Brasília, March 15, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The discovery by the International Labor Organization (ILO) that over a half million Brazilian children and adolescents are involved in domestic labor is mobilizing the government, NGO's, and the ILO. But the fight against domestic labor is a difficult task, because the problem occurs within homes, and this type of exploitation ends up being hidden from government authorities. Last year the federal government was able to rescue 240 thousand children from labor situations, but only 13 thousand were domestic workers. According to the National Secretariat of Social Work in the Ministry of Social Development and Hunger Alleviation, Márcia Lopes, the biggest problem authorities face is to identify the places where child labor is used.

"Domestic child labor is secret and hard to verify. It is necessary for society to denounce the occurrence of this practice in order for us to improve and perfect the government's strategy to stop the use of child labor," the secretary emphasized. For Lopes, it will only be possible to combat child labor when all of society becomes involved. "Brazil possesses very diverse realities, and only by getting acquainted with each reality shall we be able to transform this country," she recalls. The hiring of child labor can be reported to the Children's Courts, the Tutelary Councils, and the Regional Labor Superintendencies in the states.

According to Lopes, the federal government will spent R$ 500 million this year to combat child labor. The Program to Erradicate Child Labor serves 810,792 children, 495,982 in rural areas and 314,810 in urban areas. It is projected that another 90,000 children will enter the program this year.

The ILO develops projects in various capitals to end domestic child labor. According to the coordinator of the ILO's Project to Confront Domestic Labor, Renato Mendes, projects are being developed in Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Recife, and Belém, and will be expanded this year to Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraíba, and Maranhão. According to Mendes, the ILO operates in cities where it forms partnerships to combat domestic child labor. (DAS)

Brazilian legislation only authorizes domestic labor for youths over the age of 16.