PUERTO VALLARTA – Mexico continues to grapple with the grim reality of child labor, with girls, boys, and adolescents being subjected to its most severe forms, such as sexual exploitation and involvement in drug production and trafficking. Despite the efforts to curb this menace, a recent report by the United States government suggests that only “moderate progress” has been made by the Mexican authorities.
The Report on Child Labor and Forced Labor released by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) indicates a troubling figure of approximately 866,300 children and adolescents engaged in perilous activities like domestic work, endangering their lives and integrity.
The U.S. government’s report also highlighted the role of organized criminal groups prevalent in Mexico’s rural areas. These nefarious entities actively recruit minors for roles such as vigilantes, participation in armed assaults against authorities and rival factions, and involvement in the production, transportation, and sale of illicit drugs.
One of the more harrowing findings of the report is the involvement of family members or acquaintances in child trafficking, sometimes handing over the minors to criminal organizations.
Apart from the local populace, migrant children from nations like El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti are trapped in human trafficking, forced recruitment by organized crime groups, and other severe forms of child labor and violence.
This week, the DOL showcased its global child labor report in Washington, covering the labor situation across 119 independent countries and 15 non-independent territories. The focus on Mexico revealed substantial deficiencies within its social, labor, and justice institutions. A notable issue is the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS), which lacks an internal system to monitor child labor violations.
Moreover, the report criticized the scant surveillance and poor prosecution of related crimes, mentioning that the 529 federal labor inspectors are grossly inadequate for overseeing the welfare of over 57 million workers in the country. The concerned agencies also lack the human and financial resources to enforce the law effectively.
Though the federal government augmented the budget for the Benito Juárez Wellbeing Scholarships, extending its scope to an additional 1.2 million beneficiaries over the year, the U.S. report maintains that social programs aimed at preventing and eliminating child labor remain insufficient.
The latest National Child Labor Survey (ENTI) from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) in Mexico reveals a staggering 3.2 million children and adolescents are employed across various sectors, with over 2 million engaged in activities deemed illegal for their age.
Unlike the global trend of the agricultural sector being the predominant exploiter of child labor, in Mexico, 54% of the high-risk child labor occurs in the service sector. Here, most children are found working on the streets, selling products, shining shoes, begging, or working in auto repair shops and bars. The agricultural sector employs just over 30% of the child and adolescent workforce, engaging them in various activities ranging from cultivating different crops to livestock farming and shrimp packaging. The industrial sector absorbs the remaining 16%, where children are found in manufacturing, construction, and mining, among others.
The investigation conducted throughout 2022 resulted in five ratings granted by the DOL based on the efforts made by countries to combat child labor. Only four out of 131 countries achieved the highest rating of significant progress, namely Argentina, Colombia, Ivory Coast, and Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, Mexico was categorized under the moderate advance group alongside 68 other nations.
The report recommends the Mexican government elevate the minimum working age from 15 to 18 years, aligning it with the age of compulsory education. Ironically, in 2022, Congress lowered the minimum age for agricultural work to 15 years at the behest of the farming industry. The U.S. report also calls for an increment in labor inspectors from 529 to 3,835 to ensure thorough oversight of the workforce, coupled with specialized training on child labor protocols to combat this pressing issue effectively.
PUERTO VALLARTA - Mexico continues to grapple with the grim reality of child labor, with girls, boys, and adolescents being subjected to its most severe . . .
