Selected Child Labor Measures Adopted by Governments
| Ratified Convention 138 11/11/1996 |
X |
| Ratified Convention 182 2/5/2001 |
X |
| ILO-IPEC Member |
X |
| National Plan for Children |
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| National Child Labor Action Plan |
X |
| Sector Action Plan (Commercial Sexual Exploitation) |
X |
Incidence and Nature of Child Labor
The Argentine Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security estimated that 7.1 percent of children ages 5 to 14 were working in Argentina in 2000.[227] The labor force participation rates of children are slightly higher in rural than urban areas.[228] Children work in agriculture in such products as tobacco, herba mate,[229] flowers, tomatoes, strawberries, tea, and garlic.[230] In urban areas, children are engaged in trash collection, street sales, begging, shoe shining, domestic labor, in small and medium businesses, small scale garment production, food preparation, and brickwork.[231] Children in Argentina are involved in prostitution and sex tourism, and there are isolated reports of their involvement in pornography and drug trafficking.[232] Children are trafficked to Argentina from Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay for sexual exploitation and labor. Argentine children are trafficked from rural to urban areas of the country and there is some trafficking of children abroad, mainly into prostitution in Brazil and Paraguay.[233]
Education is free and compulsory in Argentina for 10 years, beginning at age 5.[234] In 2001, the gross primary enrollment rate was 119.6 percent, and the net primary enrollment rate was 99.8 percent.[235] Gross and net enrollment ratios are based on the number of students formally registered in primary school and therefore do not necessarily reflect actual school attendance. According to a government survey in 2001, 92.0 percent of children age 5 attended school, 99.1 percent of children ages 6 to 12 attended school, and 97.2 percent of children ages 13 to 14 attended school. Attendance rates were lowest among children from low income households.[236] As of 2000, 93.1 percent of children who started primary school were likely to reach grade 5.[237] Access to schooling is limited in some rural areas of the country.[238]
Child Labor Laws and Enforcement
The Law on Labor Contracts sets the minimum age for employment at 14 years.[239] Children ages 14 to 18 years are permitted to work if they have completed compulsory schooling, which normally ends at 14 years. Children who have not completed such schooling may obtain permission to work in cases in which their income is necessary for family survival, as long as they continue their studies.[240] Children ages 14 to 18 years must present medical certificates that attest to their ability to work.[241] Such children are prohibited from working more than 6 hours a day and 36 hours a week and between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. They are also entitled to a minimum of 15 vacation days per year, and an accident or sickness that occurs during the performance of their work is generally considered to be the fault of the employer.[242]
The law also establishes circumstances in which children under 14 years are allowed to work. The Law on Labor Contracts allows children under 14 years to work in family businesses, as long as such work is not hazardous, and the National Regulation on Farm Labor allows children under 14 years to work on family farms as long as such work does not interfere with the child's schooling.[243]
The Penal Code provides for imprisonment from 3 to 15 years for facilitating the prostitution of children. The publication and distribution of pornography, as well as participating or forcing another to participate in pornography, are crimes, and carry penalties including imprisonment ranging from 1 month to 4 years. [244] Under the 2003 Migration Law, penalties for trafficking of minors range from 5 to 20 years.[245] The law also prohibits indentured servitude.[246]
The Government of Argentina has a national regime of sanctions for the infringement of labor laws, including child labor laws, with fines ranging from USD 350 to USD 1,750 for each child employed. Provincial governments and the city government of Buenos Aires are responsible for labor law enforcement,[247] and in 1998 the provinces and the federal government entered into a “Federal Labor Pact” to harmonize regulations and penalties to ensure equal treatment throughout the country.[248] Most illegal child labor can be found in the informal sector, however, where inspectors have limited authority to enforce the law.[249] Argentina's Congress admitted in 2004 that the country lacks sufficient inspectors and programs to detect child labor and that there is a lack of sanctions against employers for exploiting children. In addition, the Inspection Monitoring Unit lacks support to rescue and remove exploited children.[250]
In late October and early November 2004, provincial police in Misiones and Entre Rios broke up a group of traffickers in the Misiones town of San Vicente. One of the traffickers arrested admitted that she had brought eight girls between the ages of 13 and 16 from the Puerto Iguazu area to San Vicente for commercial sexual exploitation. The girls said they had been held captive for over a year.[251] Lack of coordination, the absence of a clear mandate, police corruption, and lack of resources hamper government efforts to combat trafficking.[252]
Current Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor
The Government of Argentina's National Commission for the Eradication of Child Labor (CONAETI) is working with ILO-IPEC to complete a national child labor survey, and in early 2004, announced plans to conduct an additional survey with a greater focus on urban child labor.[253] Under its National Plan for the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labor,[254] the government is carrying out awareness raising campaigns on child labor,[255] as well as collaborating with ILO-IPEC on a number of projects. The government is involved in the management of an ILO-IPEC project begun in 2002 to combat child labor in rural areas.[256] The Government of Argentina is also participating in a 4-year ILO-IPEC regional project to prevent and eliminate commercial sexual exploitation of children in the border area with Brazil and Paraguay[257] and a 2-year ILO-IPEC project to provide training on the issue of exploitive child labor to educators in Argentina.[258] The IDB also provided funding for a project to train labor inspectors to promote the prevention of child labor.[259]
The Government of Argentina, along with ILO-IPEC, the other MERCOSUR governments, and the Government of Chile, participated in the development of a 2002-2004 regional plan to combat child labor in which these governments agree to harmonize legislation on child labor, conduct awareness raising on the problem, and exchange best practices in the areas of labor inspection and statistics.[260] In April, the National Commission for the Eradication of Child Labor signed an agreement with a number of provincial governments to create specialized provincial commissions against child labor, and MERCOSUR later agreed to support a campaign with the provinces. Concerns, however, have been raised that the resources to combat the problem and the extent of child labor vary from province to province.[261]
The National Council for Childhood, Adolescence, and Family (CONNAF), a federal government agency, works with local governments and NGOs to provide services for and protect the rights of children who have been sexually exploited or are at risk of exploitation.[262] In Buenos Aires, the government operates a network that conducts awareness campaigns and attempts to identify child victims of trafficking.[263] CONNAF also operates a national program to assist street children.[264]
The Ministry of Education provides scholarships and school meals to children at risk of leaving the school system.[265] CONAETI participates in planning and decision-making in regard to the provision of such scholarships.[266] In May, the Ministry of Human Development began a program that will provide scholarships of approximately USD 50 per month to enable 20,000 adolescents ages 14 to 21 years to attend school.[267] UNICEF is working with schools, teachers, and families to improve school quality and encourage school retention.[268] The IDB is providing financing to the Government of Argentina to support the provinces in improving the quality, equity and efficiency of the secondary education system, in order to promote increased future employment opportunities for young people from poor families.[269] The government is also receiving funding from the World Bank to reform the third cycle of basic education (grades seven to nine) in Buenos Aires Province. The reforms include the rehabilitation of school infrastructure, the expansion of the school day, and the improvement local school management.[270]
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