MODERN DAY SLAVERY: India’s Bonded Children: Labor for Debt The topic of child labor is one that causes discomfort and is a subject rarely discussed in general conversation. However, child labor, oftentimes for the relief of parental debt, is a common occurrence in many areas of the world, where traditional practices and myths remain prevalent. In India, for example, Human Rights Watch reports anywhere from 60 to 115 million children are involved in child labor, and fifteen million are virtual slaves; bonded for debts owed by others, usually a parent or guardian (Tucker). As we examine this phenomenon in India, a view of historical mores and social structures is in order and we need to ask ourselves this question? Can we somehow influence the parents in modern India to abolish this practice by offering education concerning the development of children, both physically and emotionally, and convince them that this practice is detrimental?
Many of the reasons for putting small children to work are tied to Indian culture. A Human Rights Watch Report, “The Small Hands of Slavery: Bonded Child Labor In India,” discusses myths that have existed since colonial times and in turn, perpetuate child labor, justifying it on the grounds that the “system "benefits" everyone involved: the country, the community, the family, the craft and the child” (Human Rights Watch).
One of these beliefs is that children have “nimble fingers,” and are therefore better suited at doing some of the most difficult and most dangerous industrial work available, including carpet making, working with silk, and in the silver industry, making intricate silver jewelry and other items.
There is also the belief that children must be trained at the right age or they will never learn a skill and also, that children must be trained in a profession appropriate to their background and class, leaving the lower caste members the dirty work, as it were. As an economic necessity, children’s work is considered a fundamental part of family life. However, we are talking about children being given to, what would be considered a community “loan shark,” to work in exchange for a loan, often given to the parents of a child.
According to the Human Rights Watch site,
“Slavery in India dates back at least 1,500 years. Various forms of debt bondage coexisted with formal slavery, and while the British abolished slavery legislatively through the Anti-Slavery Act of 1843, large numbers of former slaves traded their status for that of perpetually bonded servitude. This was in part due to the fact that the British did not abolish debt-bondage; instead they regulated it. The Workman's Breach of Contract Act, 1859 (13 of 1859) enforced the obligation to provide labor in lieu of an advance, and Section 200 of the Civil Procedure Code, also enacted in 1859, allowed landlords and moneylenders to seize the property of bonded laborers and provided for imprisonment of bonded laborers who did not honor their obligations when they received advances. The Workman's Breach of Contract Act was repealed in 1925, and Section 200 of the Civil Procedure Code was amended in 1879 to remove punishments for bonded laborers” (Human Rights Watch).
Human Rights Watch in its report states the following as the reasoning for the practice, “Bondage is a traditional worker-employer relationship in India, and the parents need the money-perhaps to pay for the costs of an illness, perhaps to provide a dowry to a marrying child, or perhaps-as is often the case-to help put food on the table” (Human Rights Watch).
And, the site goes on to state, “The arrangements between parents and contracting agents are usually informal and unwritten. The number of years required to pay off such a loan is indeterminate. Many of the children interviewed by Human Rights Watch had already been working for several years, and even among those relatively new to their jobs, none said that they expected to be released prior to maturity. Some intended to walk away from their bondage when they married, leaving a younger sibling to take over the labor-payment or a parent to somehow extinguish the debt-perhaps by a new loan from a different creditor-employer” (Human Rights Watch).
It is obvious that this type of practice is entrenched in India, and only by educating, not only children, ( as this seems to be a common recommendation by NGO’s and the UN), but also their parents regarding choices, can we hope to see a decline in bonded labor.
Debt bondage is considered a traditional standard, and often poor and lower caste members are the recipients, while upper caste and wealthy are the ones are considered the “moneylenders.” Payment is through the use of debtors’ children as payment, often with interest rates as high as 1200%. This causes the child to never be paid up, and in essence, the child is now owned by the creditor/employer. Oftentimes, the employer will take on another, younger sibling, to continue to pay for the debt with their labor, too, and once these interest rates, and other costs (food, shelter, clothing, and on a rare occasion, medicine), are added to the standing debt, the child is almost a slave for life.
Despite the cultural traditions that make child labor a part of Indian society, bonded labor, in particular, has its own pitfalls. Children are often made to work long hours, under extremely harsh conditions, and injuries are prevalent. Since working conditions in developing nations are far worse than in industrialized nations, health problems are more dangerous for children because they are more susceptible than adults to illnesses and injuries.
Photographer Dr. David Parker states that, “children develop dust-related lung diseases, from arduous work in brick factories and stone quarries, more rapidly that do adults. Child carpet weavers suffer from the development of degenerative joint disease by the age of twelve; other children contract unknown illnesses from working inside chemical-filled leather tanning drums” (Parker). Hearing loss also occurs due to the high, whirring noises of metallurgy factories. Burns are frequent and oftentimes, children do not get the medical attention they require.
While we Westerners may not understand the significance of child labor in India, it is worthy to note the following from the report, “According to a vast and deeply entrenched set of myths, bonded labor and child labor in India are inevitable. They are caused by poverty. They represent the natural order of things, and it is not possible to change them by force; they must evolve slowly toward eradication.”
Eradication of bonded child labor is being attempted by changes in attitude towards children; laws, which up until recently, have been passed, but not enforced. An international attitude of ensuring the care and nurturing of the world’s children as a priority is being aided through the efforts of organizations like the United Nations Children’s Fund, or UNICEF, and other NGO organizations such as the Global Fund for Children. These organizations attempt to expose the problem, offer suggestions to the Indian government for change, determine what Multinational Corporations or MNC’s are involved, and keep the issue in the forefront.
Perhaps through the education of children, education of parents regarding the choices to be made knowing that children’s health is affected, international consumer awareness, and enforcement of current laws and regulations, India will someday see a decline in the practice of bonded child labor, but until this happens, many children will continue to suffer daily, as they are used to make inexpensive goods for the world.
Bibliography
Basu, S. Sisters of Color International. "Macroeconomic Policies: Effects on
Women's Lives in India." 1999.
<http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~womenstd/SOCI/macro.html> (8 Jan 06).
Children’s Rights. Child Labor. <http://www.hrw.org/children/labor.htm> (9 Jan 06)
Human Rights Watch. "Small Change." January 2003. Publication Vol.15, No. 2
<http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/india/index.htm> (8 Jan 06).
Parker, D. Stolen Dreams: Gallery of Harvard School of Public Health.
< http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/gallery/intro.html> (23 January 06).
“Slavery in India dates back at least 1,500 years. Various forms of debt bondage coexisted with formal slavery, and while the British abolished slavery legislatively through the Anti-Slavery Act of 1843, large numbers of former slaves traded their status for that of perpetually bonded servitude. This was in part due to the fact that the British did not abolish debt-bondage; instead they regulated it. The Workman's Breach of Contract Act, 1859 (13 of 1859) enforced the obligation to provide labor in lieu of an advance, and Section 200 of the Civil Procedure Code, also enacted in 1859, allowed landlords and moneylenders to seize the property of bonded laborers and provided for imprisonment of bonded laborers who did not honor their obligations when they received advances. The Workman's Breach of Contract Act was repealed in 1925, and Section 200 of the Civil Procedure Code was amended in 1879 to remove punishments for bonded laborers” (Human Rights Watch).