Opinion: Is protecting children from labor exploitation a distant dream?

Opinion by Opinion by Joanna Ewart-James
• 4h •

Editor’s Note: Joanna Ewart-James is executive director of Freedom United, a global community against modern slavery. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. Read more CNN Opinion.

A 16-year-old boy from Guatemala was tragically killed in July 2023, when he was sucked into a deboning machine during his late-night shift at a meat processing plant in the US.

It was the third death at the same facility since 2020.

The Department of Labor recorded that violations of child labor laws in the US rose by 37% in 2022, and the number of minors unlawfully employed in hazardous occupations increased by 26%.

Whilst these cases and statistics are reminiscent of bygone days when child labor protections were largely non-existent, here we are well into the 21st century facing an undeniable regression of child protections in the workplace.

FULL story here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/opinion-is-protecting-children-from-labor-exploitation-a-distant-dream/ar-BB1jHoBX