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Inside the Home, Outside the Law: Abuse of Child Domestic Workers in Morocco

NCJ Number
213731
Journal
Human Rights Watch Volume: 17 Issue: 12(E) Dated: December 2005 Pages: 1-62
Date Published
December 2005
Length
62 pages
Annotation
This report presents an overview of abuse of young Moroccan child domestics and recommendations on how the Moroccan Government can better protect its young domestic workers.
Abstract
Recommendations are summarized on the protection against abuse of child domestic workers from several organizations in Morocco, such as the Moroccan Government, the Parliament, the Ministry of Employment and Professional Development, the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, Staff Development and Scientific Research, the Ministry of Social Development, Family and Solidarity, the Ministry of Justice, the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor of the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund and donor countries. Highlights of the recommendations include: (1) strictly enforce 15 as the minimum age of employment for all employment sectors including domestic work and regulations to provide sanctions against employers recruiting and hiring those under age 15; (2) enact regulations to monitor labor recruitment practices and workplace conditions for domestic workers and provide sanctions against those who perpetrate abusers; (3) enact the regulations specified in Article 4 of the Labor Code regulating conditions of employment for domestic workers; (4) provide labor inspectors with the resources and training necessary to monitor child labor; (5) ensure that all children enjoy their right to a free and compulsory basic education as guaranteed by Moroccan law; (6) prioritize the elimination of hazardous child labor; (7) collect and publish data on prosecution for abuse and exploitation of domestic workers; (8) provide for the rehabilitation of child domestic workers suffering form physical, psychological or sexual abuse; (9) urge the Moroccan Government to prioritize child domestic labor in its programs; and (10) develop strategies to ensure access to basic and secondary education for children who work. The report includes the scope of the problem, recruitment of child domestic labor, the abuse and conditions of the abuse, the impact of the abuse, and the government response to the abuse of child domestic workers.