Brazil rescues more than 6,000 child workers in a year

Source:Xinhua Published: 2015-6-13 11:27:04

In the last 12 months, 6,491 Brazilian children and teenagers were saved from child labor, the Labor Ministry announced on this year's World Day Against Child Labor, which falls on Friday.

Teenagers aged 16-17 are the ones who suffer most from child labor the most, with around 3,700 cases identified in the last 12 months, said Alberto de Souza, head of the Child Labor Elimination Division under the Secretariat of Labor Inspection.

"The infringements involving teenagers are the most frequent in informal work. These Brazilians are not protected by law," said de Souza.

Children aged 10-15 registered the second highest rate of child labor with 2,663 cases. A total of 139 children aged 4-9 were also rescued.

The Brazilian Education law stipulates that only young people aged 14 or above can work, and a record must be kept of the time they work, the activities they carry out and how they integrate what they do with their school responsibilities.

At least 16 states are involved in awareness activities promoted by the Labor Ministry to make the society aware of the need to fight practices which remove children's rights.

Posted in: Americas

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