Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Brazil (Ratification: 2000)

The Committee notes the observations of the National Association of Labour Court Judges (ANAMATRA) received on 6 December 2021 and requests the Government to provide its reply to them.

Articles 3(d), 5 and 7(1) of the Convention. Hazardous work, labour inspection and penalties. In relation to its previous direct request, the Committee notes that the Government indicates in its report that, between January 2017 and July 2021, the labour inspectorate imposed 1,276 penalties on workplace supervisors for violating Decree No. 6481 of 12 June 2008 containing a list of hazardous work prohibited for children. During the same period, the labour inspectorate also issued 68 violation notices for subjecting children and adolescents to other working conditions (not included in the list) that were considered harmful to their physical, psychological, morals, and social development and 71 penalties for allowing workers under 18 years of age to perform night work. The Committee notes that information concerning the number of children found to be in hazardous work is continuously updated and made available through the Radar SIT (Labour inspection statistics and information dashboard) webpage on child labour.

While noting the results of the inspections undertaken to identify situations of children engaged in hazardous work, the Committee notes with concern that, according to the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD contínua) conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics for the period 2016-2019, a total of 706,000 children between 5 and 17 years of age are still in hazardous occupations (most of them within the age group of 5 to 13 years of age). Moreover, it notes that the ANAMATRA indicates that the number of children undertaking hazardous work who have been victims of accidents at the workplace increased by 30 per cent from 2019 to 2020. The Committee requests the Government to take, as a matter of urgency, all the necessary measures to ensure that children under the age of 18 years are not engaged in hazardous work, including in the informal economy, and that they benefit from the protection afforded by the Convention. It requests the Government to continue providing information in this regard, including on the number and nature of violations of the Decree No.6481 of 12 June 2008 that have been detected by the labour inspectorate and the penalties imposed.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. With regard to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the Government refers to two programmes that address the issue of education in rural areas, namely: (i) The Way to School Programme, which supports access to education by students living in rural and riparian areas by providing buses, motorboats and bicycles designed specifically for safe transportation in such regions; and (ii) The Land School Programme, which aims at providing training opportunities for teachers in rural areas on a continuous basis and facilitating school enrolment and retention of rural and Afro-Brazilian students. In 2019, some 1,800 teachers in rural and Afro-Brazilian communities benefited from that programme.

The Committee notes that, according to the 2019 National Household Sample Survey – Education (PNAD Education), 99.7 per cent of children aged 6 to 14 were enrolled in school in 2019. School failure or dropout affected 12.5 per cent of children aged 11 to 14 and 28.6 per cent of the children aged 15 to 17. It further notes that, according to the 2021 UNICEF report entitled “Out-of-School Children in Brazil”, the highest out-of-school rates (children aged 6 to 14) are found in rural areas, particularly in the North and Northeast regions of the country. The UNICEF report also highlights that, in absolute numbers, Afro-Brazilian and indigenous children and adolescents aged 4 to 17 who are out of school total 781,577, corresponding to 71.3 per cent of all children and adolescents who are currently not attending school. The Committee further notes the ANAMATRA’s observations that many children who were excluded from distance learning during the pandemic, were taken to work in the countryside, to perform domestic work or to work on the streets. While noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on children’s access to school and recalling that education is key in preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to continue to take measures to ensure that all children complete free basic education, particularly those living in rural and riparian areas. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide information on specific measures taken to facilitate access to school for Afro-Brazilian and indigenous children and the results achieved, as well as updated statistical data on school enrolment, retention and drop-out rates disaggregated by age and gender.

Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour and assistance for their removal, rehabilitation, and social integration. Trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children. In reply to previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the labour inspectorate is implementing measures to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, which include training on commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents for labour inspectorates and the designing of specific protocols on the subject. It also notes that the Government has put in place the Initial Support Project to improve the protection and assistance networks for child and adolescent victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The project involves the participation of different institutions including the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the National Coordination Office for Combating Child and Adolescent Labour. In addition, the Federal Traffic Police designed a Mapping Project to identify places along Brazil’s federal roads that lend themselves to the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. The information is consolidated in a document that serves as guidance in combating commercial sexual exploitation.

The Committee further notes that according to the National Report of the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety on Trafficking in Persons (2017-2020), within the period 2018-2020, 32 child and adolescent victims of trafficking in persons were registered by the Federal Police. Moreover, according to the Ministry of Health, 229 persons under 18 years of age were considered as possible victims of trafficking in persons within the same period. While noting the adoption of measures to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, the Committee observes that the Government does not provide information on the measures taken to provide child victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation with rehabilitation services, including the establishment of shelters. Therefore, the Committee once again requests the Government to take all the necessary measures to ensure that child victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation are removed from these worsts form of child labour, rehabilitated and socially reintegrated, and to provide information on the results achieved. It also requests the Government to continue providing updated statistical information on the number of child victims of trafficking in persons that have been identified, rehabilitated, and reintegrated.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. Child domestic workers. The Committee notes that according to the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD contínua) for the period 2016–19, the number of children engaged in domestic work within the age group 5 to 17 was 125,528. It also notes the Government’s indication that the labour inspectorate has taken various measures to address child domestic labour, including awareness raising campaigns and the development of training materials for labour inspectors and specific protocols on the issue. Between January 2013 and July 2021, the labour inspectorate removed seven children and adolescents from domestic work and imposed seven penalties on individuals responsible for hiring persons under 18 years of age as domestic workers. While noting the measures taken by the Government, the Committee observes that the number of child domestic workers remains significant, and that very few were identified and removed from this type of work over a period of eight years. Therefore, the Committee urges the Government to strengthen its efforts to ensure that no person under 18 years of age is involved in domestic work, in conformity with Decree No. 6481 of 12 June 2008, and to provide information on the results achieved

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