The impact of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (International Labour Organization Convention n. 182) on the involvement of children in drug trafficking in Brazil

Abstract

Concerned about the worst forms of child labour, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted, in 1999, Convention No. 182, which, complemented by Recommendation No. 190, defines the most hazardous forms of child labour and establishes that ratifying States should prohibit such types of child exploitation and implement “programmes of action” to eliminate them as a priority. In 2000, Brazil ratified both Convention 182 and Recommendation 190. The involvement of children in drug trafficking is listed, at article 3(c) of Convention 182, as one of the worst forms of child labour, and is one of the most problematic types of child exploitation found in Brazil, specially in the main urban centres of the South-Eastern region. This dissertation aims to discuss the impact of ILO Convention on the involvement of children in drug trafficking in Brazil, analysing the effectiveness of the Programme for the Eradication of Child Labour (PETI) and the Bolsa Família Programme, the main policies adopted by the country in the fight against child labour and its worst forms. Moreover, this dissertation examines particularities of the involvement of children in the trafficking of drugs and the difficulties in combating a kind of child labour that involves elements such as organised crime, juvenile justice, an absent State, corruption and violence.