Child Labor: Unraveling the Ethical Dilemmas of Utilizing Vulnerability

Introduction

“An Indian maid for a diplomat in Potomac said she was mentally and physically abused and was paid $100 for 4,500 hours of work over 11 months” (Tenaglia-Webster, 92). “A A 14-year-old Cameroonian girl was enslaved for three years in Silver Spring by a couple from her country; The two never paid her, and the husband sexually abused her.” (Tenaglia-Webster, 92). These are only two examples out of millions who have been victims of child labor. Child labor is gruesome, devious and will only get worse.

Child labor is work that is done by children under the age of eighteen. It is considered “harmful, abusive, exploitive or hazardous” (Darity Jr., 508). There are many types of child labor; involuntary servitude, child mining, and child trafficking will be the focus here.

Exploiting Vulnerability

Involuntary servitude “The term involuntary servitude is used in reference to any type of slavery, peonage, or compulsory labor for the satisfaction of debts” (Batten, 513). Domestic and sexual servitude are the two main types of involuntary servitude. Domestic servitude is a form of child labor for women because it usually involves cooking, cleaning, and taking care of other children. Many women are treated horribly in this work, and no matter how hard they work, they still get treated awfully. For example, Kurinah Muka is a live-in maid who works at Alexandria High-rise. Her days there were cruel and tedious; “She was kicked by the woman who employed
her, forced to work 19-hour days and only allowed to eat only the food that others rejected, she said” (Tenaglia- Webster, 96). She was held in a camp with Three hundred other women, 20 in each room, “were taught Arabic vocabulary for cooking and cleaning, and told to obey employers” (Tenaglia- Webster, 98). She said she was also “forced to sign a contract promising her $800 a month, although she was told her real earnings would be $200 to $300” (Tenaglia- Webster, 98). Her life was miserable, and she had no control over it. Women in this field are not treated properly. Domestic servitude has gotten crueler over the years. Women are beaten to their death, and others are abused just for the heck of it.

The second form of involuntary servitude is sexual servitude. Sexual servitude is children being taken, given up, and abused for money and pleasure. One form of it includes prostitution. Not only are children sold into prostitution, but “fathers used children of both genders in a variety of sexual practices and older boys used younger children as sex objects” (Benson, Matuszak, O’ Meara, 52). Family members are being used by their own relatives, which leads to this process going throughout their generations and will likely not be stopped. Many child prostitution victims have run away, been abandoned in the streets by their families, or are forced to sell their bodies to help their families. That’s why “sex recruiters may target parents in economically stressed families, offering them money or other remuneration in exchange for their young daughters.” (Benson, Matuszak, O’Meara, 53). Many young girls and boys are lured into brothels and tourism resorts and end up never seeing their families again.

Conclusion

Those who have ended up in tourism resorts are victims of what’s known as sex tourism, another form of sex servitude. Sex tourism is tourists that “deliberately travel to seek sex with children” (Benson et al., 55). Child sex offenders will go where they think they won’t get caught and avoid “places where law enforcement is high, and children are protected” (Wiener, 93). That’s why they go to India because they have a very poor security system which leads to many sex tourists going there. Boys aren’t being watched, and in Sri Lanka, “several thousand boys are reported to be available for sex with male tourists in some areas.”  (Benson, Matuszak, O’Meara, 55). Those who are victims of being in sex tourism are a major reason for the increase in HIV/AIDS all throughout South East Asia.
These children aren’t only affected by disease, but “they are particularly susceptible to physical, psychological, and social damage” (Weiner, 94).

References

1. “Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy” by Kevin Bales
2. “Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive” by Stephanie Land

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