Latest News: UN reports 152 million children are victims

Where are Children at Conferences on Child Labor? November 14, 2017 The International Labour Organization (ILO) had its IV Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labor in Buenos Aires this week. But some are asking: where are the opinions of children at a conference that is supposed to discuss their rights and needs? In an op-ed in Thomson Reuters Foundation, Tim Pilkington from World Vision UK, asks this simple question about how victims and survivors of child labor, including forced child labor, are represented at global conferences like this.

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Children Recovering from Domestic Slavery in Zanzibar  November 9, 2017 Rose labored as a child domestic worker from sunrise to sundown, unpaid and physically abused for months while working for a wealthy family in Zanzibar, Tanzania. One night, when she didn't finish doing the dishes, her employer woke her up in the middle of the night to beat her before locking her in a toilet for 11 hours. She was then thrown out of the house.

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Remembering Dignity in the Fight to End Modern Slavery  November 4, 2017 A quick internet search for human trafficking brings up the same images: ropes, chains, girls behind bars, often sexualized and branded with bar codes. It's about creating shock value in a sector where sensationalization is all too common. Yet human trafficking and forced labor largely doesn't look like this —  and in fact such imagery is harmful in that it creates an expectation that one can identify modern slavery by relying on hyper-sensational, dramatic imagery.

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Traffickers Targeting Rohingya Children in Refugee Camps A recent probe by the International Organization for Migration has found that Rohingya children in refugee camps in Bangladesh are being targeted by traffickers. Most are being exploited for labor, working punishing hours for little or no pay. Read Now >>

The Libyan Slave Markets  An auctioneer calls out "800, 900, 1,000, 1,100 ..." but he's not selling off a car or a piece of land. He's selling a human being. CNN reports that at least nine locations in Libya are home to these slave auctions where young men are sold off for work. Most of them are migrants from other parts of Africa. Read Now >>

Tanzanian Domestic Workers Abused in the Gulf  Human Rights Watch is reporting that Tanzanian domestic workers in Oman and the UAE are being abused through an exploitative visa-sponsorship system and gaps in Tanzania's migrant worker policies. The kafala system, which ties a domestic worker's visa to her employer, is one factor that makes it so hard to women to escape abusive employers. Read Now >>

Slavery’s Shadow in Mauritania Although Mauritania officially abolished slavery in 1981, for Maatalla Mboirick, he has lived most of his life under his "master." While he has since escaped and began to rebuild his life, his experience reflects the deep hierarchy in society that perpetuated his abuse for so long. Read Now >>

ASEAN Signs Commitment to Protect Migrant Workers This week ASEAN member states have finally made some progress in protecting migrant workers across Southeast Asia. To seal the closing of the 31st ASEAN Summit, members signed the ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers. Read Now >>

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