Child Labour in Kenya
A freedom Song
Atieno washes dishes,
Atieno plucks the chicken,
Atieno gets up early,
Beds her sacks down in the kitchen,
Atieno eight years old,
Atieno Yo.
Since she is my sister’s child
Atieno needs no pay,
While she works my wife can sit
Sewing every sunny day:
With her earnings I support
Atieno Yo.
Atieno’s sly and jealous,
Bad example to the kids
Since she minds them, like a schoolgirl
Wants their dresses, shoes and beads,
Atieno ten years old,
Atieno Yo.
Now my wife has gone to study
Atieno is less free.
Don’t I keep her, school my own ones,
Pay the party, union fees,
All for the progress: aren’t you grateful
Atieno Yo?
Visitors need much attention,
All the more when I work at night.
That girls spends too long at market,
Who will teach her what is right?
Atieno rising fourteen,
Atieno Yo.
Atieno’s had a bay
So we know that she is bad.
Fifty fifty it may live
And repeat the life she had
Ending in post-partum bleeding,
Atieno Yo.
CHAPTER ONE: CHILD DOMESTIC LABOUR IN KENYA
3 INTRODUCTION
Domestic work abuses the rights of children and consequently is an intolerable form of child labour. Unfortunately, it forms the largest employer of girls under sixteen years around the world. It is the most common and traditional form of a child labour, especially among girls because it is viewed as an essential part of the upbringing of a child. The majority of the child domestics are between twelve to seventeen [12-17] years old down to five [5] years.[1] ILO studies in the year 2000 indicate, there were 1,647,000 economically active children in Kenya. They comprised of 782,000 girls and 865,000 boys aged between 10-14, representing 39% of all the children in this age group.[2]Plan international has estimated child domestic workers to be about 200,000 of the 1.2 million domestic workers in Kenya[3]. Other studies estimate the prevalence of child domestic workers in Kenya to be 41.3% of all children aged between
Atieno washes dishes,
Atieno plucks the chicken,
Atieno gets up early,
Beds her sacks down in the kitchen,
Atieno eight years old,
Atieno Yo.
Since she is my sister’s child
Atieno needs no pay,
While she works my wife can sit
Sewing every sunny day:
With her earnings I support
Atieno Yo.
Atieno’s sly and jealous,
Bad example to the kids
Since she minds them, like a schoolgirl
Wants their dresses, shoes and beads,
Atieno ten years old,
Atieno Yo.
Now my wife has gone to study
Atieno is less free.
Don’t I keep her, school my own ones,
Pay the party, union fees,
All for the progress: aren’t you grateful
Atieno Yo?
Visitors need much attention,
All the more when I work at night.
That girls spends too long at market,
Who will teach her what is right?
Atieno rising fourteen,
Atieno Yo.
Atieno’s had a bay
So we know that she is bad.
Fifty fifty it may live
And repeat the life she had
Ending in post-partum bleeding,
Atieno Yo.
CHAPTER ONE: CHILD DOMESTIC LABOUR IN KENYA
3 INTRODUCTION
Domestic work abuses the rights of children and consequently is an intolerable form of child labour. Unfortunately, it forms the largest employer of girls under sixteen years around the world. It is the most common and traditional form of a child labour, especially among girls because it is viewed as an essential part of the upbringing of a child. The majority of the child domestics are between twelve to seventeen [12-17] years old down to five [5] years.[1] ILO studies in the year 2000 indicate, there were 1,647,000 economically active children in Kenya. They comprised of 782,000 girls and 865,000 boys aged between 10-14, representing 39% of all the children in this age group.[2]Plan international has estimated child domestic workers to be about 200,000 of the 1.2 million domestic workers in Kenya[3]. Other studies estimate the prevalence of child domestic workers in Kenya to be 41.3% of all children aged between