| Total
Child Labour |
NATIONAL STATISTICS
* For the year 2000, the ILO projects that
there will be 0 economically active children between the ages of
10-14.
(ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
* Recent figures
published by Save the Children concluded around 30% of 12-year-olds
and about 20% of 11 year olds were being illegally employed in low
paying jobs. This figure was backed by a similar survey carried out
by MORI for the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Contemporary research
also suggests that the figure is likely to increase by about 10% each
year. (Rachel
Donnelly, "The abuse of child labour is an issue in Britain too",
www.ireland.com, 28 February 2000)
* For the year
2000, 1821857 children between 16-19 years were economically active.
(ILO, Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 2001)
*
1,787,617 teenagers between 16-19 are economically active (ILO,
Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 1999)
* More than a million
children are working illegally in Britain, according to research by
Child Poverty Action Group and the Save the Children Fund. ("Britain's
Invisible Workforce", 24 July 1998)
* Focusing on children around 14 and 15 years of age,
studies have shown that, at the time of answering, between 35 and
50% of children were currently employed.
(EFCW, Children Who Work
in Europe, June 1998)
* A number of surveys
have estimated that around 50% of children aged 13-15 are engaged in some
kind of part-time employment, most of them working illegally without formal
registration. (EFCW, Children Who Work in
Europe, June 1998)
* Between 15% and
26% of 11 year olds and between 36% and 66% of 15 year olds are working.
(UNICEF,
State of the World's Children, 1997)
* In 1995, there
were 0 economically active children between the ages of 10-14. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
* The UK Agenda for Children referred
to a study carried out in 1991 which showed that 40% of children
under the age of 16 had some form of employment. Of these children,
74% were employed illegally, 25% were under the age of 13.
(EFCW,
Children Who Work in Europe, June 1998)
*
The Scottish branch of the Low Pay Unit, which has undertaken a
study estimated that 2 million children in Britain work. (Ray
Clancy, "Pupils enroll for the working class", The Times, 15 May
1991)
LOCAL
STATISTICS
* One
study in Northeast England by the Low Pay Unit found a quarter of
the children at work were under 13.
(ICFTU, Report for the WTO General
Council, July 2000)
*
The Hidden Army, a report by the Low Pay Unit and Birmingham City
Council, examined the working pattern of almost 2,000 children aged
10-16 and found that 43% worked, of which 3/4 were employed illegally.
(Pupils enroll for the working class, Ray Clancy,
The Times, May 15, 1991)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* UNICEF has said that the growth of the service sector and the
quest for a flexible work force has contributed to the expansion
of child labour in the UK.
(ICFTU, Report for the WTO General Council,
July 2000)
|
| Child
Slavery |
ADULT
STATISTICS
No Confirmed data
|
| Child
Trafficking |
NATIONAL STATISTICS
* A Government-sponsored
report estimates that up to 1,500 women and girls are trafficked
into the UK annually for purposes of sexual exploitation from Eastern
Europe and the Balkans, South America, Nigeria, Thailand, and Vietnam.
(US
Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)
ADULT STATISTICS
* 100 women were trafficked
for prostitution from remote villages in Brazil to London over the last
five year period. The women were held under debt bondage. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Michael Hoskins "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation",
Metropolitan Police Service, June 1996)
*
A Lithuanian man brought approximately 55 women from Russia to the UK to
be prostituted in flats in central London. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Michael Hoskins "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation",
Metropolitan Police Service, June 1996)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
*
The United Kingdom (UK) is a destination country for trafficked
men, women, and girls. (US
Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)
* Although there
are no reliable data as to the numbers of victims, men, women, and
children from the Indian sub-continent, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the former
Yugoslavia, Romania, China, Congo, Angola, Colombia, and Ecuador
are trafficked to the UK. (US
Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)
*
Sex traffickers are using Dublin as a stepping stone to provide prostitutes
across the Irish Sea in England. From Dublin, the sex traffickers use the
free movement to the South and Britain to fill the demand for vice girls
in London, Birmingham and Manchester. ("Sex
Traffickers Use Foreign Firms to Trap Girls" Sunday Mirror, 24 September
2000)
* Prostitution
trade networks provide Colombian women for the markets in Spain,
Britain, Germany, Belgium and the United States. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Gustavo Capdevila, IPS, 2 April 1997, citing Radhika
Coomaraswamy, UN Special Report on Violence Against Women)
*
Hong Kong Triad gangs and Eastern European gangsters are trying
to take over and expand Britain's sex industry.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing European Race Audit Bulletin, 25 November 1997)
* Women trafficked
for the purpose of sexual exploitation from the Far East are taken
to London, Manchester, Glasgow and Erie.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Michael Hoskins "Trafficking in Women for Sexual
Exploitation", Metropolitan Police Service, June 1996)
|
| Child
Prostitution and Pornography |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
* There are an estimated
287 children in prostitution. (CATW
Fact Book, citing "Child prostitution figure doubles", 28 January 1998,
citing Children's Society Home Office)
* In Britain in 1996
between 3,000 and 5,000 children were in the sex trade. (June Kane, Sold for Sex, Aren Ashgate Publising Limited Gower House, 1998)
*
Child prostitution is a major problem. A survey estimated that in 1995
there were 369 children aged 11-14 engaged in prostitution. (EFCW,
Children Who Work in Europe, June 1998)
LOCAL
STATISTICS
*
Children as young as 11 are enslaved in prostitution in Bradford. Of 100
girls, under 18, who are in touch with Streets and Lanes Project workers
last year, the average age was 14 and the youngest was 11. Older pimps
exploit them and lock them up in bedsits and often deny them access to
food or a toilet. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Sarah Walsh, "Shock of 11-year-old children enslaved
in prostitution", Telegraph & Argus, 14 July 1998)
ADULT STATISTICS
* 100 women were trafficked
for prostitution from remote villages in Brazil to London over the last
five year period. The women were held under debt bondage. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Michael Hoskins "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation",
Metropolitan Police Service, June 1996)
*
A Lithuanian man brought approximately 55 women from Russia to the UK to
be prostituted in flats in central London. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Michael Hoskins "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation",
Metropolitan Police Service, June 1996)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
*
Although statistics were unavailable child prostitution is widespread
and received substantial media attention during the year. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
*
Sex traffickers are using Dublin as a stepping stone to provide prostitutes
across the Irish Sea in England. From Dublin, the sex traffickers use the
free movement to the South and Britain to fill the demand for vice girls
in London, Birmingham and Manchester. ("Sex
Traffickers Use Foreign Firms to Trap Girls" Sunday Mirror, 24 September
2000)
* The report by
Barnado's, the children's charity, has discovered children as young
as 12 working as prostitutes in Scottish cities. (Katrina
Tweedie, "Runaway Link to Child Prostitutes", The Scotsman, 28 October
1999)
* Prostitution
trade networks provide Colombian women for the markets in Spain,
Britain, Germany, Belgium and the United States.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Gustavo Capdevila, IPS, 2 April 1997, citing Radhika
Coomaraswamy, UN Special Report on Violence Against Women)
* Women trafficked
for the purpose of sexual exploitation from the Far East are taken to London,
Manchester, Glasgow and Erie. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Michael Hoskins "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation",
Metropolitan Police Service, June 1996)
|
| Children
in Crime |
GENERAL JUVENILE
CRIME STATISTICS
* 210 juveniles
were convicted. (International Save the Children Alliance,
Children's Rights: Reality or Rhetoric?, 1999)
*
In 1998 there were 1,221,075 reported cases of juvenile crime, representing
23.90% of all criminal cases. The specific offences were: 72 cases
of murder (5.10% of all murders), 59,851 cases of serious assault
(28.40% of all cases), 1,056,576 cases of all types of theft (32.90%
of all cases), 453,910 cases of aggravated theft (44.50% of all
cases), 29,274 cases of robbery and violent theft (43.80% of all
cases), 431,793 cases of breaking and entering (45.30% of all cases),
171,134 cases of theft of motor cars (43.70% of all cases), 579,485
cases of other theft (32.20% of all cases), 28,509 cases of fraud
(10.20% of all cases), 17,388 cases of drug offences (12.80% of
all cases
(INTERPOL, International Crime Statistics
for 1998, citing National
Statistics)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* Many minors
convicted for criminal activities. (DCI, International
Child Rights Monitor, October 1994 to March 1995)
|
| Child
Soldiers |
GOVERNMENT
FORCE STATISTICS
* The UK is
also the only European country to send minors routinely into battle.
There are currently 6,000-7,000 under-18s in the armed forces. (CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001)
* From January
1999, there were 1,388 sixteen year-old boys, 160 sixteen year-old
girls, 4,506 seventeen year-old boys, and 622 seventeen year-old
girls in the armed forces, making a total of 6,676 British 'child
soldiers'. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999, citing Communication of the Permanent
Mission of the United Kingdom to the UN in Geneva, 19 October 1999)
* Between March
1998 and March 1999, a total of 9,466 children under 18 years of age
- 36.38% of the annual recruitment - were enrolled into the armed
forces. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999, citing Communication of the Permanent
Mission of the United Kingdom to the UN in Geneva, 19 October 1999)
* 40% of UK army
recruits are 16 or 17 years of age. In all, there are about 6,600
under 18s among 210,000 people in the armed forces. Just over 5,000
children are in the Army, 1,100 in the Navy and 500 in the Royal Air
Force. (Fran Abrams, "Ban on soldiers
under 18 resisted by Britain and US", The Independent (London),
18 January 1999)
*
The United Kingdom has more than 6,500 children in its armed forces,
800 of them girls. ("Lead by Good
Example, Not by Double Standards", Child Labour News Service, 1
November 1999)
*Approximately
35% of recruits enter the armed force before the age of 18. (Quaker
United Nations Office-Geneva, Recruitment and use of under 18 year
olds in UK Government Armed Forces, submission to the UN CRC, January
1995)
*
Children between 13 and 16 forms the cadet force. On 31 March 1999, there
were: 19,900 Sea Cadets; 65,700 Army Cadets; and 42,700 Air Cadets, that
is to say 128,300 cadets. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999, citing DATA Tri-Service)
RECRUITMENT
LAWS AND REGULATIONS
*
The minimum age for enlistment into the armed forces for both girls and
boys is now 16 years, with parental consent. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999)
* Children between 13
and 16 and sometimes up to 18 can join the cadet forces that are linked
with the regular forces. Within the Sea Cadet Corps, the minimum age is
12 and some units also have Junior Sea Cadet sections for 10 to 12 year
olds. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999, citing DATA Tri-Service)
* In the Royal Navy,
no under-17s are drafted to submarines and no under-18s are employed as
aircrew in any of the Services. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999)
* In October 1998, Doug
Henderson, the former Minister of Defence, said that the Navy and the Royal
Marines would no longer have 16-year-olds serving on warships in operational
deployments, but admitted that in the event of a major international conflict,
the ban on 16-year-olds might be lifted. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999, citing Ministry of Defence, 4 September 1998)
*In 1998 Ministry of
Defence stated that all service personnel should undergo general and trade-specific
training before being placed at their first duty unit, ensuring that personnel
under 17 years and three months cannot normally be deployed operationally.
However, it admitted that exceptions might have to be made in the event
of a major, international conflict when all trained manpower would need
to be available for use. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999, citing Ministry of Defence, 4 September 1998)
*The Minister of State
for the Armed Forces has stated that "soldiers will not be posted to any
area of armed conflict until they have reached a minimum age of 17 years
and 3 months". (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999, citing Minister of State for the Armed Forces,
3 November 1997)
*
The Government had assured, without giving proper evidence, that the type
of duties of under-18 recruits is determined according to their age and
that under-18s are less likely to take part in hostilities than over-18s.
(CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999, citing Report of the UK to the UN CRC, 23 March
1994)
NOTES
ON GOVERNMENT FORCES
*
The United Kingdom has persistently objected to raising the international
minimum age for voluntary recruitment and participation in hostilities
to 18. (CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001)
* Within Europe
the UK has the (equal) lowest minimum age for recruitment, the highest
recruitment of under-18s into the regular armed forces and the lowest
deployment age. (CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001)
* Deaths, injury
and ill-treatment of young recruits has been reported. While the
UK has signed the Optional Protocol, an 'interpretive declaration'
on deployment runs counter to its spirit and purpose. (CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001)
*
The Ministry of Defence announced a project aiming to recruit ex-offenders
who had been sentenced to a maximum of 2 years, and who were under 18 when
sentenced. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999)
* The recruitment of
minors in the armed forces has increased dramatically since 1996; the total
for 1998 was more than 12 times that for 1996. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999, citing Communication of the Permanent Mission
of the United Kingdom to the UN in Geneva, 19 October 1999)
* Some 40% of the total
current military personnel joined when they were just 16 or 17 years of
age. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999, citing Communication of the Permanent Mission
of the United Kingdom to the UN in Geneva, 19 October 1999)
*
The UK has the largest recruits of under-18s into the regular armed forces
.The United Kingdom is the only European country to send minors routinely
into battle. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999)
NOTES
FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS
* There were 51 British
peacekeepers under 18 years of age in the Balkans. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999, citing "Challenges of peace", The Guardian,
12 June 1999)
* Minors were used by
the UK armed forces in both the Falklands and the Gulf conflicts and in
1997, the Government admitted that children below 18 years were also serving
in Northern Ireland. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999, citing J. D. Gray, "The UK's appearance before
the Committee on the Rights of the Child", 27 April 1995)
* Over 200 British soldiers
under 18 years of age participated in the Gulf War. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999, citing UK Agenda for Children, Children's Rights
Development Unit, London)
* The UK had deployed
under-18s as peacekeepers in the conflict areas of the Former Yugoslavia.
There were 10 in 1993, 5 in 1994 and 14 in 1995. (CSUCS,
Europe Report October 1999, citing Ministry of Defence, 18 July 1995)
NOTES
ON OPPOSITION FORCES
* There have
been recent reports of under-18s being recruited by armed groups
and paramilitaries in Northern Ireland. (CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001)
|
| Domestic
Child Servants |
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
|
Other
Hazardous
Child Labour |
SPECIFIC SECTORS
* Street Children
- Research indicated that there are many thousands of street children.
(EFCW, Children Who Work in Europe, June 1998)
|
|
