Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Kiribati (Ratification: 2009)

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution. The Committee previously noted that section 118(f) of the Employment and Industrial Relations Code, 2015 (EIRC), prohibited the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, and established a penalty of a fine of $5,000 or a term of imprisonment of ten years, or both, for any person contravening this provision. The Committee accordingly requested the Government to provide information on the application in practice of section 118(f) of the EIRC once it has entered into force.

The Government indicates in its report that no cases or convictions relating to section 118(f) of the EIRC have been reported. The Committee notes that the rapid assessment conducted in Tarawa in 2012 with the ILO–IPEC through its TACKLE programme in Fiji, annexed to the Government’s report, identified 33 children engaged in prostitution, all of them girls between 10 and 17 years of age. This study indicated that 85 per cent of these girls first engaged in prostitution between 10 and 15 years of age and that the most common place for prostitution was on foreign boats (pages 8–9 and 18–37).

The Committee further notes that the Government stated, in its report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child of March 2020, that children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, although cases tend to go unreported because girls are considered not to be forced and the community at large does not have a clear understanding that this is illegal and dangerous (CRC/C/KIR/2-4, paragraph 193).

The Committee also notes that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women as well as the UN Country Team Fiji (which covers Kiribati) highlighted, in their reports of 2020, the existence of commercial sexual exploitation of children, in particular on foreign fishing vessels (CEDAW/C/KIR/CO/1-3, paragraph 31 and Joint Submission of the UN Country Team Fiji for the Universal Periodic Review, paragraph 40). The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that persons contravening section 118(f) of the EIRC are investigated and prosecuted. It requests the Government to supply information on the number of violations identified under section 118(f) of the EIRC, the persons prosecuted and convicted, and the penalties imposed.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, removing them from these worst forms of child labour and ensuring their rehabilitation and social integration. Commercial sexual exploitation. The Committee previously noted that the Kiribati Community Police patrol carried out rounds during the night to keep children off the streets in order to prevent and remove child victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The Government stated that the Ministry of Women, Youth, Sports and Social Affairs (MWYSSA) and the Ministry of Health and Medical Services had established new divisions responsible for providing counselling and guidance in resolving problems, including for cases of worst forms of child labour. The Committee requested the Government to strengthen its efforts to prevent the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the country and to provide information on the measures taken to remove children from this worst form of child labour.

The Government indicates that the MWYSSA conducted awareness-raising activities among owners and members of kava bars who employ underage girls to work at night and that the number of girls working in these premises has consequently decreased. The MWYSSA also provides advice and counselling to these children and empowers them to integrate into the community, including through education and awareness-raising on the risks of alcohol. The Committee requests the Government to continue to take measures to prevent the engagement of children in commercial sexual exploitation. It also requests the Government to take the necessary steps to remove children from this worst form of child labour as well as to rehabilitate and socially integrate them. It requests the Government to provide information in this regard, as well as on the number of children under 18 years of age who have actually been removed from commercial sexual exploitation and provided with appropriate care and assistance.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.