Untitled - Terre des Hommes

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exploitation of children also appears to have been made with the adoption of the National Plan of Action against the Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children including Trafficking, for a period of five years in 2002, by the government of Bangladesh. However, the five years has already expired without any implementation initiatives occurring. Many more effective interventions are necessary to tackle the problem of child labour and exploitation in Bangladesh. b. The police and government children’s homes Juvenile justice According to the concluding observations of UNICEF’s Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2003, there was ‘limited progress achieved in establishing a functioning juvenile justice system throughout the country’. In the absence of a properly-functioning juvenile justice system, no accurate statistical information is available on the actual number of children in conflict with the law in Bangladesh. Furthermore, no separate juvenile justice law exists. The 1974 Children Act is the main law concerning children in Bangladesh, but it deals with both children in need of protection and care as well as children in conflict with the law. Other laws, such as the Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Suppression of Violence against Women and Children Act, also contain provisions regarding children in conflict with the law. In 2004, the age of criminal responsibility was raised from seven to nine years. In a country where levels of birth registration are about 10 - 15 percent, children in conflict with the law are often deprived of age-appropriate protection. In addition, children over 16 are treated as adults because, according to the Children Act, both child and youthful offender are defined as a person under the age of 16. At present, there are three specialized juvenile courts in the country and the creation of another four such courts is being considered. However most children are dealt with through the regular criminal courts, where they are often tried jointly with adults and without legal representation. There are also three specialized institutions for the detention of child offenders which have been renamed as Child Development Centres. The two centres for boys are located in Tongi and Jessore and the girls' centre is in Konabari. In practise, many children however are sent to ordinary prisons, where they are confined with adults. 47 One of the main gaps in child protection is that those who are supposed to be providing protection, such as the police and the staff of government-run children's homes, are also a source of abuse and even exploitation. Street children and children involved in sex work are still criminalized by society, police and the staff that takes care of them while they are incarcerated. The conditions at the so-called child development centres are basic at best, and many NGOs try to rescue as many children as possible from these government-run homes. The problem is a lack of facilities and capable staff, resulting partly from a lack of financial resources for the training of personnel. There is a need to raise awareness about children's rights among police and the staff of these homes, in order to make them more sensitive to the needs of children. There is also a need to create more openness and awareness within communities, to reduce the stifling social stigmas attached to sexual exploitation. Save the Children is currently working on a child rights programme, which is to be included into the standard police training curriculum, to help fight the abuse of children by police. 48 47 UNICEF, from www.unicef.org/bangladesh 48 Mr. S.H. Milky (UNICEF), Ms. Zinnat Afroze (Plan Bangladesh), Mr. Shamsul Alam (Save the Children Sweden-Denmark) 28
c. Non-governmental initiatives Non-governmental initiatives to tackle child labour in Bangladesh focus on the protection and rehabilitation of working children and on the prevention of child labour. The protection and rehabilitation programmes are often in the form of shelters or children’s homes; these provide support, such as a place to sleep, regular meals, basic education and skills training and counselling and family reintegration services. Children are sometimes removed from their jobs and placed into an NGO-run protection programme. However, realising that the forceful removal of children from a paid activity is not in itself a sustainable solution, other interventions must be in place to provide education for working children within the workplace and to increase the protection of children at work. Prevention programmes work on different levels from advocacy on policy and legislative issues to raising awareness in the community. Prostitution Interventions for children involved in prostitution take the form of shelters, basic education and health care. There are separate projects aimed at rescuing the children of sex workers from their abusive situations. Family reintegration for child sex workers is problematic due to the social stigmas attached to the work 49 . Many girls have come from remote rural areas and, though some still have contact with their families, many do not tell their family what type of work they do and fear going home. Girls will sometimes stop sex work if they find a husband or different employment. Providing viable alternatives to sex work is the most successful way of removing girls from sex work and these programmes should therefore be supported. There are criticisms that time-bound programmes and shelters that restrict children's freedom too much do not work for this group of children that require long-term support and a different approach 50 . There is the lack of a strong national NGO network of stakeholders working with sexually-abused children. There is no formal platform in place for this sector to share good practices, lessons and experiences. Home-grown approaches are dominated and undermined by the prevalence of externally-designed approaches. 51 According to an INCIDIN report in 2008, commercial sexual exploitation of children is not a priority for most government and NGO interventions in Bangladesh. In general, child labour is the primary focus for about 60% of all governmental and non-governmental organisations. Child abuse is a secondary priority for 55% of all governmental and non-governmental organisations. The study also notes that 85% of NGOs have a strong focus on gender, whereas a quarter of governmental organisations focus on gender. The commercial sexual exploitation of children is primarily addressed either in relation to, or under, the ambit of child trafficking. The same INCIDIN (2008) study concludes that the present capacity, priority and strategy of governmental and non-governmental organisations interventions are not adequately addressing the needs and concerns of children suffering from commercial sexual exploitation Several NGOs regularly hold discussions with journalists to sensitize them about issues surrounding child rights, sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking. A pioneering role regarding module-based replicable and systematic training for the greater coverage of psychosocial care, during the recovery period of child survivors of child sexual abuse and commercial sexual exploitation, has been played by ARISE, ASK and INCIDIN Bangladesh, with the support of UNDP, ILO, and UNESCA. Three other organizations, Action against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children (ATSEC), Girl 49 Group interview SEEP employees 50 Mr. A.K.M. Mustaque Ali (INCIDIN Bangladesh) 51 Mr. A.K.M. Mustaque Ali (INCIDIN Bangladesh) 29
Page 2 and 3: Stichting Terre des Hommes Nederlan
Page 4 and 5: 6. List of respondents ............
Page 6 and 7: Introduction This report is based o
Page 8 and 9: Legal analysis of child labour The
Page 10 and 11: (ILO, Targeting the Intolerable, 19
Page 12 and 13: Prohibiting prostitution is require
Page 14 and 15: depend on police force, but also on
Page 16 and 17: Optional Protocol to the Convention
Page 18 and 19: It is still the norm culturally for
Page 20 and 21: children in Bangladesh can be descr
Page 22 and 23: The road to sex work In both floati
Page 24 and 25: heterosexual man may also have sex
Page 26 and 27: The average hiring age in Dhaka’s
Page 30 and 31: Child Advocacy Forum and Bangladesh
Page 32 and 33: themselves 57 . Policy changes at t
Page 34 and 35: Interviews with members of the Hori
Page 36 and 37: Various social trends and their sub
Page 38 and 39: fine. Whoever ostensibly procures a
Page 40 and 41: households with child domestic labo
Page 42 and 43: exploited, as there is no fear of p
Page 44 and 45: older they move on to better paying
Page 46 and 47: The Indian government's focus on ed
Page 48 and 49: The government needs to disseminate
Page 50 and 51: Interviews with children and famili
Page 52 and 53: International, indicates that 60% o
Page 54 and 55: The new constitution (2007) prohibi
Page 56 and 57: stranded in an unknown environment.
Page 58 and 59: They work with machetes, exposing t
Page 60 and 61: and diseases. An adult earns Bs60-1
Page 62 and 63: According to CNNA, people under the
Page 64 and 65: There is a need to raise awareness
Page 66 and 67: Sucre Sister Cira, Centro Santa Clo
Page 68 and 69: violence can leave children without
Page 70 and 71: at 4 hours a day. Children between
Page 72 and 73: Human trafficking is a definite rea
Page 74 and 75: absence of specialized knowledge ab
Page 76 and 77: psychoactive substances. Unfortunat
Page 78 and 79:
children with no interest in ending
Page 80 and 81:
Alejandro Cussianovich Villaran, MA
Page 82 and 83:
to access schools in their new situ
Page 84 and 85:
The working day for child domestic
Page 86 and 87:
d. Hazardous work: work which, by i
Page 88 and 89:
5. Recommendations by respondents A
Page 90 and 91:
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics
Page 92 and 93:
Tanzania 1. Introduction and backgr
Page 94 and 95:
Children are forbidden from working
Page 96 and 97:
According to ILO (ILO 2006) estimat
Page 98 and 99:
officials since legislation is offi
Page 100 and 101:
ILO/IPEC. 2003. Facts on Child Dome
Page 102 and 103:
street children, incidence of domes
Page 104 and 105:
government has become aware of the
Page 106 and 107:
4. Interventions Government initiat
Page 108 and 109:
5. Recommendations by respondents T
Page 110 and 111:
7. List of respondents Kampala: Ans
Page 112 and 113:
Secondly, poverty is often cited as
Page 114 and 115:
organisations. The Indian state Goa
Page 116 and 117:
Recommendations A constant improvem
Page 118 and 119:
Annex List of topics and questions
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Untitled - Terre des Hommes

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