Romania
Child Labour Exploitation
In a context of deep poverty of the population, in rural areas, but in the cities, too, children forced or not by their parents dedicated themselves to economical activities in order to earn money, that don't always meet the legal requirements. The National Institute of Statistics estimated in 2004 that aproximately 70.000 children are involved in labour, 8,8% of them develop hard activities and in 96,6% of these cases the rules about the minimum age and the work duration are ignored.
What is child labour
Not all forms of labour that a child develops can be considered „child labour exploitation," because there are certain forms of labour that are acceptable, that make them more responsible and prepare them for the adult life; there are, also, severe forms of labour that take away the posibility of growing and developing according to their age. The criterion that establish which of the activities developed by children are acceptable and which are not are age, duration , the nature of labour amd the conditions in which it is carried out.
Child labour has negative consequences on their physical and psychical development and violates their rights. The studies from all over the world show that often children work in high risk conditions dangerous for their health. Children who work are often abused physically and psychically, the work they carry out can have severe consequences on their development and health and is an obstacle in their school education.
Accoding to the International Office for Labour (Preventing and combating child labour exploitation in Romania 2004) there are considered:
A) Dangerous labours
-labours that expose the child to physical, psychical or sexual risks;
-labours that are carried out underground, under water, at dangeroud heights or in narrow spaces
-labours that are carried out with dangerous machines, materials or tools or that involve handling or transporting weights.
Labour that are carried out in unhealthy environments that can, for example, expose children to substances, agents or dangerous procedures or to conditions of temperature, noise or vibrations that would endanger their health.
Labours that are carried out in very difficult conditions, for example, for several hours or during the night or for which the child is detained without any justification at the office of the employer (Recommendation No. 190 about the most severe forms of child labour)
B) The most severe forms of child labour:
All forms of slavery or similar practices, like selling or commerce with children, offering their services for debts and the work of servant and forced labour, including using children armed conflicts
Using, recruting or offering a child for prostitution purposes, for producing pornographic materials or pornographic shows.
Using, recruting or offering a child for ilicit activities, especially for drug trafficking, as they are described by the relevant international conventions
Labours that, by their nature or conditions in which are carried out, are possible to damage the child's health, security or morality (the OIM Convention No. 182, Art.3)
Relevant standards
In Romania, the knowledgde of this phenomenon is still partial and fragmentary, in spite of trying to study it.
The results of the Quick Evaluation about street children who work in Bucharest, a study that was finished in 2002, shows that the number of children involved in various activities in the street increased substantially compared to the National Study about the Situation of Street Children elaborated in 1999. The activities are ment to contribute to the familes' daily income that are in a difficult economical situation. The presence of these children in the street is, in most cases, the parents' initiative. Some of these children, who are from poor families, are in a great risk of being trafficked for developing ilegal activities (like, for example, beggery or thieveries). There are children who already experienced this phenomenon, beoming a victim of trafficking in Western European countries.
According to the report for child labour in Romania made in 2004 by the National Institute of Statistics, the number of children involved in severe forms of labour in cities and in the rural areas is aproximately 70.000, according to the parents' responses and aproximately 140.000 according to the children's responses. In the cities, most of the children beg to contribute to the to their families' survival. It is estimated that aproximately 5.000 are in Bucharest and some other big cities (Iasi, Constanta, Timisoara, Brasov, Craiova, Galati, Bacau, Ploiesti, Braila).
The International Office of Labour supported, in the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour, several projects that eveluated the situation of different categories of children who work: children who work in the street, children who work in rural areas and Roma children who work.
Working Street children
From 150 children who work on the street more than 8 hours a day: 44% beg, in difficult conditions, most of them suffering from skin diseases, TBC, hepatitis, 61% of them have abandoned school, most of them at the age of 11 years; 34% are illiterate and 40% have reduced knowledge of writing and reading.
(The Quick Evaluation of the situation of working street children, Bucharest, Save the Chi;dren, 2001)
Children who work in rural areas
More than 70% of 400 children interviewed in the rural areas with ages from 6 to 14 yearsconsider that it is normal to work daily; the tasks received from their parents include house cleaning , cooking, feeding the animals, cleaning the animals' shelters, taking care of the younger brothers and sisters, field labours, milking the animals, cutting wood, etc. 64 children declared that they work for a rural employer.
(Study about the situation of children who work in rural areas in 5 selected counties, IOMC, Ecaterina Stativa, Bucharest, 2002)
The labour of Roma children
Children work in their own house or participate together with their parents in field labours, producing or selling goods colecting reciclable materials, they work in markets or warehouses, in constructions or on the street. Children work from 4 to 10 hours a day, children's contribution to the familes' income being a tradition.
(Roma children who work, The Foundation ECHOSOC, Sorin Cace, Bucharest, 2002)
Working street children - the structure of the phenomenon
Children being seriously abused by their own families or in institutions, extreme poverty, the lack of social services adjusted to the needs of these children, lead to an increase of the number of children living in the streets. In order to understand better the structure of this phenomenon, we distinguish, according to the criterion of the relationship with the family, four categories of children and youth who live in the streets.
I. Children who live only in the streets and do not have any connections with their family or the care institution.
These children live permanently in the street and survive by adjusting continuously to the inhuman conditions of living in the street. They earn their money through working, begging, prostitution or petty thefts. The attitude towards their family is confused or indifferent. Memories related to their life in institutions or in the streets prevail. Their hygiene and health are improper and their behavior is strongly influenced by the environment they live in. they can be found in ditches, sub-way stations, abandoned construction sites etc. Almost all of them use “sniffing glue”, drink alcohol and smoke.
II. Children who work in the street and usually return to their family every day
Generally, these children do not go to school, most of them being illiterate. During daytime they are in the streets (very often forced by their parents), trying to earn money through begging or other activities (washing cars, selling goods, loading-unloading merchandise, collecting recyclable objects, stealing or prostitution). Usually, in the evening they go back to their family with the money they earned. They are in a high risk of abandoning their family for good, because the other children living in the streets will eventually convince them that they should spent the money they earn themselves or because of the pressure or violence committed by their parents in order to make them contribute with even more money to the family’s everyday expenditures. Drug use is note very common, but daily contacts with those children who live permanently in the street determined some of them to try “sniffing”. They can be found at the sub-way stations, in the central and crowded areas of the capital, in crossroads, big shopping centers or warehouses.
III. Youths who live in the street
Their presence in the street is a consequence of the failure of reintegration of the governmental or non-governmental institutions from the past. More than half of them have been living in the street for more than five years. These youths, although from a physical and a legal point of view they are neither children nor adolescents anymore, they are still assimilated to the category of street children. Usually, they are the leaders of the groups of street children, the ones who “make” the rules of the group and offer protection and support to the other members. Drug use has become a serious problem among youths over the past three years, starting with “sniffing glue” and now using hard drugs, such as heroine, very popular among those who succeed in earning among money for a dose. They survive by performing various kinds of jobs (hard jobs, usually), begging or stealing, while shelters are totally insufficient. The youths can be seen in ditches, sub-way stations, abandoned construction sites etc.
IV. Children who live with their parents in the street
The data provided by the Anti-Poverty Commission in 2000 showed that 45% of the urban population and 55% of the rural population live under the bearable level of poverty. Because of this situation, some of the families lost their homes and ended up living in the open with their children or in improvised shelters in huts, abandoned construction sites etc.
Parents survive by begging together with their children or other kinds of labor performed by the children. Very often, they protest in front of the central state institutions (Presidency, Government, City Hall), without any result. Basically, there is no social service which should offer a temporary shelter to a family with children, excepting the mothers with babies. The youths who live in the street and become parents are also included in this category. Because of the extreme poverty, many families use their own children, irrespective of age, for obtaining any kinds of income. Children are involved in various activities, from washing cars to begging, loading-unloading goods in the market, selling newspapers etc. Because of the dangerous environment and the long period during which they are carried out, these activities affect children’s health and education. Save the Children is involved in analyzing and researching this phenomenon in order to take the best measures for supporting and protecting exploited children.
Services of social and psychological assistance for street children economically exploited
The Campaign "Get involved in fighting beggery"
The Campaign "The Month of Open Hearts"
Donate online now to support Save the Children Romania programme work