Child Labor in Turkey

Anna Matenaer Josh Johnson

The Problem

• Turkey ranks 3rd in number hours children work each week• Females work an average of 30

hours per week•Males work an average of 25

each week

The Problem

• About 320,000 children are currently forced into work• Roughly a third are not

receiving an education•Nearly 30,000 have never been

enrolled into a school

The Problem

• Child labor occurs in Turkey because of:– Poverty/ Unemployment– Migration– Lack of sufficient work regulations

• The main form of work children are forced into is agricultural work, but they also work in manufacturing and trade

• The children usually work for no pay• There is no welfare system to protect them

The Problem

• The bad economy that causes poverty will not improve if the rate of child labor increases

• Because children are forced into labor, they will not receive proper education and knowledge on governmental systems

• None of the children forced into labor will be fit for positions in the government

The Reasons

• Often times the parents force their own children into labor

• They do this because they are poor and need to decrease costs

• The children will not see this as wrong because it is their own parents telling them what to do

• The parents prevent their children from opportunities in the future

Not Punished

• Often times child labor takes place on streets• Very obvious• Officials do not often recognize it/ it is often

excused• Example:• A father forced his son to work as a shoe shiner.

The father and the son both lied to the judge saying the school wouldn't the admit son. The judge bought it acquitted the situation.

The Stats

• A Child Labor Survey in 1999 states: there about 12,000,000 children between ages 6-14

• 4.2% of these children are economically active (504,000)

• 27.6% are involved in household related activities (3,312,000)

• Children under 10 years of age make up 14% of children in child labor

The Stats

• In 2006, data showed that nearly 1,000,000 children are working

• Among these children, 220,000 children between ages 6-13 are not registered for education

• 130,000 of the children are females, while 90,000 are males

The Stats

• Between 1994 and 2006, the percentage of children forced to work went from 8.5 percent down to 2.6 percent.

• The Ministry of Labor and Social Security plans on eliminating the significantly horrible forms of child slavery by 2015.

Organizations

• Many international organizations that try to help children being trafficked in Turkey

• Take action with other countries to bring it to a stop

• Young children are the easiest to exploit, so they are the main target of the organizations

Children in Turkey work on farms or on the streets to earn money.

ILO

• International Labor Organization• World’s largest technical cooperation program

of child labor• They work all over Europe and Asia• Minimum Age Convention– Ratified in 116 countries

• Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention– 117 countries

ILO Web Doc.

IPEC

• International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor

• One section dedicated to child labor in Turkey

• It started out as an awareness group, then later led into taking action

• Over 50,000 children helped since 1992– 60% put into schools– 40% have better working conditionsIPEC Webpage

St. Petersburg City Hall Officials visiting the Center for Working Children in Yalova, Turkey (IPEC)

IOM

• International Organization for Migration

• Launched a campaign to stop human trafficking across key nations

• Now a Turkey helpline for people being trafficked and for victims of trafficking

IOM

Promotion poster for the Turkish helpline

ILO (International Labor Organization)

• World’s largest technical cooperation program of child labor

• They work all over Europe and Asia• Minimum Age Convention– Ratified in 116 countries

• Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention– 117 countries

ILO Web Doc.

IPEC

• International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor

• One section dedicated to child labor in Turkey• It started out as an awareness group, then

later led into taking action• Over 50,000 children helped since 1992– 60% put into schools– 40% have better working conditions

IPEC Webpage

IOM

• International Organization for Migration• Launched a campaign to stop human

trafficking across key nations• Now a Turkey helpline for people being

trafficked and for victims of trafficking

IOM

Action Plan

• Government and Organizations Enforce Education

• Use more funds towards education• So children will be fit to take governmental

positions as they become adults • So child labor does not become the norm and

continue in the future

Action Plan

• Construct more laws against child labor• Create laws that provide assistance to those

who have been recently enslaved• To help them adjust to normal society• Create organizations that provide job training

and homes to those recently enslaved• Make the punishment worse for those who

enslave children

Action Plan

• Create awareness throughout Turkey about child slavery• Organization should not just create awareness in Turkey,

but also in other countries• Explain ways on how it can be prevented: - Create organizations that help traffickers gain a conscious

and to realize how wrong their actions are - Educate officials on how to recognize it- How to stop it- Inform the officials about the punishments for enslaving

children

Citation • "Child Labour in Turkey Exposes Growing Social Inequality." World Socialist Web Site. World

Socialist Website, 18 Aug. 2010. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/aug2010/turk-a18.shtml>.

• "Child Labor Persists in Turkey, Deepens Gender Divide." Turkish Politics in Action. International Labor Organization, 30 June 2009. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. http://turkishpoliticsinaction.blogspot.com/2009/06/child-labor-persists-in-turkey-deepens.html>.

• "Child Labour in Europe." Cornell University. Cornell University, 1 Jan. 2005. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/child/11/>.

• Google Images. Photograph. Turkey. Google. Beat The Brochure. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?q=turkey>.

• "ILO - IPEC Turkey." ILO - International Labour Organization. Burcu Bulgurcu, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://ilo-mirror.library.cornell.edu/public/english/region/eurpro/ankara/programme/ipec.htm>.

• "IOM International Organization for Migration ." IOM International Organization for Migration . IOM, 1 June 2005. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://www.turkey.iom.int/Press_Release_1june_2005.pdf >.

• IOM Turkey. 157- Helpline Promotion. N.d. IOM Turkey - Media Room, Turkey. IOM Turkey. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.

• IPEC. "City Hall Officials Visit Children." 2004. GIF file.

Citation• Photograph. Turkey. Travel to Turkey. TravelTourist. Web. 10 Oct. 2011.

<http://www.traveltourist.net/travel-to-turkey.html>.• Photograph. Turkey. Child Labor Photographs. David L. Parker. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.

<http://childlaborphotographs.com/cgi-bin/ewf/btt/scripts/ewf_processor_btt.cgi?page=gallery_child_labor_image_026.src>.

• Photograph. Today's Zaman. By Ayse Carabat. 30 Apr. 2009. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=173904>.

• Photograph. Turkey. Hurriyet Daily News. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?q=education+turkey&um=1&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=737&tbm=isch&tbnid=oSk9Fq6ZuaKKBM:&imgrefurl=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php%3Fn%3Dinequality-of-opportunity-grows-in-turkey8217s-educational-system-2010-09-19&docid=E-b7rBXSR5-7BM&imgurl=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/images/2010_09_19/inequality-of-opportunity-grows-in-turkey8217s-educational-system-2010-09-19_l.jpg&w=414&h=241&ei=vzqnToqAEKXZiALt-6DXDQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=359&sig=113217786803114893469&page=2&tbnh=122&tbnw=209&start=25&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:25&tx=131&ty=118>.

Citation

• Unknown. Child Labor in Turkey. N.d. Child labor likely to increase in Turkey despite government’s best efforts, Turkey. Child labor likely to increase in Turkey despite government’s best efforts. Web. 11 Oct. 1925.

• "Report on the Worst Forms of Child Labor." Global March Against Child Labor. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://www.globalmarch.org/resourcecentre/world/turkey.pdf>.

• Sponsors, Visiting Our. "Child Labor in Turkey; Court Finally Does Something » Right Across the Atlantic." Right Across the Atlantic. Right Across The Atlantic, 27 June 2008. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://www.theatlanticright.com/2008/06/27/child-labor-in-turkey-court-finally-does-something/>.