In Iran, like in other countries of the world, there are children who work either voluntarily or forcibly. According to the economic and political situation of the society, the number of children labour in the country may fluctuate in different periods. The available statistics on the number of children labour in Iran are scattered. At different times, different authorities of Iran have published non-comprehensive and non-centralized statistics on the number of children labour in this country.[1][2][3][4]
In Iran, there is no accurate statistics of the number of children who working in different fields and industries however according to the census of 2005, about one million and seven hundred thousand children are involved in work.[5]
According to the latest statistics published by the Iranian authorities in June 2019, there are 14,000 garbage pickers in Tehran alone, one third of whom are 4,700 children.[6][7]
In June 2019, according to the latest report of the Ministry of Cooperation, Labour and Social Welfare in 2018, more than 336 thousand boys and 74 thousand girls between the ages of 10 and 17 were working and 89 thousand were looking for work. Accordingly, the number of children 251 thousand children are illiterate and the number of children who have dropped out of school is 1.68 million.[8][9][10]
Reasons
Waste picker in iran
In Iran, like many countries in the world, the number of children labour is increasing. Among the natural factors that have fuelled the increase of children labour, we can refer to the crises of the last few years such as economy hardship and high inflation, drought, floods, earthquakes, etc. Also, human factors such as the spread of poverty, divorce, rising cost of education, migration of children from neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan and children from underdeveloped rural areas and towns to cities with opportunities have been among the most important factors of child labour in Iran.[1][11][5][2][12][13]
Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Minister of Interior in 2019, while analysing and describing the situation of working children in Tehran, said: "Reports show that street children live in poor conditions and are exploited." One thing that should be noted is that up to 80% of these children are non-Iranian. Considering that some of these children were Afghan nationals, we have raised the issue with the embassy of this country. If other institutions cooperate, we can take appropriate measures to organise street children, but if they do not cooperate. It has also been decided to issue arrest warrants for gangs exploiting children with the cooperation of the police force and the judicial system.[14][15][16]
Kameel Ahmady, social researcher, in his fieldwork research Traces of Exploitation in Childhood (A Comprehensive Research on Forms, Causes and Consequences of Child Labour in Iran) believes that the issue of children labour should be looked at from a multifaceted perspective. Child labour is generally the product of a society’s dysfunctional and unfair socio-economic structure. Child labourers come from environments where there is economic poverty, neglect or a lack of guardianship due to a variety of circumstances including parental addiction, illness or disability, imprisonment, death, divorce or other problems that necessitate children working for the livelihood and survival of themselves and their families. Early entry to the work environment through family members, gangs or exploitative groups exposes child labourers to various forms of exploitation, abuse, violence and misconduct that will affect the rest of their lives.[17][18][19][20][21]
Mojdeh Golzari Nobar and Behshid Arfania believe the confusion of domestic laws in integration with international laws, the incorrect implementation of laws, and the economic crisis are among the most important factors of child labour in Iran. Examination of the current situation in Iran is impossible due to a lack of transparency. The first step should be to take control of working conditions. By creating special places to work and implementing measures such as recording information about child labour status and planning to improve children’s health and education, activists can help improve children’s working status.[22]
↑ Ahmady, Kameel (2021). Traces of Exploitation in Childhood A Comprehensive Research on Forms, Causes and Consequences of Child Labour in Iran. Avaye Buf, Denmark.
Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation worldwide, although these laws do not consider all work by children as child labour; exceptions include work by child artists, family duties, supervised training, and some forms of work undertaken by Amish children, as well as by Indigenous children in the Americas.
Tehran province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Tehran.
Vital rates refer to how fast vital statistics change in a population. There are 2 categories within vital rates: crude rates and refined rates.
The Kowsar Women Football League is a women's football league, run by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran. At the top of the Iranian football league system, it is the country's primary competition for the sport. It was established in 2007.
The Islamic Republic of Iran signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1991 and ratified it in 1994. Upon ratification, Iran made the following reservation: "If the text of the Convention is or becomes incompatible with the domestic laws and Islamic standards at any time or in any case, the Government of the Islamic Republic shall not abide by it."
Kameel Ahmady is a British-Iranian scholar working in the field of social anthropology, with a particular focus on gender, children, ethnic minorities, and child labour. Kameel Ahmady, born in 1972 in Naghadeh, West Azerbaijan Province, is an Iranian-British researcher and social anthropologist known for his research and activities in the fields of social anthropology and harmful traditional practices. He is the coordinator and developer of more than 11 research study books and 20 scientific articles in Persian, English, Turkish, and Kurdish on subjects such as child marriage, temporary marriage, White marriage, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), Male circumcision, child labour and children's scavenging, LGBTQ+ issues and identity and ethnicity.
The Order of Work and Production is one of the badges of honor in Iran, established by "Council of Iran Ministers" on November 21, 1990. The order has three classes, and is awarded by President of Iran. According to "Article 13" of the "Regulations on the Awarding of Government Orders" of Iran, the "Order of Work and Production" is awarded to persons who have achieved remarkable results in industry or agriculture in one of the following areas:
Increasing the production capacity of the country in terms of quantity and quality
Proper use of technical facilities and economic resources
Designing or implementing important industrial and agricultural projects
Innovations and inventions to improve working and production practices and increase productivity
Raising the level of technical and professional knowledge
Creating the best Islamic and human relations in the workplace
Ali Osat Hashemi is an Iranian reformist politician. He was born 1958 in Sonqor County, Kermanshah Province, Iran. He was the Deputy Minister of Iran's Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour, and Social Welfare and the head of the Iran Technical and Vocational Training Organization, from 2019 to 2021.
Poopak Niktalab is an Iranian education theorist, author, and literary researcher, especially of children's literature.
Mohammad Saleh Meftah is an Iranian jurist, political activist and journalist. He is a member of the Central Council and chairman of Progress and Justice Population of Islamic Iran. He is known as an activist of the Persian-language Twitter community and as someone who makes demands of the authorities. He was born in Estahban, Fars province, and lives in Tehran. He is known as a Principlist political figure and media activist, and he is a member of the Central Council of the Muslim Bloggers Association.
Rayehe Mozafarian is an Iranian women and children rights activist, author, and documentary filmmaker. The founder of Stop FGM Iran group and Woman and Zoorkhaneh campaign, she is best known for her researches and raising awareness about female genital mutilation in Iran and challenging the country's Zoorkhaneh Sports Federation to unban women from participating Iranian's ancient sport pahlevani and zoorkhaneh rituals.
The book In the Name of Tradition is the outcome of a comprehensive study on female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in Iran conducted by Kameel Ahmady, an anthropologist and researcher, and his colleagues. It was published in Farsi by Shirazeh in 2015 and followed by an English version by Uncutvoice publishing house in the same year. The study explores why and how FGM is practised in Iran. The researchers aimed to uncover the various dimensions of FGM between 2005 and 2015 in four provinces: West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and Hormozgan.
House with Open Door is a book by Kameel Ahmady that examines the social phenomenon of cohabitation, called "white marriage" in Iran, in which couples live together without legally marrying.
Forbidden tale: A comprehensive study on lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) in Iran was written by Kameel Ahmady, a British Iranian social researcher and anthropologist, and published by Mehri Publishing House in 2020 in London. The book is based on Ahmady's research from 2017 to 2018, which aimed to investigate the challenges and attitudes towards the Iranian transgender and homosexual community. The book later become available in Persian, Kurdish, French, Spanish, and English.
A House on Water is a book that explores the social and psychological impacts of temporary marriage and religious concubinage in Iran, researched and coordinated by Kameel Ahmady, a British-Iranian anthropologist and social researcher. The book is based on a research project that Ahmady and his team conducted between 2017 and 2018 in three major cities of Iran: Tehran, Isfahan, and Mashhad. The book aims to provide a historical overview of temporary marriage in Iran and the world and to examine its prevalence among different social groups and its consequences for those who choose this type of marriage.
Echo of Silence is a book related to the issue of women's studies in Iran. Kameel Ahmady, a social anthropologist and researcher, supervised a research book titled "Echo of Silence", which is a study about child marriage in Iran. It was published on October 11, 2016, which is also the International Day of the Girl Child. The book is based on research that Ahmady and his colleagues conducted in seven provinces of Iran between 2015 and 2016. They aimed to understand the nature of child marriage in Iran and provide suggestions for social and cultural policymakers. The Persian version of this book was published by Shirazeh Publishing House and unveiled national in library and the English version published in 2017 by Nova publishing in USA.
A research study entitled From Border to Border was by Kameel Ahmady, a British Iranian anthropologist and social researcher, and his colleagues to examine the challenges and opportunities of ethnic and local identities in Iran and the interaction of the political system with various ethnic groups and local identities between 2019 and 2021 in 13 provinces of Iran. The results of this research were published in a book with the same title by Mehri Publishing House in London in 2021. The book was later reprinted by Avaye Buf publishing house in Denmark. This book has been published in three languages Persian, English and Kurdish.
The book Traces of Exploitation in the World of Childhood is a study by Kameel Ahmady, an Iranian-British researcher and anthropologist, and his colleagues, focused on investigating child labour in Iran. The book was published by Avaye Buf in Farsi and Kurdish languages in 2021, coinciding with World Child labour Day on June 12. The publication came after the completion and release of the research project " Childhood Yawn," which Ahmady supervised for the Association for the Protection of Children and Adolescent Rights. The book is part of a series of activities and research that Ahmady and his colleagues have conducted to explore and deeply investigate different forms of children's work and the reasons that lead them to this type of work. The book highlights the causes and reasons behind child labour, which include providing a part of living expenses, learning skills for future employment, and the impracticality of formal education and training in acquiring skills and finding a job in the labour market. It also introduces some of the most significant consequences of child labour, such as the exploitation of children's work, emotional and psychological crises, personality disorders, and damage to the process of socialization.
The State Welfare Organization of Iran, also known as the Behzisti Organization, is a working organization under the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour, and Social Welfare. Established after the 1979 revolution, the organization mainly works towards the betterment, rehabilitation, and improvement of the lives of disabled people, people in need of care, and orphaned children. It supervises and runs special needs education, addiction treatments and offers suicide awareness events.
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