Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Brazil (Ratification: 2000)

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee previously requested the Government to intensify its efforts to combat the trafficking of children for labour and sexual exploitation.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that in 2013, it launched the Second National Plan to Combat Trafficking of Persons (NAP 2013–16) which aims to prevent and control trafficking in persons as well as to provide protection and support to victims of trafficking. It also notes from the ILO–IPEC report on the project “Combating worst forms of child labour and promotion of horizontal cooperation in selected countries of South America” of September 2013 (ILO–IPEC Report, 2013) that within the framework of this project, the State of Mato Grosso approved a State Plan on Trafficking of Persons which includes action plans for combating the trafficking of children, especially girls, for sexual exploitation and the trafficking of children for forced labour including domestic work.

The Committee further notes the information from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) that in May 2013, the Ministry of Justice and the UNODC launched the Blue Heart Campaign against trafficking in persons in Brazil. Information from the UNODC further indicates that this campaign aims to mobilize society to denounce human trafficking via hotlines established in key regions. Moreover, according to a report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the IOM Regional Office for South America in cooperation with IOM Washington and the US Consulate General in Recife, organized a victim assistance anti-trafficking training at the Pernambuco State Police Academy in Recife. This training was aimed at enhancing the capacity to identify and assist trafficking victims by providing technical assistance to the State Centre for Combating Trafficking in Persons as well as other key counter-trafficking partners including service providers, police and prosecutors. Noting the measures taken by the Government within the framework of the NAP 2013 and the State Plan on Trafficking of Persons of Mato Grosso, the Committee requests it to indicate how many child victims of trafficking have benefited from such measures. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the anti-trafficking training provided to the Pernambuco State Police, service providers and prosecutors with regard to the number of cases of child victims of trafficking identified and the number of children removed from this worst form of child labour and provided assistance.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Child domestic workers. The Committee previously noted that the List of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (Decree No. 6481 of 12 June 2008) included child domestic work as one of the types of activities prohibited to any person under 18 years of age. It also noted that, under section 6 of the Normative Instruction 77/2009 of the Secretariat of Labour Inspection (SIT), the inspectorate combats child domestic work by advising the general public in the course of their duties and forwarding complaints to the competent authorities, in addition to awareness-raising measures. However, noting that a significant number of children are engaged in domestic work, the Committee urged the Government to pursue its efforts to ensure that persons under 18 are not involved in this prohibited type of work, and to provide information on the impact of the specific measures taken in this regard.

The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain information on any specific measures taken or envisaged to prevent children under the age of 18 years from engaging in domestic work. In this regard, the Committee notes from the ILO–IPEC publication entitled Ending child labour in domestic work and protecting young workers from abusive working conditions, 2013, that according to the 2011 Brazilian household survey, more than 250,000 children are involved in domestic work in third-party households, including 67,000 children in the 10–14 age group and 190,000 children aged 15–17 years. The Committee expresses its concern at the significant number of children engaged in domestic work which is prohibited for young persons under 18 in Brazil. The Committee, therefore, urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that persons under the age of 18 years are not involved in domestic work, in conformity with Decree No. 6481 of 2008. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved in terms of the number of child domestic workers under 18 years who have been removed from this type of work and rehabilitated.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.