Child Exploitation Grows at Alarming Rate in Mexico Alberto Valderrabano - The News
go to original February 21, 2015

Product of Mexico: Child Workers on a Mega-Farm (LATimes/CIWvideo)

Child exploitation is growing at an alarming rate in Mexico. There are hundreds of companies, small businesses and areas of the Mexican countryside where children’s labor is being used with impunity, without good pay or social benefits.

Child labor is used in both big cities and agricultural regions. Minors suffer long workdays, despite the fact that this practice is illegal under national law. Of the more than 40 million minors in Mexico, it is estimated that between 2.5 to 10 million work in poor conditions, with no social benefits or respect for their physical or mental health.

The problem has grown in Mexican families where children of both sexes are often forced to take part in any activity to help contribute money to their homes. For this reason, it is common to find children who work selling candy — the well-known “payasitos de cruceros” or “boleritos.”

In the worst cases, minors — especially girls — are forced to work in red-light districts, where they are sexually exploited. This worrisome situation has led to a presidential initiative which has already been put into force, the General Law of the Rights of Girls, Boys and Teenagers. This law seeks a national guarantee for the protection of children and to serve as a model to unify local and federal legislation on the subject.

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