Children’s rights: National and international contexts
Critically analyse why some children are more vulnerable to exploitation
and its impact on their attainment of rights
According to The Oxford Dictionary (2014) exploitation is defined as the
action of treating someone unfairly or unequally in order to benefit from
them or their resources. This can be related to many large corporations
making use of the poverty stricken situations in developing countries to
gain unfair advantage for themselves. For example in India children are
exploited in order to make cheap exportable items but are made to work
long hours for very little pay (poverties.org 2013). This can also be
described as child labour, defined as the use of children within large
industries or businesses which is both illegal and considered inhumane
(The Oxford Dictionary 2014). In this essay I intend to critically analyse
why children in India are more vulnerable to exploitation and how it
impacts their lives and rights. I will do this by demonstrating the
development of child labour through history and analyse the use of
campaigns and legislation initiated to promote child protection, in specific
RugMark and charities that are protesting for change.
The UN Convention of Rights for Children, also known as the UN CRC or
CRC, is an international treaty that provides legislation to protect children
around the world under the age of 18, and is the most widely ratified
human rights document worldwide. It aims to give each individual child
the provision to their basic human rights and is a guideline on how the
state should serve and protect its children (UNCRC 2006). However,
UNICEF India (2014) estimates that In India there are still over 12 million
children being exploited in child labour and engaged in hazardous
occupations that put them at risk every day. Article 32 of the CRC defines
child labour as “any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with
the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical,
spiritual, moral or social development”. This means that child labour still
exists worldwide, despite the implementation of the UN CRC (2006).
1|Page
, UNICEF India (2014) states that India has the largest number of child
labourers over the world, due to a number of factors, and the most
common assumption being poverty. However in ‘Exploited child, a
national problem’ Kitchlu (1996) explains that there are many other
factors that enables the use of child in work in India, with family tradition
being at the top of the list. Other common reasons discovered when
interviewing families of child workers included; the parents not wanting
their children to become dependent on education; children being easier to
control and grow into a disciplined adult if they start work from a young
age; and the futility of schooling in view of the growing educated
unemployment rate (Kitchlu 1996). This suggests that the view of
childhood in India is very different to the UK as they still see their children
as units of economy whereas after the industrial revolution in the UK
children were given their own voices and freedom of choice due to the
declaration of Children’s Rights (1924). If parents in India had the same
belies as those in westernised countries, maybe they would be less likely
to send their children to work, let alone in the harsh conditions.
The Impact on child labour can have detrimental risks to a child’s health
and lives, however Reggero (2007) state within their report research on
the subject of health affects is limited and sometimes inconsistent.
Studies have shown that child labour can cause child mortality rates in
developing countries to be high due to disease and malnutrition within the
factories (Reggero et al 2007). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1971) is a
system used to display human’s psychological need and desires and the
order or priorities of them. Maslow (1971) emphasised that our needs
come in levels and in order to reach the higher ranks, first each of basic
human needs must be met (mind tools 2015). This model applies to
children in India living in poverty and being forced into child labour as it is
an example of how basic human needs and rights can go unmet. This
cycle of poverty and having to work to survive not only in dangers
individuals health, but also the communities in which it takes place. In
order for communities to grow and thrive, the basic human needs of its
2|Page
Critically analyse why some children are more vulnerable to exploitation
and its impact on their attainment of rights
According to The Oxford Dictionary (2014) exploitation is defined as the
action of treating someone unfairly or unequally in order to benefit from
them or their resources. This can be related to many large corporations
making use of the poverty stricken situations in developing countries to
gain unfair advantage for themselves. For example in India children are
exploited in order to make cheap exportable items but are made to work
long hours for very little pay (poverties.org 2013). This can also be
described as child labour, defined as the use of children within large
industries or businesses which is both illegal and considered inhumane
(The Oxford Dictionary 2014). In this essay I intend to critically analyse
why children in India are more vulnerable to exploitation and how it
impacts their lives and rights. I will do this by demonstrating the
development of child labour through history and analyse the use of
campaigns and legislation initiated to promote child protection, in specific
RugMark and charities that are protesting for change.
The UN Convention of Rights for Children, also known as the UN CRC or
CRC, is an international treaty that provides legislation to protect children
around the world under the age of 18, and is the most widely ratified
human rights document worldwide. It aims to give each individual child
the provision to their basic human rights and is a guideline on how the
state should serve and protect its children (UNCRC 2006). However,
UNICEF India (2014) estimates that In India there are still over 12 million
children being exploited in child labour and engaged in hazardous
occupations that put them at risk every day. Article 32 of the CRC defines
child labour as “any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with
the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical,
spiritual, moral or social development”. This means that child labour still
exists worldwide, despite the implementation of the UN CRC (2006).
1|Page
, UNICEF India (2014) states that India has the largest number of child
labourers over the world, due to a number of factors, and the most
common assumption being poverty. However in ‘Exploited child, a
national problem’ Kitchlu (1996) explains that there are many other
factors that enables the use of child in work in India, with family tradition
being at the top of the list. Other common reasons discovered when
interviewing families of child workers included; the parents not wanting
their children to become dependent on education; children being easier to
control and grow into a disciplined adult if they start work from a young
age; and the futility of schooling in view of the growing educated
unemployment rate (Kitchlu 1996). This suggests that the view of
childhood in India is very different to the UK as they still see their children
as units of economy whereas after the industrial revolution in the UK
children were given their own voices and freedom of choice due to the
declaration of Children’s Rights (1924). If parents in India had the same
belies as those in westernised countries, maybe they would be less likely
to send their children to work, let alone in the harsh conditions.
The Impact on child labour can have detrimental risks to a child’s health
and lives, however Reggero (2007) state within their report research on
the subject of health affects is limited and sometimes inconsistent.
Studies have shown that child labour can cause child mortality rates in
developing countries to be high due to disease and malnutrition within the
factories (Reggero et al 2007). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1971) is a
system used to display human’s psychological need and desires and the
order or priorities of them. Maslow (1971) emphasised that our needs
come in levels and in order to reach the higher ranks, first each of basic
human needs must be met (mind tools 2015). This model applies to
children in India living in poverty and being forced into child labour as it is
an example of how basic human needs and rights can go unmet. This
cycle of poverty and having to work to survive not only in dangers
individuals health, but also the communities in which it takes place. In
order for communities to grow and thrive, the basic human needs of its
2|Page
