Selected Child Labor Measures Adopted by Governments
| Ratified Convention 138 10/30/98 |
X |
| Ratified Convention 182 8/2/01 |
X |
| ILO-IPEC Member |
X |
| National Plan for Children |
|
| National Child Labor Action Plan |
X |
| Sector Action Plan (trafficking) |
X |
Incidence and Nature of Child Labor
The ILO estimated that 6.7 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 years in Turkey were working in 2002.[4017] Currently, the government has identified the worst forms of child labor in Turkey as children working in the streets, in hazardous industrial sectors, seasonal agricultural work, domestic service, and rural labor.[4018] The majority of children work in agriculture. Children can also be found working in metal work, woodworking, clothing industries, textiles, leather goods, personal and domestic services,[4019] automobile repair, furniture making, hotel and catering, and footwear.[4020] A rapid assessment on working street children in 2001 found that street children in the cities of Diyarbakir, Adana, and Istanbul pick through garbage at dumpsites, shine shoes, and sell various goods, among other activities.[4021] Girls are trafficked to Turkey for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic service from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, and Russia, and through the country to Western European destinations.[4022]
Under the Basic Education Act, primary education is compulsory for 8 years for children between the ages of 6 and 14.[4023] In 2001, the gross primary enrollment rate was 94.5 percent and the net enrollment rate was 87.9.[4024] Recent primary school attendance rates are unavailable for Turkey. While enrollment rates indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect children’s participation in school.[4025] School expenses, such as uniforms, books, and voluntary contributions, place an economic strain on low-income families and can impede children’s school attendance.[4026]
Children of legal working age employed in small enterprises that are registered with a Ministry of National Education Training Center attend apprenticeship training once a week and the centers are required by law to inspect these workplaces. Apprenticeship programs provide a wide range of occupational training at 346 training centers in 81 cities. An estimated 22.8 percent of working children took advantage of these training opportunities in 2003.[4027]
Child Labor Laws and Enforcement
A new Labor Law became effective in June 2003 that establishes the minimum age for employment at 15 years. The law, however, allows children 14 years of age to perform light work that does not interfere with their education, and enables governors in provinces dependent on agriculture to determine the minimum age for work in that sector. Children 15 years old who have completed their education and do not attend school may work up to 7 hours a day, not to exceed 35 hours a week. Children 16 years old may work up to 8 hours a day and up to 40 hours per week. Before beginning a job, children ages 15 to 18 years of age must undergo a physical examination, which is to be repeated every 6 months.[4028]
In 2004, the Ministry of Labor and Social Services (MOLSS) compiled a list of prohibited occupations for children under 15 years old, as well as for children 15 to 18 years old. The MOLSS also published a list of permitted occupations for children through 18 years of age.[4029] Children under 18 years are not permitted to work in bars, coffee houses, dance halls, cabarets, casinos, or public baths, or to engage in industrial night work. The law also prohibits underground and underwater work for women of any age and for boys under the age of 18.[4030] The Apprenticeship and Vocational Training Act No. 3308 allows children ages 14 to 18 who have completed the mandatory 8 years of education to be employed as apprentices. One day per week is dedicated to training and education, and the annual vacation for children is one month.[4031]
The Ministry of Labor and Social Services (MOLSS) Inspection Board is responsible for enforcing child labor laws in Turkey.[4032] The MOLSS has been unable to effectively enforce many of the child labor laws for a variety of reasons, including traditional attitudes, socio-economic factors, and the predominantly informal nature of child labor in Turkey.[4033] Therefore, the Board has focused on protecting working children by improving their working conditions.[4034]
Criminal law forbids the sexual exploitation of children.[4035] The Criminal Code designates the trafficking of persons a crime; those convicted face 5 to 10 years in prison and a fine of approximately USD 665 or more.[4036]
Current Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor
In working towards meeting EU accession conditions, priorities for the Government of Turkey include fulfilling obligations to eliminate child labor.[4037] The Government of Turkey has also developed a National Timebound Policy and Program Framework designed to eliminate the worst forms of child labor and the involvement of children below the age of 15 in all forms of work in Turkey within a period of 10 years.[4038] The MOLSS’ Child Labor Unit is the focal point in coordinating child labor activities among all institutions in Turkey and developing policy responses to child labor.[4039] The Child Labor Unit contributed to the preparation of the child labor chapter in the Eighth Five-Year Development Plan of Turkey (2000-2005). This plan commits the government to respond to child labor by promoting policies designed to combat child labor by increasing family income, providing social welfare, and reducing education costs for the poor.[4040]
The Government of Turkey has committed to making a significant contribution (USD 6.2 million) to support the ILO-IPEC project Combating the Worst Forms of Child Labor in Turkey - Supporting the Timebound Program for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor in Turkey, 2004-2006. The program will include activities in 11 provinces based on the prevalence of priority sectors selected by in-country stakeholders (street work, informal urban economy, and seasonal commercial agriculture).[4041]
Various other regional child labor elimination programs are underway throughout the country, supported by the national or local level authorities in Turkey. The government operates 28 centers to aid working street children.[4042] The Interior Ministry’s Child Police operate in 81 provinces of Turkey and are specifically responsible for protecting children, including protecting working children from employer abuses. Over the summer months when school is in recess and children are particularly vulnerable to engaging in work, the Child Police in Diyarbakir offered swimming courses and supplementary nutrition to children working on the streets. In Konya, computer literacy courses and organized tennis and soccer activities were offered to children who otherwise would be working. Such activities have contributed to the rehabilitation of working children and increased national awareness of the problem of child labor.[4043] A project led by the MOLSS Inspection Board in Izmir to stop children under 15 years from working in the footwear industry, textiles, and auto repair removed and prevented children from involvement in hazardous work, and improved working conditions for children ages 15 to 18.[4044]
The Government of Turkey is taking steps to combat trafficking of persons.[4045] The Ministry of Health provides free health treatment for trafficking victims.[4046] The government also makes efforts to provide rehabilitation and treatment to victims,[4047] and has also reached repatriation agreements with 26 countries of origin, including Greece, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, and Romania.[4048] In September 2003, the Interior Ministry and a local NGO called the Human Resources Development Foundation signed a protocol and have agreed to collaborate on training of judges and government officials and policy development of new trafficking legislation, and opening shelter for trafficking victims.[4049] In April 2003, a National Action Plan on Trafficking was developed by the government’s Anti-Trafficking Task Force, and the IOM, ILO, and UNHCR are collaborating with the government to address the trafficking problem.[4050]
In 2002, in an effort to support basic education reform, the EU provided funding to improve access and the retention of children in basic and non-formal education in 12 provinces and 5 urban and suburban areas.[4051] The same year, the World Bank approved a loan to support the Second Basic Education Project that will improve education through a number of measures, including the construction of new classrooms, provision of education materials, and teacher training.[4052] The World Bank funds the Social Risk Mitigation Project to alleviate economic hardship on poor households that finances the expansion of education and health grants for the poorest 6 percent of families to support keeping children in school.[4053] The Ministry of National Education and UNICEF currently supports the Advocacy Campaign for Girls’ Education designed to place every girl in school by the year 2005.[4054]
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