Title of the Study: Child Labour in Turkey

Type of the Study: Report-Research

Authors of the Study: Tuncer Bulutay

Presentation,

Year/Place of Publication: 1995, Ankara

Language of the Study: Turkish

Number of Pages: 96

Purpose: To explain the subject of child labour in Turkey, to highlight the state of child labour with the use of DIE data and to outline solution suggestions for the problem.

Content: There are 3 parts in this work. In the first part reasons of child labour are underlined. Second part consists of data that explains the situation of working children in Turkey. Also educational status of children are given. In the third chapter, combatting child labour issue is discussed in depth.

Method: Docuement scanning method is applied and DIE data is used.

Excerpt: We think that the principal instruments in combatting child labour in Turkey can be collected in 4 groups: i) Development of the economy. ii) Improvement in the health of the social and cultural atmosphere. iii) Enforcement and betterment of legislation. İv) Progress in education. (p.61)

Some Keywords: working children, child abuse, socio-economic level

Ocakçı, A.(2001); ‘‘Status of Working Children in Turkey’’, Hacettepe University Magazine, Volume:8, Issue No.1, Ankara, January-June, pp.120-132.

Number of Works Cited: –

Scope:

Child labour has been studied using data from DIE Child Labour Survey of 1994 and 1999.

An Excerpt from the Article:

As a result, children are working under many working conditions for numerous reasons. However, child labour has three aspects that should be taken into consideration. First is that an important and high number of children are starting work at a very early age. The second is many children are forced to work in an employment relationship that is open to exploitation and misuse (such as those serving at houses and under debt dependency). Lastly, it is known that yet many other children are working for extended hours, are rarely benefiting from sufficient nutrition, health services and educational facilities and are mostly receiving very low wages. (p.9)

Some Keywords:

child workers, child labour survey, child abuse, child exploitation

Fişek, O.; Balcı, Y.; Fişek, A.G.(2001); ‘‘Inequality of Gender Roles as a Source of Child Exploitation and Negligence’’, Çalışma Ortamı Magazine, Issue No. 59, November-December.

Number of Works Cited: –

Scope:

Reasons underlying child negligence and exploitation are studied in consideration of social gender inequalities. Literacy rates, ratio of men-women at workplaces, sector ratio of men-women, ratio of working reasons of female-male children are compared and studied in detail.

An Excerpt from the Article:

Again, studies demonstrate that both families and girls in working life tend to get away from working life when they are married. Leaving work after marriage is something specific to girls. This attitude is not seen in men. While the number of women working until the age 25 is twice that of working men, this ratio is reversed after the age of 25. (p.4)

Some Keywords:

apprentice training, child labour, child abuse

Balcı, Y.G.(2002); ‘‘A Different Dimension in Child Exploitation: Sexual Discrimination in Working Children’’, Çalışma Ortamı Magazine, Issue No.61, March-April.

Number of Works Cited: 14

Scope:

Child labor has been discussed from the sexuality point of view using the Child Labour Survey made by State Statistics Institute (DIE) in 1999. Using available official data, participation percentages of male and female children to the working life have been discussed, together with how these percentages changed with the progress of age.

An Excerpt from the Article:

As a result, upon examination of the 1999 Child Labour Survey and in the light of these findings, it is clearly seen that sexuality is a source of exploitation in addition to child labour. Effects of this exploitation take place in the long term. That female children work in selected jobs without the purpose of learning a profession and removing themselves from professional life in order to become a good wife and mother for cultural and socio-economic reasons in accordance with the role determined by the society and contributing the family and her own dowry cause them to remain as unqualified labour. (p.19)

Some Keywords:

family, gender discrimination, working children, child labour survey, child abuse, economic contribution, socio-economic level

Aral, N.; Gürsoy, F.(2001); ‘‘Child Labour and Exploitation within the Frame of Children Rights’’, Milli Eğitim Magazine, Issue No.151.

Number of Works Cited: 25

Scope:

The issue of children rights and exploitation has been addressed within the frame of children rights. Relevant articles of the convention on children rights have been referenced and the subject has been deepened accordingly.

An Excerpt from the Article:

Non-protection of children, remaining uninterested against sexual exploitation and failure to give the required importance to sexual development is expressed as sexual negligence. Sexual exploitation is exploitation of a child for sexual satisfaction on allow another person to exploit the child for that purpose. Defined as an adult’s caressing a child’s sexual organs with the purpose of getting sexual pleasure, raping, making exhibitionism, and exploiting the child as means of pornography, sexual exploitation is considered to be a type of crime resorted by sexually impotent persons seeking sexual satisfaction with children. It is a known truth that the most common type of sexual exploitation not socially accepted and experienced most intensely sensual in the family or between persons that have blood ties with the child. However, it is rather difficult to distinguish between such cases. Researches reveal that sexual exploitation is common mostly between the ages of three to five.

Some Keywords:

child rights, child abuse, sexual exploitation of children, international regulation

Abay, A.R.(2002); ‘‘Problems of Apprentice Students (The Case of Bostancı Apprentice Training Center)’’, Kocaeli University, Institute of Social Sciences Magazine, Issue No.2.

Number of Works Cited: –

Scope:

To determine the problems of students studying at Bostancı Apprentice Training Center, and produce proposals for solutions in consideration of problems at the national level. Answers to some questions are also sought aimed at this purpose:

– What are the socio-economic and socio-cultural conditions of children -and their families- who have moved away from education, are disengaged from the educational system and joined the workforce although they were at the age of compulsory education?

– Can the Apprentice Training we struggle to implement under Law No. 3308 address the need for education to subject children who have moved away from education to reeducation?

-etc.

An excerpt from the article:

Following conclusions were generally made in the light of study findings:

a- Apprentice students generally preferred being car mechanics when they choose their careers.

b- Vast majority of students attending ÇEM (Apprentice Training Center) are above the age of 15 and graduates of elementary school. Considering the degrees of graduation of apprentices from elementary schools, it is obvious that the reason for moving away from education is not failure but lack of interest and economical.

c- In general, families of students are generally elementary school graduates, with vast majority of mothers being housewives and fathers’ being mostly independently-employed. (p.19)

Some Keywords:

apprentices, apprentice training, child labour, child abuse, socio-economic level

Zeytinoğlu, S.(1989) “The State Of Children In Turkey”, Child Policy of 1990’s Congress, DPT-UNICEF publications, Ankara, p. 241-252.

Number of Works Cited: 10

Scope:

In the presentation, a panoromic vision of child labour in today’s world is pictured and the problem of child exploitation is discussed by defining the related concepts. The apprentice training, and the protection of children with legal regulations and their effectivity and defects are explained. Also suggestions to the problems of working children are presented.

An Exscerpt from the Article:

In today’s world millions of children are exploited in situations far worse than taking part in simple family labour division. Within the industrialisation process masses of people migrated from rural areas to cities and the ineffective social services to the poor and insufficeint employment opportunities for survival resulted in the participation of children in workforce outside of the family. (p.242)

Some Key Words:

family, working children, apprentice training, apprenticeship, child abuse, migration

Karabulut, Ö.(1998); “The Problems Of Working Children And Their Ways Of Solution”, Third National Occupational Health Congress, TTB Central Council, October, Ankara, p. 354-357.

Number of Works Cited: –

Scope:

The study defines the entrance of children into labour markets as a social problem, and finds the efforts of trying to acquire cheaper labour for the purpose of better competition very dangerous. Poverty, the low level of success in education system and the fact that it does not provide better future solutions creates an environment where child labour demand increases. The potential that children have in terms of gaining skills which was unutilised because of use of child labour which is often considered as results of exploitation and neglegence dangers the efforts of development of our country with highly skilled labour force. Compulsory 8 year education and the ratification of minimum age convention is not enough. The educational life should be more attractive and all the working children should be able to benefit from a broad protection. The presentation ended with Türk-İş’s contributions to fight against child labour.

An Excerpt from the Article:

Exploitation of children in the form of child labour is seen as the most spread form of child abuse. The employment of children whom are the source of our future in hard and dangerous conditions in their development and education period makes them become the victim of the implementation of socio- economic policies, all kinds of neglegence and poor control. (p.355)

Some Key Words:

minimum age, child workers, child abuse, TÜRK-İŞ

Ministry of Labour and Social Security(1997), “Working Children News Bulletin”, Issue No.2, January, Ankara.

Number of Works Cited: –

Scope:

Ministry’s National Committee Meeting held on 6.2.1997 and the evaluation of ILO-IPEC projects and the future plans for new projects are discussed. There is a news about the second meeting of the Advice Group that was held on 25th of March where the suggestions of workshop groups are exposed. Children working in the informal sector, apprentices and their legal and the administrative status which was emphasised in the group report is displayed. Kubilay Atasever’s TİSK and child labour article points the activities and vision of Tisk in this subject. Erhan Batur discusses the aork and child labour concepts and also talks about the ILO convention number 59.

Some Key Words:

working children, child abuse, informal sector, ILO-IPEC