Child work:
empowerment or
violation of rights?
COURSE:Bachelor thesis in Global studies, 15 ECTS PROGRAME: International Work – Global Studies AUTHOR: Sara Lind
EXAMINER: Marco Nilsson SEMESTER: Spring 2020
Stories from former Child Workers in
Cochabamba, Bolivia
JÖNKÖPING UNIVERSITY International Work School of Education Bachelor Thesis 15 Credits and Communication Spring 2020
ABSTRACT
Sara Lind Pages: 38
Child work: empowerment or violation of rights?
Stories from former Child Workers in Cochabamba, Bolivia
Many international conventions concern child labour and child work and this practice tend to often be viewed as a violation of child rights. However, the discourse has changed and a tension among universalistic and relativistic scholars risen. The former tends to condemn child work under the age of 14 and the latter claims that culture needs to be taken into account arguing that child work, is not necessarily a violation of rights.
This study analyses narratives from former child workers in Cochabamba, Bolivia. It aims to increase the understanding of experiences from child workers and how it relates to Child Rights from a universalistic and relativistic perspective and to identify reasons for child work.
The findings demonstrate that the experiences vary a lot and that there is a complexity in the practice of child work. The respondents have experienced violation of rights at their work, but on the other hand, has the income enabled them to fulfil other rights. The relativistic and universalistic perspective both serve to gain a deeper understanding of child work and its complex relationship of Child Rights. This argue for that one should strive to use both perspectives rather than embrace one and condemn the other. Economic need was identified as the main reason to why children were working.
Key words: Child work, child labour, child right, universalism, relativism, cultural relativism, Bolivia, Cochabamba, working children organizations
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Table of content
1. Introduction ... 1
2. Purpose ... 2
3. Previous Research and Background ... 2
3.1 Definitions of child labour and child work ... 2
3.2 Child work in the Convention on the Rights of the Child ... 3
3.3 Universalism and Relativism ... 4
3.4 Working children as active subjects ... 5
3.5 Bolivia ... 6
3.5.1 Working Children in Bolivia ... 6
3.5.2 Working Children Organizations in Bolivia ... 7
3.5.3 Law 548 ... 8 4. Method ... 9 4.1 Sampling ... 9 4.2 Interview ... 10 4.3 Analysis ... 10 4.4 Ethical considerations ... 12 5. Analysis ... 12
5.1. Maria – Experience of time-consuming work ... 12
5.2 Allison – Experience of time-consuming work ... 13
5.3 Isabel – Experience of time-consuming work ... 14
5.3.1 Isabel – Themes ... 15
5.3.1.1 Time consuming work ... 15
5.3.1.2 Mutual help ... 17
5.3.1.3 Significance of the job ... 17
5.3.2 Were Isabel’s rights violated or fulfilled? ... 18
5.4 Pablo – Experience from exploitive work ... 20
5.5 Richard – Experience from exploitive work ... 21
5.5.1 Richard – Themes ... 22
5.5.1.1 Working conditions ... 22
5.5.1.2 Organizations ... 23
5.5.1.3 Effects of work. ... 24
5.5.2 Were Richard’s rights violated or fulfilled? ... 25
5.6 Lisbeth – Experience from non-exploitive work ... 27
5.7.1 Carlos - Themes ... 29
5.7.1.1 Work ... 29
5.7.1.2 Economic need ... 31
5.7.1.3 Family relationship ... 32
5.7.2 Were Carlos rights violated or fulfilled? ... 33
6. Discussion ... 34
6.1 How do FCWs describe their work and childhood? ... 34
6.2 Were the FCW’s rights fulfilled or violated? ... 35
6.3 Concluding points ... 36
6.4 Reflections on the methodology ... 37
6.5 Use of this study ... 37
6.6 Further research ... 38
7. References ... 39
Appendix 1. Interview guide ... 42
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1. Introduction
For many, the words child and worker are words that should be kept separate. Child work practices gained notoriety from the 1990s and forward. In politics and media, the concept of
child labour is loosely used, and all work performed by children tends to quickly be seen as a
violation of Child Rights (CR) (Liebel, 2015). This subject is highlighted in many international policies and conventions, for example in the International Labour Organizations (ILO) and the United Nations (UN). These agencies strive to “end the worst forms of child labour” (C. 182, 1999) and “protect children from economic exploitation” (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989).
Bolivia established a new law in 2014: Code for children and Adolescents- Law 548. This law was formed with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as a foundation, and strives to provide a comprehensive protection of CR. Local and global politicians perceived the law as controversial because it lowered the minimum age for work from 14 years to 10 years, and established laws that strived to protect working children instead of banishing child work. This law is the first in history to be formed with input from children, largely influenced by national unions formed by working children, called working children organizations (WCO). They had fought for their right to be protected at work and considered in matters that concerns them (Liebel, 2015). ILO, along with other international organizations, criticised Law 548 to preserve and legalise child work, which they perceived as a violation of CR. They urged for the Bolivian Government to raise the minimum age for working children (ILO, 2018). In July 2017 a decision was made to raise the minimum working age to 14 years (Sentencia Constitucional plurinacional. 0025/2017, 2017). However, this was not positively perceived by WCOs in Bolivia as this presented a threat to their right to work and undermined the protection of child workers under the age of 14 (Piejko Patiño, 2018; ONATSCO Cochabamba Bolivia, 2018). This demonstrates the ongoing controversy of child work and how the perception of the phenomena is changing. Researchers and NGOs claim that the relationship between CR and child work is complex and that not all work performed by children is necessarily hazardous for them, or necessarily a violation of CR (Liebel, 2003; Woodhead, 1999; Myers, 2001). Law 548 reflects an alternative way of interpreting CR, rather an ignorance of them, which considers the reality of child work. Which according to the government is needed as child work is deeply rooted in Bolivian society. The government claimed that this law would facilitate the protection of working children and that prohibiting child work would undermine many family economies. The contention around Law 548 demonstrates the difficulties of implementing an international convention into a local context (Fontana and Grugel, 2017), as the perception of a good childhood and of a job varies over cultures (White, 1999).
Is there a possibility that child work is not a direct violation of CR? To answer this question, one cannot focus solely on international conventions or perspectives, it is necessary to closely interact with the reality of the working children. Knowledge about which rights are fulfilled and/or violated in the children’s everyday life is essential in order to ensure their rights. To gain this knowledge, one must listen to the experiences of the persons in matter.
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2. Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyse narratives of former child workers (FCWs) between the ages of 18-29 years old. The objectives of the study are to, from a universalistic and a relativistic view, examine if the narratives demonstrate a fulfilment or a violation of Child Rights in the FCWs lives. It aims to examine what aspects in the narratives could explain why the rights are fulfilled or violated.
- How do FCWs describe their work and childhood?
- Do the narratives demonstrate fulfilment or violation of Child Right, from a relativistic and universalistic view of Child Right?
3. Previous Research and Background
This section will present previous research on child labour and child work, and how scholars and conventions have used and defined these two concepts (3.1 and 3.2). Two different perspectives on CR will be presented: universalism and relativism (3.3 and 3.4). The situation of child work in Bolivia will be described (3.5), which will provide a background of this study’s context but also to exemplify the divide of a relativistic and a universalistic interpretation on CR.
3.1 Definitions of child labour and child work
The use of the term child labour is frequent in international conventions, guidelines of NGOs and scientific literature. However, the definitions of child labour are not coherent, one problem is that both childhood and work must be defined, which is normally not considered (Liebel, 2003).
Many scholars refer to ILOs definition of a working child, which includes children who works for wages, works at the family farm for production and processing of primary products, works in family enterprises, or a child that is unemployed and is looking for these types of work (ILO, 2002). ILO distinguishes between exploitive or hazardous child labour and child labour. The latter includes work performed by children under 18 years, which does not necessarily have a negative impact on the child. Exploitive or hazardous work is defined as work that puts the child in obvious danger, harms them, or keeps the child from pursuing their education (Edmond and Pavnick, 2005). This definition tends to be used by scholars who perceive child labour as an overall negative practice, putting emphasis on the negative impacts on the child as a result of child labour (Ravallion and Wodon, 2000; Basu, 1999). A poverty trap, or child labour trap, is commonly descried as a mechanism which traps children in poverty. It is seen as a result of working children not attending school and missing out on learning the essential skills needed for high-income jobs (Basu, 1999). Even if working children are attending school, school attendance tends to be lower among this group and educational failure is more common (Ravallion and Wodon 2000). The definition of work, created by the ILO, is, however problematic since it does not include domestic work. This is a recurring problem in the statistics of child labour and child work. If a child is responsible for many domestic tasks can they free other family members to engage in economic activities. This implies that statistics and research that excludes domestic work will be misleading (Edmond, 2003). One can see a change in the reports from ILO, where they include household chores in their latest report on child labour (ILO, 2017).
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Other scholars strive to distinguish between child labour and child work, rather than distinguish between child labour and exploitative and hazardous child labour. They use a definition on child labour taken from David and Stein who defines child labour as "any work by children that interferes with their full physical development, the opportunities for a desirable minimum of education and of their needed recreation". This includes domestic work and implies that the term child labour should be limited to work that bring negative impacts on the child. While the scholars who uses this definition seems to emphasize that work should not be defined as child labour unless it is exploitive or hazardous (Lieten, 2002). Some of these researchers are Myers (2001), Liebel (2002), White (1999), they have gravitated towards using the term child work. This division of child labour and child work can be seen in a recent statistical report produced by the Bolivian government (INE, 2016). The government defines child labour as an activity that interferes with the child’s education or development or work that is directly dangerous and harmful for the child. The report includes all children that are engaged in economic activity and refers to them as working children (INE, 2016). One can also see a reflection of this definition in Bolivian WCOs, where for example the biggest WCO: UNATSBO only uses the term “child workers” (UNATSBO, 2010).
In conclusion, some scholars differ between child labour and exploitative or hazardous child labour and the term child labour tends to be used when one sees child work as a negative practice. While scholars that considers that not all work practiced by children are hazardous are using the term child work. Based on this, child work will be used as a primary term in this study as it is more neutral, and it is the most common term in Bolivian documents.
3.2 Child work in the Convention on the Rights of the Child
There are many international conventions concerning child work and these are guiding the response from international, national, and non-governmental actors. The Convention on the
Rights of the Child (CRC) is often central in discussions regarding children and matters that
concerns them. The CRC was established in 1989 and one specific article addresses child work directly, the CRC article 32, point 1 states:
States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989)
Other articles regard this area more generally, such as article 31 that states the child’s right to rest and play, and article 28 that states the child’s right to education (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989). The CRC avoids the term child labour, but states that a child’s participation in economic activities should not be abused and that it cannot be permitted to interfere with their development. It does not directly call for children to be excluded from economic participation. The convention does not, however, state that a child has the right to participate in economic activities. It does call for states to set a minimum age for work. The approach to call for a minimum age of workers demonstrates the view that children should be excluded from the workplace, at least for a certain time (Myers, 2001).
Conventions official goal is to impact states legal framework, the CRC has, however, had a great impact on a societal level. NGOs and CSOs have strived to raise an awareness regarding
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the CRC, which has influenced cultures around the globe. One can see that the CRC is influencing other conventions, such as the ILOs Convention 182 (C.182) from 1999 with the goal: to end the worst forms of child labour, which is in line with the CRC that focuses on exploitive and hazardous work. The C.182 was the first convention in ILO that had a unanimous vote of approval, reflecting that a global consensus on child labour was starting to be reached (Myers, 2001). Worth noting is that the consensus was regarding ending the worst forms of
child labour. It is hard to find a global consensus on which type of work that can be accepted
for a child and what cannot. It is also challenging to define which types of work are hazardous for children, since one tends to focus on the direct effects on the child, which means that it is easier to predict physical effects than psychological effects (Woodhead, 1999).
CR is an extension of Human Rights (HR) and both were formed under the UN who operates under the principle of state sovereignty. This means that the national states are the principle actors in international relations. Therefore, the state is the primarily responsible for ensuring its citizens of their rights (Freeman, 2011, p. 156-157). This role is often referred to as the
duty-bearer while the citizens are called right-holders as they are entitled to rights. The duty-duty-bearer
(the state) is accountable when the right of a right-holder (citizen) is violated (Boesen & Martin, 2007).
In theory, all CRs should be fulfilled in a child’s life and these should not conflict with each other. But rights can, unfortunately, interfere with each other. By fulfilling one right another right can be violated, for example, to fulfil the right not to starve could a child work instead of attending school, and therefore is the right of education violated. There are different approaches on how to solve this conflict; one common approach is to try to determine the importance of different rights and to prioritise these, and define the basic rights (Freeman, 2011, p. 82-84). 3.3 Universalism and Relativism
As it has already been demonstrated, there are some tensions on how to interpret and implement CR. The CRC was formed with a universalistic perception that all children are equal and should have the same rights (White, 1999). Universalists, like Donnelly (2013), claim that HR are built upon universal values. They mean that a global consensus was reached through rational thinking, which means that all countries should be able to fulfil these rights. Freeman (2011, p. 125-155) describes how extreme relativism is not compatible with CR and HR as these conventions make a universalistic attempt of implementing the same rights all over the globe. Relativistic scholars (Myer, 2001; White, 1999) that defend HR, rather emphasise that one must acknowledge that HR was formed under a Eurocentric perspective and that culturally sensitivity is needed in the implementation of the rights.
As has been stated, the definition of child work is problematic, as one must define both childhood and work. Relativists emphasise that what is perceived as a good childhood differs among nations, cultures, ages, etc. Where northern cultures, in line with a universalistic view, tend to see a clear division on childhood and economic maintenance. They tend to define children by fixated age categories, for example everyone under the age of 18. Southern countries have a more collective view of a family where children play an active role in the family’s life, including economic activities. It is seen as irresponsible if the parents do not prepare their child for adulthood by providing them with necessary work-skills (Myers, 2001).
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How one perceives work differs as Western countries tend to focus on employments and jobs that directly generate an income. Where most working children in the global south tend to work at the family farm or in domestic work without earning money (Edmond, 2003). The biggest WCO in Bolivia called UNATSBO compiled a document together with three NGOs: Save The Children Bolivia, Tierra de Hombres Suiza and Tierra de Hombre Alemania. This document was sent to the Bolivian government in the year 2010. The situation of working children was described, and they proposed a legal framework that they saw would protect them from exploitation at work (UNATSBO, 2010). This document provides an understanding for how working children experience and perceive their own context, which is a relativistic interpretation on CR. UNATSBO (2010) describe their perception of a child. They mean that separating children from adults by using age categories is far from the Andean perception of a child, or a “wawa”, the Quechua (local language) word of a child. Wawa describes a way of being and acting rather than fixated age categories, they are small beings that are learning and growing. Wawas are an important part of the community and are expected to participate in all the community’s activities such as work, reunions, and celebrations. Even an adult can be seen as a wawa if they, for example, needs kindness and support.
An international convention with the purpose to provide the same rights to all children all over the globe is not un-problematic, since the perception of childhood differs among cultures (White, 1999). The discourse regarding child labour is, according to Myers (2001), what best has manifested the challenge of implementing universalistic policies into local contexts. White (1999) describes how the CRC was formed with a Eurocentric view which indicates that it is mainly European traditions and ideas that are claimed to be universalistic. A relativistic attempt is seen as the CRC acknowledges that some children may have to work and focuses, therefore, on protection for children from being exploited at work. The CRC encourages nations to establish minimum ages. This is an attempt to protect children from engaging in work, which entertains a universalistic view that children, should to the greatest extent possible, not be working. The CRC does therefore interfere to a certain extent with southern cultures where work is seen a natural part of a childhood (ibid). Many international policies and Child Rights organizations tends to focus on direct money-generating jobs and overlook domestic and farm work (Edmond, 2003).
In conclusion, universalists see the separation of childhood and work as a global value. This perception is therefore more coherent with scholars that differs between child labour and hazardous or exploitive child labour, as they tend to see child work as a general negative practice. While relativists mean that CR is formed with a Eurocentric view and that work plays an important role in the upbringing of children, in some cultures. They tend, therefore, to emphasise that not all work performed by children is exploitive and use the term child work. 3.4 Working children as active subjects
Some have used the CRC to condemn child work and others have used it to fight for the right of child workers. In many urban areas of the Global South, WCOs have been formed and they have continuously used the CRC to defend their rights to not be exploited at work, to be considered in matters that concerns them, and for their work to be recognized as a contribution to their countries rather than to be condemned (Liebel, 2002).
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The CRC combines two ways of perceiving children as either passive right owners in need of protection from adults, or as active subjects that should be listened to, recognized, and consoled in matters concerning them (White, 1999). This discrepancy is coherent with a paradigm shift in the view of children in sociology. Prout and James (1997) describes what they called the “emergent paradigm” where childhood is perceived as a social construction and children as active actors that form and construct their own social lives. Which differs from the old paradigm in sociology that tended to overlook the differences among children, and perceived childhood as a coherent time for the biological development of the individual. This view is connected to an objective-protectionist view which argues that a child should be protected by adults. White (1999), describes how this view tends to remain among universalistic perception of CR, while relativists rather emphasise that children are active subjects.
Children’s ability to reflect upon their own experiences are described by Woodhead (1999). He refers to a study performed by the organization Save the Children Sweden where they explored children’s own experiences in their work life, from countries in Central America, Asia and Africa. The children mentioned both positive and negative aspects of their work. Some children talked about economic exploitation and mentioned dangerous work tasks and hazardous environments, other negative aspects mentioned were boredom and repetitive work tasks. The children also listed positive aspects with work and the major benefit was to earn money. Other positive things about work were supporting family, skills and training, pride and respect and friendship and having fun. This demonstrates a more nuanced picture of working children’s situation, some experience exploitation but there are, as well, positive effects. It demonstrates how children themselves evaluate the benefits and risks of working (Woodhead, 1999). This perception of children as active actors and social subjects that form their own social lives has continuously been highlighted by WCOs. They emphasise (Liebel, 2002) article 12 in the CRC, which states their right to be heard, and to be considered in matters that affect them, such as legalisation regarding child work (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989). They also highlight (Liebel, 2002) article 32 which treats their right to be protected from exploitation at work, (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989) something that can be achieved by being considered equal as working adults by the law. They describe a double marginalization as workers whose power cannot be claimed in the society and as children whose judgments are questioned. The goal of the WCOs differ, some fight for their right to work to be inscribed in the CRC, while all of the organizations fight for their right to be protected in the workplace. This cannot be done if the legal framework banishes them from participating at the workplace (Liebel, 2002).
3.5 Bolivia
This study was made in Cochabamba, Bolivia, this chapter will describe the situation of working children in the country (3.5.1 and 3.5.2). To later present Bolivia’s legal framework regarding child work. This has during the last years received a lot of local and global attention and demonstrates both a universalistic and relativistic perception of child work (3.5.3).
3.5.1 Working Children in Bolivia
There is a high number of working children in Bolivia, at a number which decreases at a slower rate than in other South American countries. Some claim that this is due to that Bolivia is one
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of the poorest countries in the region (Fontana & Grugel, 2015). Fors (2012) accounts for different theories that strives to explain why children are working, where poverty and marginalisation is commonly described as the main reason. The governmental report on working children from 2016 (INE, 2016) states that 24,4% of children from ages 5-17 years are working. In urban areas 11,1% of the children are working, while in rural areas it is more common and 48,1% of children are working. The report shows that the rate of working boys is slightly higher than the rate of working girls. 21% of all children that works in Bolivia, are doing so in a harmful environment or are involved with hazardous tasks. 32% are involved with forbidden or dangerous work, which includes children under the minimum age of work, and children that work who are deprived of their education (INE, 2016). There is a correlation between working children in Bolivia and lower school attendance with the risk of dropping out of school for working children at 3.5%, and for non-working children at 0.9% (IPEC, 2012). Working children’s absence from school contributes to higher illiteracy rates. This means that the children do not acquire the skills needed for high-paying jobs in order to escape poverty (Giddens & Sutton, 2014, p. 378-379).
3.5.2 Working Children Organizations in Bolivia
There are various WCOs in Bolivia, both regional and national. These organizations consist of working children. They hold conferences to exchange experiences and knowledge and organizes themselves to fight for their right to not be exploited at work (UNATSBO, 2010). One representative from a local WCO in Cochabamba claims that the national and regional WCOs were stronger 10 years ago when they fought for a legal framework that would protect them from exploitation, however they have since, become less united in recent years. (Oral Communication with a representative from ONATSCO, 13th of April 2020). Members of UNATSBO highlight that they, as children are capable of working and of taking responsibility over their own lives as active subjects. They condemn the objective-protectionist view of children, that according to them, is manifested in international conventions. They emphasise that the CRC gives them the right to be considered regarding decisions that concern them, such as laws regulating child work (UNATSBO, 2010).
There is a consensus in the Bolivian WCOs over the need and the importance of a regulation for working children, there are various opinions regarding what these regulations should include and how they should function. In 2010 the national WCO UNATSBO wrote a document that were sent to the Bolivian government with a normative suggestion of a legal framework that included the following demands (UNATSBO, 2010):
- Receive social recognition. That children’s work should be valued and that they should not be perceived as vulnerable
- Be listened to and considered in matters that regards them
- That education should be seen as an aspiration that is compatible with work - To have time for both education and work
- To receive fair salary - To have a secure workplace
- Solidarity and understanding from co-workers - To receive respect
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- To recognise the work of children in rural areas - To see study as a job
- To manifest themselves against the politicians that strives to eradicate child work UNATSBOs proposition of a legal framework for working children is comprehensive and includes: the right to not be exploited, the right to education, the right to free healthcare, the right to practice their culture, the right to organize themselves, the right to job-contract, the right to rest and play and the right to have access to labour lawsuits. It is also mentioning the duties of the state, their parents and themselves, as working children. UNATSBO suggest methods of implications and list jobs that should be prohibited for children. They describe different types of limitations and regulations for different types of jobs (UNATSBO, 2010).
3.5.3 Law 548
The impact of UNATSBO was seen when Bolivia established a new law in the year of 2014:
Code for children and Adolescents/Law 548. The law lowered the minimum working age from
the age of 14 years to 10 years for self-employment and 12 years for employment. This was seen as controversial by local and international policymakers as the international standard for minimum working age is 14 years old (Liebel, 2015). Law 548 strives to protect working children from being exploited rather than banishing child work which would leave the working children without a legal protection (Ley 548, 2014). The law was formed with the CRC as a base and is supposed to provide full and effective exercise of CR with a section on child work. When the law first was proposed in 2013 it banned work for children under the age of 14, which was the minimum age of that time. This led to a rise in demonstrations from the country’s WCOs, as they had, for a long time lobbied for their rights to work and a legal framework that would protect them from exploitation at work - the document from UNATSBO is one example. Law 548 was re-written due to the heated demonstrations and the involvement of Evo Morales, the president at that time, who took the side of the WCOs as he himself had been a child worker. The WCOs and UNATSBOs proposition of a legal framework, was considered as the new law took form; this case is the first formed with consideration with the children in matter, and aligns with article 12 in the CRC (Liebel, 2015).
Law 548 gives working children the same rights as working adults. It distinguishes between different forms of work, where one is employment or a urban job and the other is work undertaken within the family and community. The second type of work is normally agricultural work which is perceived to transfer traditional values and knowledge to the children. It is therefore seen as a positive aspect if children engage in this type of work (Ley 548, 2014). It is assumed that families wants what is best for their children, so the law does not establish any methods of protection for the children that works within the family and community, even though it is stated that agricultural work can be exploitive. Work where an employment is undertaken is seen to be more exploitive, and the legalisation around this type of work is more elaborated and many measures of control is set in place (Liebel, 2015). As stated by Myers (2001), most of child work in Global South is often practiced on the family farm. To overlook the possibility of children being exploited at home presents a problematic scenario since it makes it difficult for the state to protect the rights of children that works with their families.
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Changing the law raised a lot of concerns and was perceived as a setback for the development of human rights in Bolivia (Fontana & Grugel, 2017). The ILO, along with the European Union, the Group of Latin America and Caribbean and various other countries and national politicians criticized Law 548. They claimed that the law was not aligning with international conventions, – and they urged for the Bolivian government to raise the minimum age for working children (ILO, 2018). On the 21st of July 2017, a decision was made by the Bolivian government to raise the minimum age of work to 14 years (Sentencia Constitucional plurinacional. 0025/2017, 2017).This change received critique from professor Liebel together with the WCO: NATS European, they claimed that the Bolivian government followed universalistic norms instead of being guided by the best interest of the Bolivian children (Piejko Patiño, 2018). The regional WCO: Organizasión de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes Trabajadores de Cochabamba (ONATSCO) in Cochabamba published a manifest that commented the law change, they wrote “The organized children and adolescents (NATs) in Cochabamba are sad, feel abandoned, deceived, disparage, surprised, and especially, with a rage after hearing about the recent enactment […]” (My translation, ONATSCO Cochabamba Bolivia, 2018). One representant from ONATCSO commented the law, and said that they are proud over Law 548 as methods of protection for working children over the age of 14 is established, but that there is a lack of implementation of the law and many children are exploited at work. She means that the children must insist and demonstrate if they want to see the law implemented. She also criticizes the government for increasing the minimum age to 14 years, as the reality is that children works from the age of 10, without protection from any legal framework (Oral Communication with a delegate from ONATSCO, 13th of April 2020).
The Bolivian law of working children is an expression of the divide and complexity between the universalistic aspiration to protect children from economic participation and a relativistic interpretation that accounts for cultural sensitivity and protect children that are working.
4. Method
In order to fulfil the objectives of this study, I used narrative method, where the focus lays on the respondents’ stories. Narrative method was used in both the collection of data and the analysis of it (Johansson, 2005; Riessman, 1993; Bryman, 2012). While some narrative studies focus on the discourse of how a story is created, this study focused on the content of the stories and how respondents added meaning to their experiences (Riessman, 1993, p. 1-7).
4.1 Sampling
The interviews were held with seven FCWs between the ages of 18-29 years that grew up around Cochabamba, the third biggest city in Bolivia (Cochabamba Bolivia Net, 2019). I used purposive sampling (Bryman, 2012, p. 434), and achieved this with the help of a woman that works with local aid-projects who assisted me with contacting persons that met the requirements for this study. I strived to make the study representative of both genders; 3 of the 7 respondents were men and the other 4 were women. It would have been interesting to interview children for this study, however, interviewing minors often raises ethical concerns (Vetenskapsrådet, 2017). I chose to find respondents over the age of 18. This may imply that the respondents have a different perspective on child work than they had as children. A benefit
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from interviewing adults was that they were able to tell me about their whole childhood and the impact of their work.
4.2 Interview
I used a narrative method while conducting the interviews. I strived to encourage the respondent to tell stories about their own experiences rather than opinions or theoretical knowledge (Chase, 1995).
The interviews were semi-structured, with open-ended questions that encouraged the respondents to tell stories about their childhood and work experiences. I developed an interview-guide with 7 main-questions (appendix 1). This interview template was put together in consideration with the women from the aid-project as she has good knowledge about the respondents living conditions and the local culture. The interview template kept the focus on child work and allowed for comparison between individual responses (Riessman, 1993, p. 54-56; Johansson, 2005, p. 247). An un-structured interview would enable the respondents to talk more freely about their experiences and increased their influence over the interview. However, as a novice interviewer a semi-structured interview was a better option, and it increased the comparability of the interviews (Bryman, 2012, p. 412-416).
The interviews were held by videocall as the outbreak of Covid-19 and a national lockdown and placed restrictions on in-person contact. The interviews took between 45-80 minutes these were recorded, for me to be able to transcribe them later. For ethical purposes, I started each interview by asking the participants for permission to record the call and save the interviews for the purpose of the study, which all participants agreed to.
Data collection can often entail some risk for the validity and reliability of the study. Interviews can be involuntarily biased by the researcher (Johansson, 2005, p. 244-273). I am for example, influenced by western perception on child work. I strived therefore, to be open minded during the interview and listened carefully to the respondents instead of making pre-assumptions of what was being said (Johansson, 2005, p. 244-273).
4.3
Analysis
I used a holistic method to analyse the results in order to focus on the experiences of FCWs, (Johannson, 2005, p. 244-245, 288-296; Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach and Zilber, 1998, p. 62-87) which enabled me to gain a deeper understanding of the FCWs context, work and how it related to CR.
The interviews were held and transcribed in Spanish and I later translated the quotes that I used in this study. The interviews were analysed with a holistic content analysis, which enabled me to identify themes and aspects that are related to the children’s work, CR and their context. The approach has a hermeneutic focus rather than a focus on the narratives discourse (Johannson, 2005, p. 244-245, 288-296). I followed the steps that were described by Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach and Zilber (1998, p. 62-87) as I analysed the interviews. As per their approach, I read the stories several times and wrote down my first “global impression” of the narrative. After this, I read the narrative one more time in order to find common themes.
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I strived to gain a deeper understanding of the FCWs experiences and a more thorough analyse were needed. I chose 3 interviews that I would analyse more closely by following the remaining steps described by Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach and Zilber (1998, p. 62-87). I created a diagram (appendix 2) that demonstrated the different types of employment: employed, self-employed and work within the family. The diagram demonstrates the different themes in the narratives and the themes regarding experiences from work was categorised depending on their general experiences from work as either: exploitive, non-exploitive or time-consuming. These categories were identified inductively which means that the categories were not chosen before the analysis, but after the global impression of each narrative were written and themes had been identified. The type of employment seemed to have a great influence over the child’s working condition and the general experience from work is vital for the objectives of this study. The appendix enabled me to find a combination of 3 narratives, where each one represented one type of employment and one type of general experience from work. The chosen narratives were Isabel, as she had experience from time consuming work and work within the family, Richard as he had experience from exploitive work and worked as a self-employee and Carlos as he had experience from non-exploitive work and worked as an employee. I analysed the identified themes in these 3 narratives, which later were analysed from the lenses of relativistic and universalistic perspectives on CR (Lieblich, Tuval-Mashia & Zilber, 1998, p. 67-87).
The interviews could had been analysed with a thematic analysis (Bryman, 2012, p. 578-581). This had enabled me to analyse all 7 interviews equally, by searching through all narratives for common themes. The holistic picture of the narratives would, however, been lost, and I would not been able to see how work interrelated with other parts of the FCWs childhood and how the themes were connected to one and another. By collecting 7 narratives in the beginning of this study could I choose to deep-analyse stories that were, somewhat, representative for the FCWs as they represent different types of employment and different experiences from child work (appendix 2). Through the analyse-process could I see how some aspects were recurring in many narratives while other aspects were unique.
The process of collecting material and analysing the narratives was both done with the theoretical framework. This is with inspiration from Ethnographic Content Analysis (ECA) which is an approach with a movement back and forth in the collecting of data, analysis of material and connecting it with the theoretical framework (Bryman, 2012, p. 557). Grounded Theory is an approach that forms a theory with the collected material by also identifying common themes, this would have given the respondents a greater influence over the result (Bryman, 2012, p. 567-570). Nevertheless, ECA was more suited to this study due to the time-limitation and the fact that the methodology should primarily focus on narratives and perspectives on CR.
Qualitative research has been criticized as these studies are more dependent on the interpretation of the researcher and entails, therefore a greater risk of being interpreted in a subjective way. If the stories are misinterpreted will the validity of the study be lost (Bryman, 2012, p. 368). I strived therefore to ask the respondents if it occurred un-clarities during the interview and to summarize their answers in the end of each question. Johansson (2005, p315) describes that a criterion for validity in a narrative study is that it provides an understanding of
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the story’s context and gives a cohesive picture of the narrative. I tried to increase the understanding of FCWs context by account for more narratives than the ones that were deep-analysed. The global impressions provide a cohesive picture of each story. Johansson (2005, p. 313-317) is also describing how narrative theory emphasises that a conversation is a social product meaning that one cannot expect to re-create the same interviews or stories. The criteria of transability is, therefore important so that the reader can follow the study and the analyse process to be able to evaluate if it is credible (ibid). I have therefore attached the interview guide and provided quotes in the analysis that exemplifies the experiences from the FCWs narratives. I have tried to provide alternative interpretations of the respondents quotes in order to give a fair picture of their stories and increase the study’s validity.
4.4 Ethical considerations
I followed the ethical guidelines from “Vetenskapsrådet” (2017), while conducting the study. The participants were informed about their confidentiality before the interviews and the option to withdraw from the study without any implications. The collected data was safely stored and only used for the purpose of this study. In order to keep the confidentiality of the interviewees they been given fictional names in this study.
The question of power is central in a conversation and especially in an interview where the roles are settled, the power lays at the interviewer who leads the conversation and have the position of asking questions, and have control in analysing and demonstrating the answers of the respondent (Johansson, 2005, p.99, 252-ff). My position as an interviewer from West will most likely increase my perceived power and increase the distance between me and the interviewee. By being introduced by the women from the aid-projects this distance could be shortened, and I could gain some trust from the interviewees.
5. Analysis
This section will present the results from the interviews and provide analysis of them. The analyses of the respondents are presented separately, as I strive to provide a holistic picture of each narrative. This chapter will be presented through three different categories: time consuming work (5.1, 5.2 and 5.3) exploitative work (5.4 and 5.5), and non-exploitative work (5.6 and 5.7). Within the categories, 2-3 different narratives will be presented, one of which will be analysed deeper through different themes. All deep analysis will contain the discussion of universalism and relativism and how it applies to the answers given.
5.1. Maria – Experience of time-consuming work
Maria focused her story on her, and her families work when she was asked about her childhood. This might be due to the fact that she knew that the interview was about working children, but as her story evolved one could understand that working was a major part of her childhood. She started working at the age of five and worked long hours from the early morning until it was time for class at 6pm. During the beginning of the interview she was neutral to her experiences and she did not use a lot of describing or evaluating words. However, when speaking about her family’s economy, she was more emotional, expressing that “that part has been hard on us!” Maria’s parents brought her to a hospital where she sold peanuts, while the rest of the family were selling in more central places in the city. She said that her parents never forced her and
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her siblings to sell but they said that it “would be helpful”. She said, “I felt that I had to work to be able to, eh… to have something better, let’s say”, referring to her future possibilities. A recurring word in her story is “la necesidad (the need), which demonstrates how the economic needs were always present. She said, “I noticed, that if you don’t work, you don’t eat”. She described that a good day was when they sold all the peanuts and that a bad day was when they could not sell anything, which meant that they would not be able to buy food for that day. The need seems to be the obvious reason to why they were working. When she was asked about what adults around them thought about them working, she answered that their relatives knew about their situation and came to help them with some food and clothes. This indicates that she connects the need to work to be equal to the economic situation of her family, as her answer is more related to how other adults responded to the family’s economic needs, rather than their work.
The time-consuming work she had as a child seems to have left her with a sense of a lost childhood. When she spoke about various aspects around this, she uses more details and becomes more emotional. She spoke about not being able to engage with the society, spend time with her friends, and felt alienated from her peers. Maria said “So, not, eeh, not being able to be a child, an adolescent, not be able to live like that, how one should be living, you know… that affects you a lot.” This also seems to affect her now as a parent of a two-year-old son, she said
I have never been a child, I was never able to have a doll, I haven’t had that, I have never been able to go to a playground to have fun. So now, when I already am 23 years old, I can’t go to a… normally, calmly, because I don’t like playgrounds, because I don’t know how a child can have fun at those places. As I have my kid, I am obligated to go so that he can have a better childhood than mine.
This aspect of missing out of a childhood seems to be the main negative aspect of work in her life, as it was recurrent in her story and received most of the focus. She mentioned other negative aspects, such as not being able to focus on school which gave her mediocre grades. Some of her siblings dropped out of secondary school as they could not find time to study. Another negative aspect that she mentioned is that customers was un-pleasant towards her when she worked in a store as an adolescent. The work did not seem to have been exploitive, but the amount of time that she worked gave her a feeling of a lost childhood. When she was asked directly about the positive aspects of work, she said that it enabled her family to go further in life, by buying their own house which improved the family’s life situation. She hopes to be able to give her son a better life so that he does not have to work, which indicates that she thinks that children should not be working.
The themes in her story are: time-consuming work, economic needs and a sense of a lost childhood.
5.2 Allison – Experience of time-consuming work
Allison has been working a lot in her and her family’s home with cleaning and cooking. Her family played an important role in her story and she described how she often missed her parents that worked a lot. Her general description of her childhood was that it was good without any bigger preoccupations. She grew up in a rural area with her family, her older siblings moved to the closest village when they reached the age of 13 in order to be closer to school. She described
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that she missed her siblings and that she got a greater responsibility of doing the chores at home as her parents were working long days. She did however say that she, at this time, had time to play and do her homework. The responsibility became even greater when she moved into her siblings as they had to take care of their own household.
Her father passed away when she was 17 years old, which is described as the hardest time of her childhood that overshadows other negative aspects of her childhood. At two occasions she started to speak about other challenges but interrupted herself to change the subject to her father’s illness. One example is when she described a typical bad day by saying: ”When my dad and mom were fighting and… or no, when my dad got sick, years ago”.
Her time in the city is described as challenging due to two factors: she was far away from her parents and the countryside, and she had to work more at home. She said “Or it was, for me a lot, I had to wash the clothes, I had to do my homework, I had to cook, I had to do the dishes, I had to do everything!”. Which shows that all chores in the home was perceived as a duty, and not anything that she chose to do by herself. It happened that she did not have time to do her homework due to the house chores and stayed up late at night in order to finish them. She missed her parents and the countryside, saying “I said, ‘I would give so much to have my mom here with me’, because I saw others, my classmates, I saw how their mothers cooked, that they only had to do their homework and nothing else.” Which demonstrate how she missed her mother but also a mother’s help in the house. She described how a good day was when the whole family came together, but that was very rare.
She said that the work of her parents was important as it gave the family money and the children were able to study. When she and her siblings started secondary school they had to move to the city, as there was no secondary school close to her parents’ home in the countryside. The children had, therefore, to take care of their own household. The parents said that it was important that the they worked so that the children would go further in life and “become something” (Isabel’s words). The work as a mean to go further in life was also described by Maria. The fact that her parents were working and that the children lived in their own house led to a greater workload for the children. This demonstrates how the children’s household chores enabled both parents to work and contribute to the family’s economic income, which according to Edmond (2003), is why one should not overlook domestic work.
The themes in her story are: Missing her parents, responsibility of household work and to go further in life.
5.3 Isabel – Experience of time-consuming work
Isabel’s story is focused around her family, which is described as loving and supporting. She repeatedly mentioned how her parents helped their children by, for example, paying for their education and how the children helped their parents by working with them on their farm. A quote that described her childhood is “So, that was how my childhood was… really nice in one way and in other ways was it also very ahem… haha, yes a bit… not a lot of time to enjoy the childhood. I grew up like that.”.
Isabel grew up in a rural area and she described thoroughly the work of her family, specifically speaking about how they woke up early in the morning to harvest maize that they sold on the
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market during the day. She went to school in the afternoons and did her homework and helped her mother in the kitchen during the evenings. The family sowed different types of vegetables depending on the season, so their working conditions varied and during some periods they were out at the market until 5 a.m. She described the job as tiring and time consuming and that it was not unusual to stay up at night to finish her schoolwork. She said “every day was like that, constantly, every day we woke up in the early morning, we worked, we reaped so that we could go and sell, so that we could sell these products, and yes, I got tired and I also went to school tired.” There were times when she did not want to work but she motivated herself to continue as she was aware of her family’s economic needs and her parent’s workload. She explained how her parents helped her and her siblings by, for example, paying for the costs of the university. The mutual help among the family members is a recurring topic that is intertwined with stories of their work. She said that the work enabled her family to move forward; her parents have been able to pay off debts and buy a house and herself, as well as her siblings, are studying at the university.
Working was described as part of her education and she said that “we have had a lot of experiences from work, from life”. This suggest it is not only seen as a mean to gain money but as a way to educate and to gain important life experiences. This is coherent with the indigenous culture in Bolivia that tends to be more evident in the rural areas (UNATSBO, 2010).
She finished her story by saying, “The work has not affected me much, nor my childhood, the work a little…, but not much, because I knew the need of my family, so…”. This shows that she was able to relate with her family’s situation and the relative impact it had in her life. She could found the motivation to work because she understood the needs of her family, and this factor is important to account for as it is unclear if she had felt more exploited if she had been obligated to work.
5.3.1 Isabel – Themes
Isabel’s narrative gives a deeper understanding of the experiences from time consuming work and is one example of the working situation for children that work within the family. The three themes of this story are: Time consuming work (5.3.3.1), mutual help (5.3.1.2), and significance of the job (5.3.1.3). The themes are closely connected to each other and are present through the whole interview. The job was time consuming and she described it as challenging and tiring, but she worked in order to help her parents out because she understood the significance of the work she did for her family.
5.3.1.1 Time consuming work
A major part of Isabel’s story regards her work with her parents at their farm. It became clear early in the interview that this work was time consuming and characterized the main part of her childhood. She finished describing her childhood by saying “we [her and her sisters] played, when we had time, […] but there were only specific times to play. So, we played and in the next moment we were called to the house to help out.”.
The work, in itself, did not seem to be exploitive, as the major negative aspect of the work was its magnitude. She described how her work affected her childhood and said “I didn’t enjoy a lot of, like, ehm my childhood, like sometimes others could enjoy, like, like everything, playing, having free time, let’s say. But in my case, I, I worked, almost constantly, helping my parents,
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more than anything, I didn’t have time ehm, to play”. This sense of a lost childhood was, as described, even more prominent in Maria’s story, who like Isabel, did not mention that the work in itself was exploitive but that it was time consuming. Isabel’s right to rest and play is violated, a right that is establish by the CRC art. 31 (1989) and emphasised by UNATSBO (2010). Isabel’s working hours differed depending on the season and what type of crop they were cultivating, but they normally started to work before sunrise. She described recurrently that they worked a lot, “we worked like that, in that way, every day without stopping, we worked without resting”. She described how she got tired and would compare her life her classmates and said to herself: “Why are we working, why, why do I always have to work while the others don’t?”. She is her demonstrating that the work affected her emotional life and a how she reflected upon it, which demonstrates the active-subject view that Prout and James (1997) described. Her descriptions of the family’s work are often followed by descriptions of the family’s economic situation and descriptions of their mutual help. The fellowship with her family and understanding of the economic situation, seems to be important motivating factors for her. She described how her education got affected because she only had limited times to study. She managed to receive good grades with help from her older sisters, saying “It was very… like a pain… how can I say it? The school, ahem, when a family also work, when we helped our parents, no… it was a bit hard!”. She said that it was not unusual that she stayed up during the nights to study. One can wonder if her workload was greater than that of her parents and if her parents were asleep when she was studying. The division between work and spare time probably becomes more unclear for Isabel as she worked together with her family. Edmond (2003) described the difficulty to establish restrictions of work within the family which more often affects girls more than boys. As Isabel described that a girl has “the responsibility to take care of the house and kitchen, as well”.
She explained that many of her classmates were also working, and that her teachers were conscious of the children’s involvement in work. The teachers noticed when a child was tired in class and were understanding if a child had not been able to finish his homework due to work. Isabel said that “we were not able to fulfil all of the responsibility in school”. The teachers organised a meeting with the parents to find a way to help the children with their workload. This demonstrates an attempt to make school and work compatible for the children. Isabel’s story is the only one that demonstrates how the teachers at an institutional level had knowledge and understanding of the situation for the working children. Other respondents (Richard and Pablo) witness about support from specific teachers and the rest of the respondents said that the teacher did not know or did not care about that their students also were working. Isabel grew up in a rural area which, has a higher percent of working children than the urban areas (INE, 2016). Relativists (UNATSBO, 2010; White, 1999; Liebel, 2003), emphasise how work has a more central part of family life in rural areas comparing to urban cultures. This might explain why Isabel’s teachers had a greater understanding and a more accepting attitude regarding the work of the children.
Isabel described how she often reflected upon her situation. She described asking God: “Why Lord do we have to go through these challenges” which shows that the burden of the job impacted her deeply. She said, “in all of these things, we have to strive and help each other”.
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She often talked about the importance of working hard if one wants to go further in life. This attitude might be an effect from working a lot as a child or it might be the reason to why she managed to work a lot. She explained that time for rest and playing were sacrificed in order to work and receive an income, she said “we earned our living, with the sacrifice of work”.
5.3.1.2 Mutual help
Isabel spoke well about her family, and starts the interview by saying “I grew up, more than anything, together with my parents, with my family, I did not have a home without parents, I was always with them and trusted them”. The central role of the family and the longing to spend time with them differs from other respondents (that will be presented further down, such as: Pablo, Maria and Lisbeth) that rather described their families as “dysfunctional” and felt ease when they could come away from home.
The word ayudar (to help) is recurring in her story, she described that she from a young age helped her parents with their job at the farm. She said, “I did not feel obligated because I knew the need and I wanted to help, to co-operate… so in that way I happily helped my parents, because I knew their need”. However, she also said she worked at the farm because she thought this was her duty as a child. While these statements contradict each other they could both be true, as the farm work was a part of the family-life is it likely that it was included in the children’s chores, but that the children worked more hours than what was expected of them. This demonstrates both the perception of a child as an active-subject that is capable of taking her own decisions and the objective-protectionist view, where a child is perceived as more passive and in need of protection and guidance from its parents, which is described by Prout and James (1997). Isabel took the decision to work at the farm as an active subject, but at the same time was the work a part of the chores that her parents obligated her to do.
The help expected from family members was mutual. Isabel described how her older sisters helped her with her studies, so she received good grades. Speaking about her parents, she said “they helped us as well, they helped us with our studies, with the economy and a lot of things that we needed, we needed material, to buy the things that were requested from school,”. She also described how her parents supported them economically as they entered university. The fact that she received help from her parents is given as one reason to why she helped them “we helped our parents because they were helping us”. Isabel described how she still helps her parents on the farm when she is able. This shows that she still carries a responsibility and shares community with her parents.
5.3.1.3 Significance of the job
The job had a great significance in Isabel’s and her family’s life and the importance of it is often mentioned in the same context as the other two themes: time consuming work and mutual help. One example is “So, that was how my childhood, and my adolescents were, just work and work and work and more work. And although I got tired and I said, ‘I want to quit’ but no, I didn’t quit, because they are my parents and we were going through a great need”. Demonstrating that the ability to contribute income is a primary factor in motivating a positive association with working through childhood. That children sees the economic income as the major positive aspect of their work is highlighted by Woodhead (1999), and scientific theories is often giving poverty as the main reason for child work (Fors, 2012). Isabel described work as a sacrifice
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they paid in order to earn their living. She described how the income enabled them to go further in life, which is a recurring factor in many narratives. She said “So, we have paid back the money and now we’re missing almost nothing, we have our house, my parents have what they want. And we are studying the career of our dreams so that we can go further in life”. Isabel explained that her parents have worked because they wanted to give their children a better life than what they have had.
Their economic situation became more pressing as her father got injured in an accident. She described this situation as a crisis as he could not work and had to take a loan out from the bank. The family’s economy was fragile, but they managed to mortgage their loan with the income from the farm.
Isabel said “and I helped my parents all the time because they needed someone that helped them, because there were no other harvesters, or… well…we were able to help them, so yes…” This reflects what Edmond (2003) argues in his article suggesting there is a risk of not recognizing these children as workers and not including them in statistics and research, as Isabel performed the same roles as other workers that would have been paid.
The work has not only an economic significance, as Isabel worked with her parents, she can spend more time with them than if she had stayed at home or worked at a different place. This differs from other respondents (Pablo, Richard, Allison) that described how work hindered them from spending time with their family, where in Isabel’s case it provided an opportunity to be with her family. She did, however, describe that working hindered them from spending quality time together. The work also had a socialisation and educational value as she described that her parents “put me almost in school, because they brought us as 1-year olds [to the farm]”. This is in line with the Bolivian law (Ley 548, 2014) that emphasises the cultural value of work in rural areas.
She finished the interview by saying:
It has not affected my childhood that much. I was never thinking about leaving school. One can say that the weight of the work and the circumstances did not affect my life a lot, neither my childhood, the work, a little bit…, but not much, because I knew about the need in my family.
Here she demonstrates an understanding of the family’s need as an explanation to why the work did not affect her. If the work had not been experienced as important, she might would have experienced the work as exploitive which would have left greater marks in her life.
5.3.2 Were Isabel’s rights violated or fulfilled?
By analysing Isabel’s story from the lenses of relativism and universalism is different aspects perceived as violation and/or fulfilment of CR and a deeper understanding of how her experiences relate to CR can be reached.
The number of hours spent working by Isabel would likely be opposed by both universalistic and relativistic scholars (Basu, 1999; Myers 2001; Liebel, 2002) as the workload affected her time to study and sleep and her spare time. She talked about how she often felt tired and wished that she did not have to work. Despite the lack of sleep during her childhood she said that the work did not affect her, and she received good grades and are now studying at the university.
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UNATSBO (2010) represents one relativistic view of CR and child work. They advocate for the child’s right to combine work and school. The conflict of having time for both work and studies is clearly demonstrated in Isabel’s narrative and her teachers meeting with the students’ parents is therefore a good example of an attempt to make these compatible.
According to a relativistic perception of CR, children are able and have the right, to take decisions over their own lives, this is called an active-subject view of children (Liebel, 2002). Isabel described how the work at the farm was partly an obligation towards her parents and partly voluntary as she wanted to help her family. Her narrative demonstrates a willingness to work and a conscious decision-making-process, from a relativistic view would her rights to take her own decisions been met. From a universalistic view (White, 1999) it would be stressed that the number of workhours demonstrates why parents needs to protect their children from economic activity.
Isabel spoke about how the income was essential for the costs of accommodation and food, and how it has enabled her and her siblings to study at the university. These rights may not have been fulfilled if the children had not been working. Isabel herself, captures a complexity and contradiction in both HR or CR as she said that she and her family “earned our living with the sacrifice of work”. Which demonstrate how one right might have to be sacrificed in order to fulfil another right- as described by Freeman (2011, p. 82-85).
Isabel’s cultural context is exemplary to why relativistic scholars argue for the need for CR to become more culturally sensitive (Myers 2001; White, 1999). She is raised in a rural area and even though it is unclear if she personally identifies as indigenous most of the people in her area are Quechuas. Isabel discussed how working at the farm had both educational and emotional value, as it was important for her to be close to her family and take on economic responsibility. These factors are prominent in Law 548 (Ley 548, 2014), which may also imply that working has cultural value to those in rural areas. Relativists would emphasise that Isabel’s ability to participate in work life with her family fulfils her cultural rights. One of UNATSBOs (2010) demands of legal framework regards recognition of the work of children in rural areas. They describe the differences between work in rural and urban areas which might explain why Isabel’s narrative is not reflecting more of UNATSBOs demands, as these are more relevant for urban workers.
Isabel did not suffer from exploitation or violation of right’s at work which aligns with Bolivian Law 548, which supports a relativistic view. The law is built on an assumption of that no measures of security are needed because the family and community want what is best for the child (Ley 548, 2014). The presence of Isabel’s parents at work might be the reason to why her rights was not directly violated at work. One can however see that the working hours for Isabel deprived her of her time to study and rest. The fact that she worked with her family might be an explanation for the lack of restricted working hours, as there was no clear line between work and spare time. The family or another duty bearer (Boesen & Martin, 2007) should have restricted her working hours, which the teachers attempted to do.
In conclusion, was the fact that Isabel was working a violation of rights from a universalistic perspective. They would mean that she was not compatible to decide over her own workhours
