The 12th of June was established as World Day Against Child Labor in 2002 by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Since then, the organization has called on society around the world to combat child labor. The symbol of this international campaign is a pinwheel; its five points represent the continents, while the colors symbolize racial diversity. The pinwheel also represents movement and joined forces in the fight against child labor.
According to data from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), an estimated 160 million children are victims of child labor worldwide. As reported by the ILO, around 20 out of every 100 children begin working at 15. The data is also alarming in Brazil: here, an estimated 3 million children work in activities such as selling products at traffic lights and in domestic services as well as in the field. Data from the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística/IBGE) in 2015 revealed that 80,000 children between 5 and 9 worked in Brazil.
This commitment does not refer only to public powers, but to all of society. We are all responsible for protecting children and adolescents from any kind of neglect, cruelty and exploitation – thus enforcing article 227 of Brazil’s Federal Constitution, which states that it is “the duty of the family, of society and of the State, with absolute priority, to ensure the rights of children and adolescents to life, health, food, education, leisure, professionalization, culture, dignity, respect, freedom and family and community coexistence, as well as to keeping them safe from any kind of neglect, discrimination, exploitation, violence, cruelty and oppression.”
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