How Can I Help Stop Child Labor Exploitation?

Child labor exploitation is a worldwide issue that touches multiple industries and millions of children. The issues are complex, and some of them will take intense advocacy in order to uproot. However, there are two things you can do as an individual to help this situation.

The first is to be aware of the extent of the problem. Two industries that are notorious for child labor intersect with many of our lives. Those are the garment/fashion industry and the chocolate industry. Being aware of the source of your goods and services is one way to make choices that either add to or take away from any companies profiting from the fragile minds, bodies and hearts of children working for them.

Being an informed consumer is a great step in acknowledging and helping address child labor.

The number one reason children find themselves in exploitive labor situations is due to poverty.1

Families all over the world are forced to make decisions for their children that most people would never dream of making. For instance, a family already on the brink of starvation may have to deny their children the opportunity for an education because they cannot afford the fees to send them to school. In the world of extreme poverty, even this is not likely to be enough of a solution for their circumstances.

They then face the decision of putting children to work, selling them into slavery or entering their child, usually a daughter, into child marriage. It is a heartbreaking situation for all involved. The parents often see no other way to avoid starvation for the whole family.

The second thing you can do to help keep children out of child labor and away from exploitive situations is to sponsor a child through GFA World. Our child sponsorship program helps children and their families in places of extreme poverty like South Asia and Africa. With a community-based approach, children and their families are given the support they need to escape the clutches of poverty.


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