AMERICA/COSTA RICA - More than 47 thousand children suffer violence and are forced to work

San Jose (Agenzia Fides) – The "Patronato Nacional de la Infancia" (PANI) in Costa Rica, reported that more than 47,000 children are victims of child labor and abuse, many are employed in domestic work and agriculture. The note sent to Fides Agency from local sources informed that the in Central American country, the law prohibits child labor under 15 years of age, with some limitations allowed between 15 and 18 years of age. Yet many children are exploited, forced to work without pay and under the pressures of physical violence.
This drama, which in 2013 reached 168 million children in the world, according to the International Labour Office (ILO), in Latin America and the Caribbean affects 13 million, many of whom are engaged in hazardous activities related to begging and the sale of items on the streets.
Ana Teresa León, President of PANI in Costa Rica, spoke recently at the Forum "Social protection, key to the eradication of child labor", together with the Minister of Labour and the representative of the ILO. A plan to remove this scourge from the country by 2020 was presented, and what was also pointed out was the fact that this scourge determines the absence of children from schools. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 12/06/2014)