Fighting Child Exploitation and Abuse in Bangladesh 

At age 11, Vimala joined the ranks of India's working children, rolling cigarettes for a boss who had loaned her mother about $300. Some days Vimala worked up to 15 hours a day to meet her quota of a thousand cigarettes, paying down her mother's debt 15 cents at a time.

For Vimala and nearly 120 million school-aged children around the world, going to school sounds like a dream. Some as young as five work full-time every day. The International Labour Organization estimates another 130 million children work part-time to help meet their families' basic needs.

Working children often face hazardous conditions. In many cases, they're at risk of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse.

At times, efforts to tackle the problem only make it worse. An example is the Bangladesh government's action to force one company to lay off thousands of child labourers. Nearly half ended up working in more dangerous and hard-to-regulate industries like the sex trade.

World Vision's approach addresses the root cause of child labour—poverty. Staff members strive to improve conditions for working children and eliminate the worst forms of child labour.

Through your generous support as a Crisis Child Partner, World Vision helps parents increase their household income so they can afford to send their children to school. In other cases, World Vision assists families to pay off their debts so children can be released from bonded labour.

Click here to become a Crisis Child Partner. Your monthly gifts will make it possible for disadvantaged youths to escape the horrors of child labour and to focus on hope for a better future.