Over a ten-year period, from 2009 to 2019, 13,591 children and adolescents aged between five and 17 suffered severe work-related accidents in the state of São Paulo, and another 35 lost their lives while working, according to the Office of the Public Prosecutor for Labor (MPT). The data come from the Information System for Notifiable Diseases (Sinan) of the Ministry of Health.
The survey shows that the majority of the accident victims worked in the informal sector, in construction, in agriculture, as domestic workers, and as butchers, among other activities. All of them are defined by Decree 6.481/2008 as the worst forms of child labor. In other words, they are prohibited for people under 18 years of age.
The release of the data is a call for society to participate in the national campaign launched on June 3 against child labor, carried out by the MPT, the Labor Court, the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the National Forum for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labor.
“There is a need for effective protection of working children and adolescents, with investment in measures for the prevention and combat of child labor in coordination with other social actors in the protection network,” stated the head of the National Coordination for the Combat of Child and Adolescent Labor Exploitation (Coordinfância) of MPT-SP, Prosecutor Ana Elisa Alves Brito Segatti.
SOURCE:
CIPA Magazine
