The cotton production in Uzbekistan is a definite defiance of many international aspects of human rights. Within the cotton production comes forced child labor. Along with the forced child labor, comes the defiance of self-determination for these children. According to Reichert, “self-determination refers to the right of an individual to freely develop his or her own personality and essentially make his or her own choices in life” (Reichert 2011). Along with defiance of self-determination is the defiance of economic rights.
In the video, “Cotton child labor and human rights violations” we witness a young boy saying “I’d rather go to school…to learn”. This was heartbreaking to watch knowing how badly this boy wants to get an education, but is forced into working at the cotton production. The video states that boys and girls as young as seven years of age are forced to work seventy hour work days. Not only is this a violation of the rights of a child to education, but also a violation of the right to self-determination. Although these children are young they should still have access to an education and not be exploited to child labor. It’s so important for children to get an education to have a chance at a better life. It’s cruel to not give these children a chance to at least choose to get an education instead of being forced into working.
Not only are children being exploited to child labor which defies their right to self-determination, these children are also being subjected to the defiance of their economic rights. The children of Uzbekistan are forced to live in labor camps with no access to clean water, risking potential poisoning from drinking from irrigation canals. This directly violates objectives in achieving the elimination of global apartheid and aiding in world development. In eliminating global apartheid and aiding in world development there are certain objectives that were put in place to measure success. Two of these measurements are that everyone has access to clean water and sanitation, and that everyone has access to adequate housing. The conditions that these children are forced to work and live in affects their inherent right to an adequate standard of living, and quality of life.
The argument could be made that this is part of the cultural practice of the individuals of Uzbekistan. This however, is where human rights should take precedence over culture. According to Reichert, “The human right of culture does not validate practices that clearly cause physical, severe emotional or other harm to another"(Reichert, 2011). In the case of forcing these children to work, I believe that they are being put in harm’s way both physically and emotionally. Not only could this line of work be detrimental to their health, but could also damage them emotionally which could in turn affect their development.
These children of Uzbekistan are being put through unsafe working conditions, waring themselves down, and being deprived of an education. This affects many aspects of their human rights including their economic rights, and their right to self-determination. Social workers should be fighting for the protection of the rights of these children to ensure a better quality of life for them. The mission of social workers is to speak up and defend the rights of those who do not have a voice, and the children of Uzbekistan are just that.
haimasophs channel (2009, October 20) cotton child labour and human rights abuses [video file].
This article was published at http://www.voicesofyouth.org/en/posts/uzbekistan-forced-child-labor
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