There exists a real concern about the exploitation of children in The Bahamas, according to Labour Minister Vincent Peet, who announced on Tuesday that a special unit has been asked to investigate this matter.
The Minister again pointed to the exploitation of children at such establishments as supermarkets.
While opening the National Seminar on Child Labour and Hazardous Occupations at the Nassau Beach Hotel, he said it is commonly perceived that child labour is non-existent in the Bahamas.
But he indicated that this is not the case.
The Minister also released the findings of a survey of 157 persons conducted in 2002 by Dr. Leith L. Dunn, a consultant with the ILO Caribbean Office.
Minister Peet said that the 2002 statistics are considered current and that in 2005 the situation is pretty much the same, as far as authorities are concerned.
Of the 157 persons consulted, 46 or 29 percent of them were children and young people under 18 years, according to the Minister.
The survey revealed that there were 52 reports of children who were involved in the worst forms of child labour in the country.
Four were said to be related to slavery/bondage or the sexual exploitation of children through incestuous relationships; nine cases were related to illicit or unlawful activities; four to hazardous activities; and 35 to commercial sexual activities or prostitution.
Minister Peet assured that his Ministry is working aggressively to address the problem of children being forced into labour.
“Having gotten that report, we then put the Department of Labourﾴs Inspectorate Unit on the job and they have been meeting with supervisors of supermarkets, store owners and other areas where there could be exploitation,” Minister Peet said.
“This was done to sensitize folks, give them warnings, and to reduce the numbers. We are in fact on top of the situation. I think that the Bahamian public do not know however that there is a serious problem.”
The study indicated that the general economic activity undertaken by boys and girls ages seven to 17 were done during summer vacation, after school or on the weekends.
These young people were mainly involved in such services as dishwashers for restaurants, some until the early morning hours, horse and carriage operators, supermarket assistants, gas station attendants, and car washers.
Children were said to be involved in the sale of food, newspapers and crafts as well as activities such as tire repairs, roof repairs and construction, employment in family businesses such as craw fishing, cleaning and selling lunch and cutting and selling sea sponge.
“Many of these activities were legitimate, but the conditions under which the children and young persons worked made them susceptible to child labour,” Minister Peet said.
However, critics of such reports have pointed out that for many decades in The Bahamas it has been acceptable to Bahamians everywhere for children to be engaged in certain job-related tasks.
They pointed out that packing boys are just that ﾖ boys. These boys, in some cases, were able to save and it encouraged entrepreneurship and young people were able to pay their school fees and have money for educational-related expenses over the years, one critic pointed out.
Some believe these international reports make non-sense of the Bahamian situation. This summer, for instance, parents are looking for avenues, not for their children to make money in particular, but for their children to be occupied in some meaningful activity, one observer noted.
The study also revealed that young girls worked predominantly in the Straw Market, as assistants in clothing stores, and were mainly involved in commercial sexual activities or prostitution.
Leslie Bowrin, project manager for the International Labour Organizationﾴs Regional Child Labour Project, indicated that the exploitation of child labour in the Caribbean is fueled by a number of factors.
“The preparation of a well trained and prepared labour force must redress the increasing marginalization of many of the regionﾴs youth,” Mr. Browin said.
“As a result of high rates of HIV/AIDS infection, poverty that encourages premature entry into the labour force, limited job growth, which is not necessarily the situation in the Bahamas, rising incidences of youth involvement in violent and illicit activity, many young people in the Caribbean face very bleak futures.
“In fact, the Caribbean society must pay very close attention to the depletion of this vital resource and implement urgent policies and programmes to arrest this threat to its future work force.”
Minister Peet explained that the ministry has taken action to improve the situation of children in The Bahamas by ratifying ILO convention 138 which prohibits work that impedes a childﾴs education; convention 182, which defines the worst forms of child labour; convention 10 sets a minimum age for work in agriculture, and convention 105 on the abolition of forced labour.
Minister Peet pointed out that the government has also ratified the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Perez Clarke, The Bahama Journal
