Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2009, publiée 99ème session CIT (2010)

Article 3 of the Convention and Part V of the report form. Worst forms of child labour and application of the Convention in practice. Clauses (a) and (d). Forced or compulsory labour and hazardous work. Domestic work of children. In its previous comments, the Committee noted information from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to the effect that domestic work by children under conditions of servitude is common practice in the country, with parents selling their children, sometimes as young as six years of age, to work as domestic servants. The ITUC also stated that some 50,000 children, mainly girls, are working as domestic servants. Of these, about 13,000 girls under the age of 15 are employed as servants in Casablanca; 80 per cent of them come from rural areas and are illiterate; 70 per cent are under the age of 12; and 25 per cent under the age of 10. The Committee noted that section 10 of the Labour Code prohibits forced labour. It further noted that section 467-2 of the Penal Code prohibits the forced labour of children under 15 years of age. It also observed that a bill on domestic work had been adopted and was in the process of validation. The bill sets the minimum age for admission to this type of employment at 15 years, establishes the conditions of work, and provides for supervisory measures and penalties.

The Committee notes that, according to the Government, the bill on domestic work is still in the process of adoption. The Government also states that the Dahir of 24 December 2004 establishing a list of hazardous types of work is to be updated in the course of 2010 so as to reflect the intent of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). The Committee also notes the Government’s statement that the Ministry for Social Development, Family and Solidarity (MDFS), in collaboration with ILO–IPEC organized a training course in 2008 for NGOs involved in the protection of children in the towns of Tahanaout, Fez, Safi, Casablanca, Kenitra, Khouribga, Taza and Agadir, identified as key areas, focusing on the supply and demand of domestic work by children and geared to building institutional capacity for more effective action in combating domestic work by little girls. Lastly, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that the MDFS is planning to conduct an inquiry in the course of 2010 into the situation of little girls engaged in domestic work in Casablanca.

While taking due note of the steps taken by the Government, the Committee must again point out that according to Article 3(a) and (d) of the Convention, work or employment in conditions that approximate slavery or are hazardous are among the worst forms of child labour and are therefore to be eliminated as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Article 1. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that the bill on domestic work is adopted as a matter of urgency. It expresses the hope that the Dahir of 24 December 2004 establishing a list of hazardous types of work will be updated to include domestic work by children under the age of 18 in conditions that approximate slavery or are hazardous. Furthermore, the Committee once again requests the Government to step up its efforts and take the necessary measures to ensure, as a matter of urgency, that the forced labour of children under 18 years of age in domestic work and the employment of such children in hazardous work shall be prosecuted and punished by sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions. Lastly, it requests the Government to provide a copy of the inquiry into the situation of little girls engaged in domestic work in Casablanca and to send information on the application of the provisions governing these worst forms of child labour, including statistics on the number and nature of the infringements reported, the investigations conducted, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions imposed.

Article 7, paragraph 2. Effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing children from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour and removing them from these worst forms, and ensuring their rehabilitation and social integration. Child prostitution and sex tourism. In its previous comments, the Committee expressed concern at the persistence of child prostitution and sex tourism involving young Moroccans and immigrants, particularly boys, despite an amendment made to the Penal Code in 2003 to introduce sex tourism as a criminal offence. It noted that, according to the Government, as part of the National Action Plan for Children (PANE) for the decade 2006–16, a preliminary study on problems relating to the sexual exploitation of children was carried out in February 2007 with a view to framing a national strategy to prevent and combat such exploitation.

The Committee notes the information sent by the Government to the effect that child protection units have been set up in Casablanca and Marrakesh to provide better medical, psychological and legal assistance for children who have been the victims of violence or ill-treatment, including children who have suffered from sexual or economic exploitation. The Committee nonetheless observes that the Government provides no information on the results of the preliminary study on problems relating to the sexual exploitation of children, or on the preparation of the national strategy to prevent and combat the sexual exploitation of children, a concern shared by the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in its concluding observations of 8 April 2008 (CEDAW/C/MAR/CO/4, paragraph 22). The Committee accordingly requests the Government to take immediate, effective and time-bound measures to ensure that the national strategy to prevent and combat the sexual exploitation of children is adopted and that it includes measures to: (a) prevent children from falling victim to prostitution, particularly in the context of sex tourism; and (b) provide the necessary and appropriate assistance for the removal of children from this worst form of child labour and ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. The Committee again requests the Government to provide information on progress made in this regard.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. Child domestic workers. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that according to the ITUC, the physical and sexual abuse of young girls working as housemaids (petites bonnes), is among the most serious problems confronting Moroccan children. The Committee noted that a national programme to combat the use of little girls as housemaids (INQAD) had been adopted as part of the PANE.

The Committee notes the information sent by the Government to the effect that as part of its Strategic Plan 2008–12 and following implementation of the INQAD programme, the MSDF plans to organize a second nationwide awareness‑raising campaign to combat domestic work by little girls, and to prepare regional action plans. The Committee notes that to this end, as part of the Multisectoral Programme to combat gender-based violence by empowering women and girls in Morocco implemented in collaboration with the UNDP,
ILO–IPEC has started up an action programme to combat domestic work by girls in the Marrakesh–Tensift–El Haouz region for the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2010. The programme is to benefit 1,000 school children to discourage them from dropping out of school; 100 school girls under 15 years of age from very poor families for whom the risk of drop-out is high are also to benefit from this awareness-raising; 30 girls under 15 years of age are to be removed from domestic work and rehabilitated and socially reintegrated; 20 girls aged between 15 and 17 are to be withdrawn from domestic work in which conditions are hazardous and which are among the worst forms of child labour; and 50 girl domestic servants aged between 15 and 17 years working in conditions that are acceptable will nonetheless have both their living and their working conditions improved. While taking due note of the measures taken by the Government to combat domestic work by children, the Committee notes that this form of labour remains a very serious scourge in Morocco. It accordingly requests the Government to redouble its efforts to protect these children, in particular against economic and sexual exploitation, and requests it to continue to provide information on progress made in this area, in terms of the number of children under 18 years of age prevented from engaging in or removed from worst forms of child labour in the domestic work sector.

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

[The Government is asked to supply full particulars to the Conference at its 99th Session and to reply in detail to the present comments in 2010.]