Author: Human Rights Watch
Title: Tobacco's Hidden Children: Hazardous Child Labor in United States Tobacco Farming
Summary: Children working on tobacco farms in the United States are exposed to nicotine, toxic pesticides, and other dangers.
Based on interviews with 141 children, ages 7 to 17, working on farms in the states of North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and, Virginia where 90 percent of US tobacco is grown, Tobacco's Hidden Children documents children getting sick while working with
vomiting, nausea, headaches, and dizziness-symptoms consistent with acute nicotine poisoning. Children reported working excessively long hours without overtime pay, often in extreme heat, with no suitable protective gear. Many children said tractors
sprayed pesticides in nearby fields. Many also described using dangerous tools and machinery, lifting heavy loads, and climbing several stories into barns to hang tobacco for drying, risking serious injuries and falls.
The world's largest tobacco companies buy tobacco grown on US farms. However, none of the companies have child labor policies that sufficiently protect children from hazardous work on tobacco farms. Under US law, children working in agriculture can work longer hours, at younger ages, and in more hazardous conditions than children in any other industry. Children as young as 12 can be hired for unlimited hours outside of school hours on a farm of any
size with parental permission, and there is no minimum age for children to work on small farms.
Human Rights Watch calls on tobacco companies to enact policies to prohibit children from engaging in any tasks that risk their health and safety. Human Rights Watch also calls on the Obama administration and Congress to take action to protect children from the dangers of tobacco farming.
Details: New York: HRW, 2014. 137p.
Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 28, 2014 at: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0514_UploadNew.pdf
Year: 2014
Country: United States
URL:
Shelf Number: 132796
Keywords:
Child Labor (U.S.)Child ProtectionTobacco Industry |
