Child Labor in Iraq

1. Child Labor in Iraq Patrick Callahan

2. What is child labor? • 5-11 years old vs. 12-14 years old www.addictinginfo.org

3. Jobs • Many children take on back-breaking jobs working at places including: • Fish markets and factories • Mechanics Shops • Construction Sites thewe.cc

4. Causes of Child labor • Saddam Hussein’s rule pushed many children into working • "But the major deterrent to education during the last quarter century of the Hussein era has been the impoverishment of Iraqi families, requiring children to leave school to make money" (Banerjee 1).

5. Affect on Specific Cities • Basra and Karbala • 70-80 Percent of children interviewed by Unicef are out working • Najaf • 50 percent of children were not in school • Baghdad • Families stand in center selling whatever they can

6. Zainabsalbi & Radya • "This is your new sister, Zainab" (Salbi 1). • Radya was to work as live-in maid but be treated as a sister • Zainab always knew they were not equal commons.wikimedia.org

7. Differences between families • Zainab’s Family • Affluent, “hip” members of Saddam Hussein’s inner circle • Radya’s Family • "Radya's parents were very poor and lived in a two-room mud house with six children" (Salbi 1).

8. Radya after Work • Finished schooling and became receptionist • Married college-educated man • Moved back to family’s neighborhood www.caitlinfitzsimmons.com

9. Radya after work (continued) • "She was now covered head to toe with her black abaya, something she never wore in her youth. Her spirit was broken" (Salbi 1). • He was shot for being a Shia. No more. No less. And that changed everything. Radya had to escape with her children from their beautiful home, became internally displaced, and bounced from one charitable group to another" (Salbi 1). www.jubbathobe.com