Crisis hits hard for child workers, street children

Crisis hits hard for child workers, street children

The following article by Popon Anarita Okol is published in
conjunction with National Children's Day, which falls today.

BANDUNG (JP): Now a year old, the economic crisis has crumbled
Indonesia's economic pillars. In its trail, the crisis creates an
increasing number of poor in urban and rural areas due to
widespread unemployment and sharp price hikes.

Attention has been paid to diverse problems resulting from the
crisis but child workers and street children, familiarly called
"marginal" children, are often forgotten. Marginalized by the
process of development, they emerge from and form part of the
poverty both in urban and rural areas.

Poverty inevitably means fewer children going to school. The
National Planning and Development Board (Bappenas) has predicted
the number of dropouts will escalate due to the crisis, from 2.8
million to 8 million per year. The Ministry of Culture and
Education recently announced the number of children between 12
and 15 years of age attending junior high schools had drastically
declined, from 78 percent to 58 percent (Kompas, June 1998).

This sets the stage for the great possibility of school-age
children who are compelled to work to help their families. In the
long run, it will be a loss to our future human resources.

In several villages in Majalaya, Bandung regency, there are
many child workers who have worked less than one year in small
food and garment industries. The majority are elementary school
graduates who cannot continue their studies because their parents
cannot afford school fees. In the tourist area of Pangandaran,
many children of grade-school age sell kumang (a fast-running
insect) to child visitors during their school holidays. Their
daily income averages from Rp 5,000 to Rp 10,000 (Pikiran Rakyat,
July 15, 1998).

In big cities, there are more children on the streets. Bandung
intersections are bound to have at least five children aged
between six years and 10 years who are begging, selling
newspapers, carrying collection boxes for charity or singing.
They compete with adult counterparts.

In Ujungpandang (Kompas, July 9, 1998), the number of pedicab
drivers aged between eight years and 12 years is on the rise.
Some of them do not attend school anymore, and others work during
school breaks.

The crisis leads to development of several problems related to
child workers or compounds those which already exist. The
children usually work because of economic reasons as consumer
purchasing power has declined while prices have skyrocketed.

Children consume less in diets which are often already
nutritionally deficient. This will impact their health because
malnourishment affects physical and mental growth. Drug prices
are higher now, which means they have less access to medicine.
Many child laborers, and particularly street workers, lead
unhealthy life styles, often smoking and not getting enough
sleep.

Educational opportunities are slashed. Their average level of
education is elementary school, but many others did not even
reach this level. Most have no option but to work to support
their families, or to meet their own needs.

A crisis brings the greater likelihood of exploitation. Wages
below the minimum required, long working days from morning until
evening without designated time for rest and no additional
allowances still mark their working conditions.

Wages of a child worker in a garment or food factory in
Majalaya average between Rp 10,000 and Rp 15,000 per six-day
week; usually the children work from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. In one
month, they earn Rp 40,000 to Rp 60,000 for 240 hours of work. It
is far below the minimum wage requirement which, despite a 15
percent increase, is still distant from fulfilling the minimum
cost of living for an adult. According to a survey last month on
staple food and basic needs conducted by AKATIGA, the living cost
of a single adult has increased to about Rp 500,000 per month.

Unfortunately, there are businesspeople who consider child
labor, and the lower costs entailed, a viable substitute for
adult workers during the crisis. Of course, they can use the
excuse that employing child workers is beneficial in helping the
children's families.

Prostitution

Street children, particularly girls, are often forced in
prostitution. Child prostitution is one of the most intolerable
forms of child exploitation (along with the exploitation of
children employed at fish stations on North Sumatra's east
coast). Sexual exploitation of children is a clear manifestation
of adult subjugation of minors and their rights.

The problem will likely become an even bigger challenge for
the country, according to scholar Irwanto from Atmajaya
University in a paper presented at a recent seminar on child
prostitution and tourist industry in Yogyakarta. Even in the
crisis, tourism remains a major foreign exchange earner, and
there is the possibility commercial sexual exploitation of
children may grow.

Children are targets because of the persistent, nefarious myth
that sexual relations with children can enhance virility and
youthfulness. Also, children are less likely to be infected with
sexually transmitted diseases, hence the preference for young
"virgins".

Our neighbors of Thailand and the Philippines have already
implemented strict sanctions against pedophiles, measures which
this country would do well to take into account in anticipating
an increase in sex tourists seeking new areas to explore.

Many young girls on the street are from broken homes and are
thus more susceptible to sexual exploitation, by customers,
officials who catch them on the streets and demand sexual
services before releasing them and other street children.

Children's ignorance about using protective measures against
sexually transmitted diseases leads to the great possibility of
huge increases in Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS),
already experienced by Thailand and the Philippines.

What to do

What can we do for child workers and street children in this
time of crisis?

The first step is to try to understand that a child has
economic rights, and the right to work.

On policy issues, we can push the government to immediately
take concrete steps that are supportive of the spirit of "in the
best interest of the child". For example, exactly a year ago, at
the height of National Children's Day, former president Soeharto
heralded the National Movement for Child Protection (GNPA). It
was followed by the issuance of Decree No. 81/1997 on the
establishment of the Institute for Child Protection by the
Minister of Social Affairs at the end of 1997, with Unicef as its
sponsor.

However, the movement has weakened and the establishment of
the institute did not occur. Making it a priority would be a
concrete effort by the government to help out the children.

Several programs underway in the context of the social safety
net policy should be able to catch marginal children. For
example, Gerakan Aku Anak Sekolah, a campaign to support the
program of nine years of compulsory education, should not forget
their existence. It is necessary to make an alternative education
program for child workers and street children who must use most
of their time to work.

The program should not focus solely on the field of education
but also on child welfare in general such as health, both
physical and mental, to support their growth, and social and
economic protection in the sense of freedom from different types
of exploitation, a right of all child workers and street
children.

In handling the problem of child prostitution, the aspect of
demand is rarely questioned, such as the panderers, customers and
family members who support the prostitution of the child. The
moral aspect is important in handling the problem. Efforts to
instill moral awareness in the society are our joint
responsibility to stop its continuance in the future.

It now time for non-governmental organizations active in
assisting child workers and street children to hold dialogs,
consolidate their strength and take concrete steps together to
overcome the problems. A consortium consisting of several NGOs
some time ago led to the establishment of a command post. This
activity is the initial step of a dialog that needs follow-up
measures and the support of the government and the whole society.

The crisis brings problems for all of us to confront. Child
workers and street children are also deserving of our attention
because their fate and future are the responsibility of all of
us.

The writer is a researcher of problems of child workers and
street children at the AKATIGA Social Analysis Center in Bandung.