Twelve Child domestic labour: fostering in transition?
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Evelyn Omoike
Abstract
This chapter examines one aspect of child trafficking: fostering. It considers the practice of fostering in the West African context, and the extent to which fostering overlaps with the phenomenon of child domestic work, which is very extensive in many cities of West Africa. The chapter argues that current child-labour policies and interventions, which focus primarily on the nature of the work those children undertake, fail to properly take into account the nature of domestic work. This work, often undertaken under the guise of ‘fosterage’, frequently but not necessarily through kinship networks, is a common cultural phenomenon. Failure to understand how this operates and overlaps with child domestic work more generally reinforces the exclusion and exploitation faced by African child domestic workers. Traffickers can take advantage of this system to place children in exploitative situations, for example. Because children then lack supportive networks, they can be open to horrific abuse. Unlike most other forms of child slavery, there is yet no convention explicitly targeted towards child domestic labour.
Abstract
This chapter examines one aspect of child trafficking: fostering. It considers the practice of fostering in the West African context, and the extent to which fostering overlaps with the phenomenon of child domestic work, which is very extensive in many cities of West Africa. The chapter argues that current child-labour policies and interventions, which focus primarily on the nature of the work those children undertake, fail to properly take into account the nature of domestic work. This work, often undertaken under the guise of ‘fosterage’, frequently but not necessarily through kinship networks, is a common cultural phenomenon. Failure to understand how this operates and overlaps with child domestic work more generally reinforces the exclusion and exploitation faced by African child domestic workers. Traffickers can take advantage of this system to place children in exploitative situations, for example. Because children then lack supportive networks, they can be open to horrific abuse. Unlike most other forms of child slavery, there is yet no convention explicitly targeted towards child domestic labour.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Acknowledgements and dedication vii
- Notes on contributors viii
- List of abbreviations xiii
- List of boxes, figures, tables and photos xv
- Introduction: Child slavery worldwide 1
-
Strategic overviews
- Child slavery today 21
- Constructing the international legal framework 43
- Just out of reach: the challenges of ending the worst forms of child labour 61
- Child domestic labour: a global concern 81
- Child trafficking: a modern form of slavery 99
- Clarity and consistency in understanding child exploitation: a UK perspective 117
- A human rights approach to preventing child sex trafficking 133
- Child rights, culture and exploitation: UK experiences of child trafficking 145
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Themes, issues and case studies
- Preventing child trafficking in India: the role of education 163
- Birth registration: a tool for prevention, protection and prosecution 175
- ‘Bienvenue chez les grands!’: young migrant cigarette vendors in Marseille 189
- Child domestic labour: fostering in transition? 203
- Extreme forms of child labour in Turkey 215
- Haliya and kamaiya bonded child labourers in Nepal 227
- Sex trafficking in Nepal 243
- The role of the arts in resisting recruitment as child soldiers and ‘wives’: experience from Uganda and Nepal 257
- International adoption and child trafficking in Ecuador 271
- Child slavery in South and South East Asia 285
- Routes to child slavery in Central America 297
- Resources 307
- The end of child slavery? 317
- Index 327
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Acknowledgements and dedication vii
- Notes on contributors viii
- List of abbreviations xiii
- List of boxes, figures, tables and photos xv
- Introduction: Child slavery worldwide 1
-
Strategic overviews
- Child slavery today 21
- Constructing the international legal framework 43
- Just out of reach: the challenges of ending the worst forms of child labour 61
- Child domestic labour: a global concern 81
- Child trafficking: a modern form of slavery 99
- Clarity and consistency in understanding child exploitation: a UK perspective 117
- A human rights approach to preventing child sex trafficking 133
- Child rights, culture and exploitation: UK experiences of child trafficking 145
-
Themes, issues and case studies
- Preventing child trafficking in India: the role of education 163
- Birth registration: a tool for prevention, protection and prosecution 175
- ‘Bienvenue chez les grands!’: young migrant cigarette vendors in Marseille 189
- Child domestic labour: fostering in transition? 203
- Extreme forms of child labour in Turkey 215
- Haliya and kamaiya bonded child labourers in Nepal 227
- Sex trafficking in Nepal 243
- The role of the arts in resisting recruitment as child soldiers and ‘wives’: experience from Uganda and Nepal 257
- International adoption and child trafficking in Ecuador 271
- Child slavery in South and South East Asia 285
- Routes to child slavery in Central America 297
- Resources 307
- The end of child slavery? 317
- Index 327
