Child Labour

An estimated 246 million children are engaged in child labour. Of those, almost three-quarters (171 milion) work in hazardous situations or conditions, such as working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or working with dangerous machinery. They are everywhere but invisible, toiling as domestic servants in homes, labouring behind the walls of workshops, hidden from view in plantations. Millions of girls work as domestic servants and unpaid household help and are especially vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Millions of others work under horrific circumstances. They may be trafficked (1.2 million), into debt bondage or other forms of slavery (507 million), into prostitution and pornography (1.8) million), into participating n armed conflict (0.3 million) or other illict activities (0.6 million). However, the vast majority of child labourers-70 percent or more- work in agriculture.