Following the Law?

"Find a piece of data that relates to the policy issue you are studying. What type of story does it tell? How can the data be used to tell a story that promotes your view of the ideal policy outcome?"

The United States Department of Labor publishes the Department of Laborers findings on child labor each year. The report provides extensive information on a country's incidents, statistics, and minimal age for employment. Having recently attended the Global Forum on Human Trafficking, I learned conditions. Modern day abolitionists are currently working toward the end of this awful activity.about the child labor conditions in Uzbekistan. At the Global Forum, we were told of how children are taken out of school each year to work in cotton fields and being subjected to poor living conditions.

Here is some data on Uzbekistan from the United States Department of Labor's findings for 2008:


'Incidence and Nature of Child Labor
Numerous credible sources report the widespread, compulsory mobilization of children in Uzbekistan to work during the annual cotton harvest. There are no reliable figures on the number of children involved in the cotton harvest, which is thought to vary considerably by region and year and is a practice that dates from the early Soviet period. During past harvests, schools closed for months in some rural regions to allow children to pick cotton. There have been reports indicating that some children have had to endure poor living conditions during the harvest. While most children involved in the cotton harvest are older than 15 years and the vast majority are over 11 years, children as young as 9 years were seen picking cotton in 2008. Some children from Uzbekistan migrate to Kazakhstan with their families during the harvest season to work in the cotton industry.
Children in Uzbekistan also work in street vending, services, construction, building material manufacturing, and transportation. In urban areas, children as young as 7 or 8 years routinely work in family businesses during school holidays. There are also reports that children grow silkworm cocoons in rural areas.
There are reports that girls are engaged in forced prostitution in Uzbekistan. In the first 9 months of 2008, Uzbek girls were trafficked internally as well as to the United Arab Emirates, India, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey. Boys were trafficked to Kazakhstan and Russia.
Child Labor Laws and Enforcement
The law sets the minimum age for employment at 16 years, provided it does not interfere with the children’s studies. At 14 years, children may work part time up to 24 hours per week, with parental permission when school is not in session and 12 hours per week when school is in session. Children 16 to 18 years may work up to 36 hours per week while school is not in session and 18 hours per week when school is in session. Children must receive an annual medical examination at their employer’s expense to be eligible for work. A Government decree bans children from working in unhealthy conditions, and specifically lists manual harvesting of cotton as having unhealthy conditions for children
The law prohibits forced labor, except when fulfilling a court sentence or as specified by law. The law prohibits attaining profit from promoting prostitution, and though it does not specifically reference child prostitution, “inducing a minor to commit a crime” carries penalties of imprisonment for 5 to 10 years. The law prohibits trafficking of minors with penalties of 8 to 12 years’ imprisonment.
The minimum age for military recruitment is 18 years.
The prosecutor general and the Ministry of Interior’s criminal investigators are responsible for the enforcement of child labor laws. USDOS reports that while enforcement appears effective in deterring child labor in the formal sector, it is not effective at regulating children’s work in family-based employment. However, in 2008, it initially appears that authorities have made “a concerted effort” to prevent students from being mobilized for the cotton harvest.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Anti-Trafficking in Persons Unit and the Prosecutor’s Office have investigated numerous trafficking-related crimes. The more than 600 investigations of individuals for trafficking crimes in 2008 resulted in almost 400 prosecutions, and 65 of the 2,941 trafficking victims were minors. Uzbekistan has assigned 272 police officers to work on trafficking in persons’ issues, 118 of whom work on the issue exclusively. According to USDOS, there were unconfirmed reports of Government officials involved in trafficking-related bribery and fraud.'
(http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/PDF/2008OCFTreport.pdf)

Outlined is the incidence and nature of child labor as well as child labor laws and enforcement in Uzbekistan. In this we see that the minimum age for employment is 16 years old, the work shouldn't interfere with school, and working conditions should be healthy; however, there is also a clause that states "except when fulfilling a court sentence or as specified by law" (273). This clause enables the government to force children as young as 9 years old into working the cotton fields-- even though the government listed it as having unhealthy working conditions-- as well as living in unhealthy conditions and being taken out of school. How could a government force children into doing exactly what it said was illegal? This supports the idea that the government of Uzbekistan is corrupt in that it holds a different standard for its citizens while it does as it sees fit. The government provides no specific reason for having children work the cotton fields, and that proposes the question as to why they would force children to work the fields rather than employ adults.
The most likely reason is that, by forcing children to pick cotton, Uzbekistan is able to provide cotton at a very low price which attracts consumers of other countries including the United States. Yes, it is true; not only are there children in sweat shops, but rather, there are children doing all forms of labor from picking cotton and working in mines to working as domestic servants and workers in sweat shops. This is just one example of the incidents of child labor happening everyday, around the world. Child laborers are [typically] subjected to long hours, poor working conditions, and lack of education. This also shows how governments often establish fair policies, but are often corrupt or lack necessary enforcement. It is essential that governments hold officials and politicians to the same standards as all citizens, and governments need to develop stronger methods of enforcement.