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.