2007 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor - Belize

Incidence and Nature of Child Labor

Most working children in Belize are found in rural regions in the agricultural sector. Many children work in banana, sugar cane and citrus production.²⁸⁹ Children also work in wholesale and retail trade, repair, tourism, providing diverse services, and to a lesser extent, in construction and manufacturing.²⁹⁰ Half of the boys who work do so in hazardous forms of labor.²⁹¹ Girls engage in prostitution with older men in exchange for clothing, jewelry, food, school fees, and books. The YWCA reports that as many as 20 percent of its under-aged clients have been solicited for commercial sex activities.²⁹²

Belize is reported to be a source, transit, and destination country for the trafficking of children.²⁹³ Trafficking of girls within Belize and to and from other countries occurs for both sexual exploitation and to work as domestic servants. This trafficking is sometimes arranged by family members.²⁹⁴ Some trafficked children are forced to shine shoes or sell newspapers.²⁹⁵

Child Labor Laws and Enforcement

The Labor Act of Belize sets the minimum age for work as 12 and 14 years in different sections of the text; thus, it has been criticized as being unclear. Article 169 states that no child shall be employed who is under age 12. Article 164 states that no person shall employ a child in a public or private undertaking, and child is defined as being under 14 years in the interpretation section of the Labor Act.²⁹⁶ According to the Labor Act, children over 12 years may work after school hours, for no more than 2 hours on a school day or a Sunday, only between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., and in work that is not likely to cause injury.²⁹⁷ The Labor Act sets penalties for non-compliance with minimum age standards that include fines and imprisonment up to 2 months, and up to 4 months in the case of a second or subsequent offense.²⁹⁸

The law prohibits persons under 18 years from engaging in any form of harmful employment.²⁹⁹ Forced labor and slavery are prohibited.³⁰⁰ Although there is no law establishing a minimum age for conscription into the military, the minimum age for voluntary enrollment is 18 years.³⁰¹ The law punishes trafficking offenses with imprisonment of up to 5 years and fines.³⁰² The law also prohibits sex with a female younger than 14 years and provides for a penalty of 12 years to life imprisonment. The sentence for the same act with a girl 14 to 16 years is 5 to 10 years.³⁰³

Inspectors from the Departments of Labor and Education are responsible for enforcing child labor regulations.³⁰⁴ The Family Services Division of the Ministry of Human Development, Women, Children and Civil Society is responsible for investigating child trafficking cases.³⁰⁵ The government conducted raids on brothels in 2007 and reported that five foreign tourists were prosecuted or expelled for child sexual exploitation.³⁰⁶ In February 2007, three police officers were arrested on trafficking charges, and two are awaiting criminal charges. The third officer was acquitted by disciplinary review board.³⁰⁷

Current Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor

The Government of Belize has a National Plan of Action for Children and Adolescents, 20042015, which specifically seeks to protect children from trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, and unacceptable forms of child labor. The plan seeks to amend the Labor Act to better address child labor issues, develop and implement regulations on exploitive child labor in the social service agencies, strengthen enforcement capacity of key ministries, and increase prevention and public awareness efforts.³⁰⁸

With funds from the IDB and in collaboration with UNICEF, the Ministry of Human Development is engaging in a program to strengthen the government's capacity to combat human trafficking.³⁰⁹ The Government of Belize continues to participate in a USD 8.8 million regional project implemented by ILO-IPEC which seeks to combat commercial sexual exploitation through a variety of activities including capacity building and legal reform. In addition, the project aims to withdraw 713 children and prevent 657 children from commercial sexual exploitation in the region.³¹⁰ The Government of Belize also participated in a USD 1.4 million regional project funded by the Government of Canada and implemented by ILO-IPEC aimed at combating the worst forms of child labor.³¹¹ The Government of Belize participated in a Phase II USD 2.6 million regional project and a Phase III USD 3 million regional project to eradicate child labor in Latin America funded by the Government of Spain and implemented by ILO-IPEC.³¹²

288 For statistical data not cited here, see the Data Sources and Definitions section. For data on ratifications and ILO-IPEC membership, see the Executive Summary. For minimum age for admission to work, age to which education is compulsory, and free public education, see Government of Belize, Labour Act (Revised), (December 31, 2000), chapter 297, sections 1, 2, 164, 169; available from http://www.belizelaw.org/lawadmin/index2.html. See also SIMPOC and the Central Statistical Office of the Government of Belize, Child Labour in Belize: A Qualitative Study, ILO, February 2003; available from http://www.ilocarib.org.tt/childlabour/library/rapid_assessment/RABelize.pdf. See also Government of Belize, Education Act, Revised Edition 2000, chapter 36, (December 31, 2000), article 2, 45; available from http://www.belizelaw.org/lawadmin/PDF%20files/cap036.pdf. See also UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Belize, March 31, 2005, para 60; available from http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/15d955c522246114c125702100421174/$FILE/G0540865.pdf.

289 SIMPOC and the Central Statistical Office of the Government of Belize, Child Labour in Belize: A Statistical Report, ILO, 2003, 31; available from http://www.ilocarib.org.tt/childlabour/library/NationalReportBelizeCSO.pdf.

290 Ibid.

291 Ibid., 39.

292 ILO, The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents in Belize, San José, 2006, 38-39; available from http://www.ilo.org/ipecinfo/product/viewProduct.do?productId=7186.

293 U.S. Department of State, "Belize (Tier 2 Watch List)," in Trafficking in Persons Report – 2007, Washington, DC, June 12, 2007; available from http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/82805.htm.

294 Ibid.

295 U.S. Department of State, "Belize," in Country Report on Human Rights Practices – 2007, Washington, DC, March 11, 2008, section 5; available from http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/.

296 Government of Belize, Labour Act (Revised), chapter 297, interpretation section and articles 54, 164, and 169. See also, SIMPOC and the Central Statistical Office of the Government of Belize, Child Labour in Belize: A Qualitative Study, 11.

297 Government of Belize, Labour Act (Revised), article 169.

298 Ibid., article 172.

299 Government of Belize, Families and Children Act, Revised Edition, (December 31, 2000), articles 2, 7; available from http://www.belizelaw.org/lawadmin/index2.html.

300 Government of Belize, Constitution of Belize, Revised Edition, (December 31, 2000), article 8; available from http://www.belizelaw.org/lawadmin/index2.html.

301 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, "Belize," in Child Soldiers Global Report 2004, London, 2004; available from http://www.child-soldiers.org/document_get.php?id=810.

302 Government of Belize, Criminal Code, Chapter 101, (amended May 31, 2003), article 49; available from http://www.belizelaw.org/lawadmin/index2.html.

303 World Bank, Primary Education Development Project II, [online] October 13, 2006 [cited October 13, 2006], articles 47 and 48; available from http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=104231&piPK=73230&theSitePK=40941&menuPK=228 424&Projectid=P074966.

304 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: Belize," section 6d.

305 Ibid., section 5.

306 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2007: Belize."

307 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: Belize," section 5.

308 Government of Belize, The National Plan of Action for Children and Adolescents in Belize 2004-2015, Belize City, September 4, 2004, 15-16; available from http://www.mohd.gov.bz/NPA.pdf.

309 IDB, Strengthening the Government's Capacity to Combat Human Trafficking, Project BL-T1004, [online] [cited December 10, 2007]; available from http://www.iadb.org/projects/Project.cfm?project=BL-T1004$Language=English.

310 ILO-IPEC, Contribution to the Prevention and Elimination of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, Project Document, RLA/05/P52/USA, San José, 2005, 22. See also ILO-IPEC, Contribution to the Prevention and Elimination of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, Project Document, RLA/02/P51/USA, San José, 2002, 16.

311 ILO-IPEC Geneva official, E-mail communication to USDOL official, December 12, 2007.

312 ILO-IPEC official, E-mail communication to USDOL official, February 4, 2008.