BANGLADESH: Hazardous Child Labour in the Leather Sector of Dhaka

In spite of the breakthrough of ILO Convention 182, the focus on the worst forms of child labour has been waning. Research indicates that the majority of NGOs work with children who perform light activities for only a few hours a day, which are actually tolerated under the ILO Convention 182 norms. At the same time, this relative absence of action is paralleled by a lack of information. Vast sectors are structurally overlooked and understudied. Additionally, the qualitative material is very poor, excluding the perspectives of the child labourers and their parents.

IREWOC previously conducted this project in Latin America. It was then expanded to Asia. Afke de Groot studied children in brick kilns, restaurants, and those working as porters in Nepal. Anna Ensing studied children working in the leather sector and the conditions of working girls in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The leather sector, according to the ILO, is one of the most hazardous sectors children in Bangladesh are involved in. This IREWOC study provides an insight into the characteristics of hazardous child labour in general and in the leather sector specifically. One of the main objectives of this IREWOC study was to identify all stages that together form the production chain of leather – from raw hides to leather products - and to observe the involvement of children in these stages.

Secondly, they aimed to document the working children’s living and working conditions. Then, they intended to outline the main reasons for the children to be involved in this hazardous sector by taking into account the perspectives of children and their families as well as employers’ points of view. The final part of this report looks at the impact of the various existing projects to combat child labour in this sector. The fieldwork conducted for this study took place between June and September 2008.

 

Owner: Anna Ensingpdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/Ensing_Leather_Bangladesh_2009.pdf

Countries

Please note that these reports are hosted by CRIN as a resource for Child Rights campaigners, researchers and other interested parties. Unless otherwise stated, they are not the work of CRIN and their inclusion in our database does not necessarily signify endorsement or agreement with their content by CRIN.