Every March 8 we have the duty to raise our voices louder to unite and make visible our commitment to the rights of all women, especially girls and adolescent women who live in vulnerable conditions and who are victims of hazardous child labor and in its worst forms.

We commemorate International Women's Day because it reminds us of the struggle of working women to achieve fairer working conditions and wages, better opportunities, access to education and professional training and to reject child labor. This cause constitutes a solid foundation for a planet 50-50, because until today in the world of work there are manifestations of discrimination and exclusion that affect the professional and personal development of women and threaten the future of girls and adolescents. women. 

In Latin America and the Caribbean there are still millions of girls who have not reached the minimum age to work but who are exposed to situations of violence and harassment when carrying out domestic tasks for long hours in their own homes, or when working in the homes of third parties. . Female adolescents who are victims of the worst forms of child labor, sexually and / or labor exploited or victims of trafficking networks.

There are still several challenges to ensure that girls and adolescent women have access to a life with equal opportunities. One of the main ones is to make girls and adolescent women visible in child labor statistics, this would allow the design of more effective and sustainable interventions to improve their living conditions and ensure full respect for their rights.

If women are given equal access to education, health care, decent work and representation in political and economic decision-making processes, they contribute not only to the reduction of child labor, but also to construction. of a more equitable and just society for men and women.

Let us continue the path undertaken in the struggle that began more than 100 years ago for equal rights and opportunities, non-discrimination or violence, the search for social justice and peace.

Let us think with special care about the girls and adolescent women who work, or who are at risk of doing so, in order to cut the cycle of reproduction of poverty and inequality at the roots, and generate concrete actions that make target 8.7 of the Agenda a reality. for Sustainable Development by 2030: end child labor in all its forms. 

Related note:

• Let's talk about the distribution of time and work: betting on equality contributes to reducing child labor