Untitled - Terre des Hommes

According to ILO (ILO 2006) estimates 80% of child domestic workers in Tanzania are girls, many of
them from rural and slum communities from districts or regions some distance from where they are
employed. The majority of these girls start doing domestic work when they are younger than fifteen.
However, there are others who enter this service as early as seven. Most child domestic workers work
between 14 and 16 hours daily. Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA) estimates that one-third of
all working children in Tanzania are employed in the domestic sector (ILO 2006). According to the
ILO-IPEC (2003), 25% of girls engaged in prostitution started out as child domestic workers.
b. Involvement of children in prostitution, production of pornography or pornographic
performances
The sexual exploitation of children in the mining and fishing regions of Tanzania is rampant. Girls
aged 12 to 15 arrive in these areas on pay day in search of a way to earn money. Typically, there is a
lot of alcohol abuse involved in these sexual encounters. 304 The sexual exploitation of children in
fishing areas is hidden from society-at-large and it is difficult to measure the true scope of the
problem. Estimates by the organization Adilisha, which operates at 16 fishing posts in the Mwanza
area, place the number of girls involved as more than ten per fishing post.. 305
Lalor (2004) concluded that in Tanzania, little empirical data exists on child sexual exploitation. Lalor
further states that there is a wide-spread perception that the HIV/AIDS epidemic has further
exacerbated the level of commercial sexual exploitation, due to the popular idea that one can cleanse
oneself by having sex with a child. Commercial sexual exploitation is further fed by the breakdown of
the childcare system, poverty, the position of girls in society and foreign influences.
c. Hazardous work: work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out,
is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children
The three main types of hazardous labour that Tanzanian children are involved in are fishing, mining
and agriculture. In remote areas, such as the Mara region, children are involved in the livestock
sector. They herd cattle in unsupervised conditions, are exposed to snakes and other dangerous
animals and have no access to services. 306
Many children living in the fishing communities surrounding Lake Victoria spend their days
working. They do tasks directly related to the fishing industry, as well as tasks such as preparing
meals. While fishing, the children are exposed to extreme and harmful conditions and often work
long days in the hot sun. Families and children living in poverty travel to the lakeside regions such as
Bukima Beach, Irungwe Beach Island, Burungu Beach and Bwai Beach in search of work and their
children often end up exploited by the fishers. The girls are especially vulnerable to sexual
exploitation. There is also a high rate of school drop outs in the fishing communities. 307
According to the Labour Office in Musoma, children are not involved in the formal mining sector, but
they do work in small-scale informal mining. 308 A report by the International Labour Organization
supports this view (ILO 2007). According to the Aids Control and Community Development
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Phillip Minani (ACCODEO)
305
Ladislaus B. Munaku and Athanas Everist (Adilisha)
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Phillip Minani (ACCODEO)
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Bigambo Jeje (Mara Hope for Life)
308
Wilfred Mdumi and Venance Kadago (Labour Officers Musoma)
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