Prosecution Service unveils national campaign against child labor

The Prosecution Service for Labor (MPT) is launching a national campaign against child labor today (Feb. 10) in São Paulo. The initiative is ed by music and sports personalities and was given the hashtag #ChegaDeTrabalhoInfantil (Portuguese for “stop child labor”).

The program aims to encourage social media s to share the hashtag on their profile pages in of the cause against the illegal work imposed on children and adolescents.

Workplace accidents

According to figures from the Health Ministry, from 2007 to 2015, a total of 187 children and adolescents died aged 5 to 17 while working in Brazil.

Another 518 youths lost their hand in a work accident, of a total 20,770 serious workplace accidents involving people younger than 18 years old. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that 14.4% of people working in high-risk activities in Brazil are 15 to 17 years old.

“Child labor may be deadly and lead to mutilation, health problems, and further harm that may only become observable in adulthood. We must make a bigger effort to address the issue,” said Prosecutor Marcela Monteiro Dória, a representative from the National Coordination Against the Labor Exploitation of Children and Adolescents (Coordinfância).

The goal of the campaign, Dória said, is to overcome cultural barriers still to be found in child labor. “We want to take this discussion about the harmful effects of child labor to as many people as possible and urge them to the cause by publishing and sharing the campaign's hashtag and doing their part, since the Constitution stipulates that the protection of childhood is not a duty of the government alone. It's also the responsibility of family and society.”

Dória went on to stress that the purpose of the Prosecution Service for Labor is to eradicate the problem so that children can dedicate their time to playing and studying. “We'll strengthen the means of reporting the crime so that we can go and rescue these children that are being exploited,” she said.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira