Opinion: Millions of children still in

slavery, and it must be stopped

By Kailash Satyarthi, Project Syndicate, adapted by Newsela staff on 02.03.16
Word Count 720
Level 910L

Azir Mulla, 14, sews inside a tailor's shop in Gauhati, India, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014. AP/Anupam Nath

NEW DELHI, India – The world should be ashamed that we have not ended child slavery. Not
only does child slavery still exist, but the number of child slaves has remained the same in the last
two decades. More than 5.5 million children are slaves. They are bought and sold like animals,
sometimes for less than a pack of cigarettes. In addition, there are 68 million child workers and 59
million children who do not go to school. Each year, 15 million girls younger than 15 are forced to
get married. The situation is completely wrong.

Clearly, there is much work left to do. About 550,000 people have signed a petition to push the
United Nations to strongly oppose child slavery in its goals for the next 15 years. These goals are
the called Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Among them are plans to wipe out forced
labor, end slavery and stop the worst forms of child labor.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1

Now it is time to take action. It is not only governments that are responsible for ending slavery.
Businesses, organizations and individual citizens must all help. They must pressure their leaders
to make a change.

Changes In India's Law Could Be Dangerous

Consider the situation in India. The government is considering making changes to two major
laws. These are the National Education Policy and the Child Labour Act.

The changes to the Child Labour Act would allow children under the age of 14 to work in "non-
hazardous" family businesses or the entertainment industry. This may sound innocent, but it fails
to acknowledge what is really going on. Working for family businesses can be as brutal as any
other kind. And the list of "hazardous" jobs is far from complete.

My organization, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, is the largest group in India to protect children. An 8-
year-old girl named Arpita was forced to work 16- to 18-hour days in the home of her uncle as a
servant. When we rescued her, we had to break down the door. It was the middle of winter, and
she was barely clothed and badly fed. Arpita was covered in wounds, and was hiding under a rag
on her uncle's balcony.

Many Rescued From Family Businesses

Likewise, when we rescued 10-year-old Mohsin and 8-year-old Aslam in 2007, they were
starving. The two children worked for their uncle under terrible conditions. They made children's
clothing for one of world's largest garment sellers. The jobs performed by Arpita, Mohsin and
Aslam would not be considered dangerous under changes to the Child Labour Act.

Recently, we found that one-fifth of the children younger than age 14 that we rescued were
working for family businesses. More than two-fifths of them were doing dangerous jobs that would
be allowed under the law. For example, the children worked in roadside restaurants. They also
made clothes, leather goods, makeup or electronics.

There are millions of enslaved children like Arpita, Mohsin and Aslam. But if the proposed
changes are made, we will not be able to rescue a single child under 14 years old working for his
or her family. It does not matter how terrible their work conditions are. The effect would be
devastating, not only on individual children, but also on the future of our society. On behalf of
India's children, we call upon our Parliament to do the right thing and reject the proposed
changes to the Child Labour Act.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2

Children Must Be Protected Worldwide

Beyond India, it is just as urgent to protect children. We must do everything in our power to
protect the fundamental human rights of every person. It is especially important to protect the
most defenseless. Governments worldwide must commit to protecting and educating their young
people.

My coworkers and I have humbly done our part over the years. We have rescued more than
84,000 children from terrible conditions.

Still, far too many children remain enslaved. They are missing out not just on their childhood, but
also on the chance for a happy, healthy and prosperous future. It is time for the world to stand up
and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. We must demand that our leaders fulfill
their promise of ensuring that every child's life is enriched by education and full of promise. Our
generation can and should be the one that ends child slavery forever.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 3