Asylums of Exploitation

Abstract

Executive Summary: In resource poor countries such as Nepal, child labor cannot be totally eliminated. How-ever, the severity of exploitation of children in labor situations can be reduced through political commitment and conscious efforts by the government to regulate the norms and conditions of employment of children in the formal and non-formal sectors. Children internally displaced by the conflict require special attention in this respect. These children have been separated from their homes, families and schooling, and forced to seek refuge in difficult urban environments. Children’s entry into the urban labor force is for many the only alternative to the risks of remaining in areas of conflict and as a consequence, they become highly susceptible to exploitation. It is evident from the study that rural internally displaced children in urban labor situations are subject to severe exploitation in the form of heavy workloads, lack of remuneration and denial of basic needs. These exploitative conditions encourage children to leave their jobs, and many boys, after attempting to survive in urban Nepal, have migrated to India. Girls, however, have fewer options than boys and many must work to support their families. Hence, most girl children are compelled to live and continue working in their present circumstances. For many IDP working children, labor abuse is complemented by social discrimination, and many children in the study felt they were mistreated be-cause of their rural origins, poverty and current status as displaced persons. This dis-crimination has given rise to the incidents of physical abuse, psychological abuse and sexual exploitation of laboring children that have been documented in the present study.