p.m. until
12:00 midnight. Sometimes when they were on the river, he felt like jumping
into it and ending it all."
The International Labor Organization says three quarters of working children
are engaged in what it calls the worst forms of child labor. These include
trafficking, armed conflict, slavery, sexual exploitation, and hazardous
work.
Queen Rania of Jordan is in Geneva to, as she says, shine the spotlight
on child trafficking. She calls this one of very worst forms of abuse,
a crime that affects millions of children and their families worldwide.
She says that every year, tens of thousands of children are lured or abducted
from their homes and forced into sweatshop labor or sexual exploitation.
This brutal trade in human lives, she notes, is a billion-dollar industry
"They are sent to mines, plantations, factories, or into domestic
labor," she said. "They are put on the street, to scavenge,
sell or beg on behalf of their jailers. In war-torn countries, boys may
be forced into battle, or made to clear landmines. Girls as young as 10
have been sold as comfort girls for soldiers. And countless more have
been driven into prostitution and pornography."
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