Knowledge of Child Rights among the Child Labourers in Tirupattur, Vellore (Dist): A Human Rights perspective

Arul John Kennedy G; Latha Munuswamy

Volume : V, Issue : IX, September - 2015

Knowledge of Child Rights among the Child Labourers in Tirupattur, Vellore (Dist): A Human Rights perspective

Arul John Kennedy G, Latha Munuswamy

Abstract :

Objective: To determine the level of knowledge of child labourers on their rights. Subjects and methods: A Qualitative and Quantitative, descriptive study was conducted with 13 children going for work (11 male and 2 female) aged 7 to 18 in and around Triupattur. Snow ball sampling was adopted to select the respondents. Respondents consent was taken and confidentiality was promised, the respondents were bit hesitant as they had awareness that child labour is hidden and masked in the society and it is illegal. A structured pre designed and pre tested self–administered questionnaire was used to collect the quantitative data and in–depth interviews were conducted to collect the qualitative data. The data was analyzed using SPSS 20. Results: All of the respondents have above average level of knowledge regarding their rights, yet not willing to make use of their rights due to their poor economic condition. Most of them are below the poverty line. In the in–depth interview it was revealed that most of the respondents were undergoing physical and verbal harassment. The working conditions were poor. Conclusion: Most of the children go for work because of poor economic condition. Unless Government takes steps to raise socio – economic Condition of poor people, India has to live with child labour.