Working children and gender
Bottom of the ladder: exploitation and abuse of girl domestic workers in Guinea
Addressing exploitation of child domestic workers in Guinea
Authors:
; Human Rights Watch
Publisher:
Human Rights Watch , 2007
In Guinea tens of thousands of girls work as child domestic workers. They work long hours for little or no money, and are routinely deprived of adequate sleep, rest, food, health care and education as well as social contacts and loving care. The new government has pledged to improve the living conditions of ordinary people, in particular youths, but has not yet developed a satisfactory policy to address the serious abuses girl domestic workers experience. The report recommends that the government should translate this commitment into reality by adopting concrete steps to ensure greater protection and opportunities for the hundreds of thousands of domestic workers in Guinea and in the region.
Recommendation outlined in the report to the Government of Guinea include:
- set up a child protection system within the Ministry of Social Affairs that allows for systematic monitoring of children without parental care
- carry out a mass public campaign and sensitisation activities about the rights of child domestic workers
- in devising programmes to improve access to education for girls, take specific measures for girl domestic workers
- investigate and punish those responsible for child trafficking, physical and sexual violence against children, and labour exploitation
- amend article 5 of the Labour Code and Decree 2791 on Child Labour so that the minimum age for work is set at 15
More detailed recommendations are outlined to a number of national and international bodies.
