On challenges, dilemmas, and opportunities in studying trafficked children

Anthropological Quarterly, Fall, 2008 by Elzbieta M. Gozdziak

The middle ground is represented by researchers such as Eloundou-Enyegue and Shapiro (2004) who claim the buffering capacity of fosterage depends on three conditions: I) fosterage must be prevalent; 2) fosterage opportunities must be distributed according to need (low income to higher income); and 3) fosterage must benefit the foster parents. Indeed, many girls in our study were placed with willing relatives--mainly grandparents--who served as a safety net for children whose parents--mainly mothers--could not care for them. However, when the grandmother could no longer provide for the grandchild because of old age or illness and sent the child to another relative who often felt forced to care for the child, the situation quickly degenerated and the child ended up being abused, exploited, and eventually trafficked.

On Child Labor

Virtually all the children in our study came to the United States intent on finding employment. Child labor is common and widely accepted in the countries of origin of many of the trafficked minors we studied. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that 250 million children between the ages of five and fourteen living in developing countries qualify as child laborers. At least 120 million children work full-time. Sixty one percent of child laborers are in Asia, Thirty-two percent in Africa, and seven percent in Latin America. Their work varies, from helping with family farms to performing physically demanding tasks in manufacturing, construction, and extractive industries (Henne and Moseley 2005).

Although many countries have signed and ratified the International Labor Office Conventions on the Minimum Age of Employment and Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor, as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, child labor is still quite common in many parts of the world. Consider, for example, the case of Honduras, the country that had the largest representation in our sample. According to a recent International Labor Organization Survey (Martins Oliveira and Marshatz 2004), approximately 15 percent of Honduran children ages 5-17 participated to varying degrees in the labor market. The majority of child workers in Honduras (approximately 60 percent) are unpaid family workers. A smaller percentage (approximately 30 percent) work-as private employees. The proportion of children working as unpaid family laborers is greater in rural areas (approximately 66 percent) than in urban areas (46 percent). Males tend to participate at a greater rate than females. By the age of 17, 60 percent of Honduran males are in the labor market compared to only 18 percent of females.

The fact that a large percentage of Honduran working children do so in the home for no remuneration has hampered efforts to enforce labor standards. In an effort to enforce the conventions ratified, Honduras has taken steps to harmonize its laws with international norms. However, much of the legislation enacted to combat child labor focuses on children employed in bondage conditions or wage labor and not in the home where much of the child labor in Honduras takes place. Moreover, even if labor regulations were applicable they would be difficult to enforce. Thus, Honduras, like most countries, has complemented its labor laws with compulsory schooling legislation. In Honduras, education is compulsory until the age of 13. Secondary education begins at age 13 but is not compulsory. Many Honduran adolescents do not continue with schooling beyond the compulsory age. The effects are evident as a large percentage of Honduran adolescents enter the labor force at that age. In terms of females who work at home, 42 percent of 14 year-old girls in rural areas and 19 percent in urban areas work at home (Jeong 2005).