Selected Child Labor Measures Adopted by Governments
| Ratified Convention 138 11/13/2002 |
X |
| Ratified Convention 182 1/10/2002 |
X |
| ILO-IPEC Member |
X |
| National Plan for Children |
X |
| National Child Labor Action Plan |
|
| Sector Action Plan (Commercial Sexual Exploitation) |
X |
Incidence and Nature of Child Labor
The ILO estimated that 1.7 percent of children ages 10 to 14 years in Peru were working in 2002.[3197] Children are employed in the agricultural sector (including in coca cultivation), fireworks factories, stone quarries, and the brick-making sector. Children are also found loading and unloading produce in markets, collecting garbage, and working in informal gold mining sites.[3198] In urban areas, children often sell in the streets and in markets.[3199]
Many children, most of whom are girls, move from rural areas to urban areas where they live with families and perform domestic work.[3200] In 2003, there were reports of children serving in the army in the Department of Loreto.[3201] Boys and girls are also victims of commercial sexual exploitation.[3202] There is internal trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation and domestic service in Peru. [3203]
The General Education Law establishes free and compulsory public education through secondary school.[3204] In 2000, the gross primary enrollment rate was 121.3 percent and the net primary enrollment was 99.9 percent.[3205] 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. In 2000, the gross primary attendance rate was 110.5 percent and the net primary attendance rate was 75.6 percent.[3206] School attendance is lower in rural and jungle areas, and girls attend at a lower rate than boys.[3207] Indigenous children and those from rural areas lack access to the education system.[3208] The average total number of years of schooling and student performance is also sharply lower in rural areas than in urban areas.[3209] The Child and Adolescent Code provides for special arrangements and school timetables so that working children and adolescents can attend school regularly.[3210]
Child Labor Laws and Enforcement
Children ages 12 to14 may perform certain jobs if they obtain legal permission from the Ministry of Labor and can certify that they are attending school.[3211] According to the legislation modifying Article 51 of the Child and Adolescent Code, the minimum age for employment in non-industrial agricultural work is 15 years, 16 years for work in the industrial, commercial, and mining sectors, and 17 years for work in the industrial fishing sector.[3212] Work that might harm a child’s physical or mental health and development, including underground work or work that involves heavy lifting, night work, or work that might serve as an obstacle to continued school attendance, is prohibited for children under 18 years of age.[3213] Working children must be paid at the same rate as adult workers in similar jobs.[3214]
The Child and Adolescent Code prohibits forced and slave labor, economically exploitative labor, prostitution, and trafficking.[3215] Laws prohibiting kidnapping, the sexual abuse of minors, and illegal employment are enforced and can be used to sanction individuals who traffic children for exploitative labor.[3216] New regulations require that underage children working in domestic service must have access to education.[3217]
In 2004, new laws were enacted by the Government to protect children from exploitation by adults, including trafficking in persons and sexual exploitation.[3218] The Ministry of Women and Social Development (MIMDES) is raising awareness on the new legislation through radio and other means.[3219] Also in 2004, the Government of Peru elevated the penalties against perpetrators of child pornography and prostitution.[3220]
Investigators employed by the Ministry of Labor have authority to investigate violations of child labor laws. As of August 2004, the Ministry had 200 labor inspectors, over two-thirds of whom work in Lima. Inspections are primarily conducted in the formal sector,[3221] and enforcement remedies are generally adequate to punish and deter violations.[3222] However, many children work in the informal economy where government labor law enforcement is limited.[3223]
The national police and local prosecutors have law enforcement authority over child labor violations, [3224] and the national police operate a Division for Matters Concerning Children and Adolescents to address cases concerning the rights of children and adolescents.[3225] The Directorate of Children and Adolescent Affairs, an office within MIMDES, is charged with developing and coordinating national policy on youth, especially for children and adolescents exposed to violence, extreme poverty, discrimination and social exclusion.[3226] A federal level multi-agency working group coordinates state action on the elimination of trafficking in persons and the Ministry of the Interior’s anti-trafficking unit conducts raids on brothels and rescues victims.[3227] The Office of Child Protection, Safety and Health in the Workplace within the Ministry of Labor and Social Promotion protects the rights of minors in the workplace.[3228] The Municipal Child and Adolescent Defender Centers work with local governments to supervise investigations, apply punishments, and monitor compliance of child labor laws.[3229]
Current Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor
The Government of Peru supports and contributes to USDOL-funded programs to eliminate exploitive child labor in the small-scale traditional mining and domestic service sectors.[3230]
The Government of Peru heads the National Committee to Prevent and Eradicate Child Labor, a permanent organization composed of representatives from various ministries, NGOs, labor unions and employers’ organizations.[3231] The Committee is responsible for addressing social and economic issues related to child labor and fulfilling Peru’s international commitments to fight child labor.[3232] MIMDES has a National Action Plan for Children and Adolescents 2002 – 2010. The plan focuses on improving health for children 5 years and below, providing quality, intercultural basic education and the elimination of the worst forms of child labor for children ages 6 to 11 years, and promoting control over working conditions for adolescents at or above the legal working age as part of its strategic objectives.[3233] The Ministries of Labor and Social Promotion, Health, Energy and Mines, and Education operate a system that allows the government to monitor and verify progress in the elimination of child labor in small-scale mining for a 10-year period (2002-2012).[3234]
With technical assistance from the ILO, MIMDES is implementing a 10-year plan to attack child sexual exploitation called Network Now Against Child Sexual Exploitation.[3235]
The National Institute of Family Well-Being has a program that provides a variety of services to working youth, including school support, school reinsertion, reintegration into the family, and vocational training.[3236] The Ministry of Health’s School and Adolescent Health Program provides medical services to children throughout the country beginning at age 5, with the aim of promoting healthy behavior.[3237]
The Ministry of Education implements a basic education program that improves the quality of education throughout the country by strengthening teachers’ skills and providing them with free educational materials, especially in rural areas.[3238] The Ministry also operates a tutoring program for children formerly excluded from the public system, including working children,[3239] and is establishing night classes and lengthening matriculation periods for youth employed as domestics in private homes.[3240] In addition, The Ministry of Education oversees Proyecto Materiales Educativos (Teaching Materials Project), which strengthens national capacity to develop innovative teaching materials.[3241] With funds from the OAS, the Ministry has a program to educate young children in rural areas through radio learning.[3242]
The Government of Peru, in collaboration with other public and private institutions, has a National Plan for Education for All that is being executed from 2004-2015. The Plan aims to improve educational coverage and access, equalize opportunities for bilingual, rural, and female children, and improves the quality, pertinence, and efficiency of education.[3243] USAID, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, is expanding a girls’ education initiative to provide technical assistance, develop models of educational decentralization, and strengthen local educational capacity.[3244]
The IDB is providing a social development loan to the Government of Peru that includes an infrastructure component for kindergarten and primary schools in rural areas.[3245] The IDB is also providing a loan to the Ministry of Labor and Social Promotion to expand the vocational training services offered through the ministries’ ProJoven program and to strengthen the link between training institutions and the private sector.[3246] With financing from the World Bank, the Ministry of Education implements a project to extend access to rural basic education, improve teaching quality and motivation in rural areas, and strengthen education management.[3247]
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