Lee Tucker's Bonded Child Slavery

For decades, children have been illegally enslaved in India. These children have entered a system where the poverty of their parents has affected their quality of life. In most cases of child slavery, a child is forced to work to make money for their family. Whether that be to pay off a debt or to make enough money to support all members in the household. Many previous attempts have been made to save these children. People in India have tried to use education to prevent children to fall into slavery. This attempt could work for some, but a lack of education is not the problem. Families and government officials are aware of child slavery and how children end up involved in it. These children need a way to be free of their debts and live with

These children that are forced to work in experience harsh conditions such as long hours ranging from 12 to 16 hours a day, little food and water, and no care for injuries acquired during the job. According to Lee Tucker, a consultant for Human Rights Watch, children have little to do with the life they have been given. In her article “The Small Hands of Slavery” (1996), Tucker says, "Bonded child labor" refers to the phenomenon of children working in conditions of servitude in order to pay off a debt. The debt that binds them to their employer is incurred not by the children themselves, but by their relatives or guardians-usually by a parent.” (para. 2). This means that, in most cases, the employed child is not responsible for their situation, but the parents or guardians of the child. In some cases, a family member is to be married and needs to pay for the wedding. The family would borrow money and an able child would work to pay off that debt. In other cases, a family may have many children in it and could not afford to feed and care for all of them. As a solution, a parent or guardian would give their child to an employer that would give the money the child worked for to the parent so they could support the rest of the family. These children are being forced to work because their families do not have the money to support everyone that needs