Faces of Freedom: Visions of Hope for Child Laborers

Stolen Childhoods
Approximately 218 million children toil in today's global economy. Hundreds of thousands are exploited by the South Asian carpet industry. Children aged 4 to 14 are kidnapped or sold into debt bondage or forced labor where they suffer physical and emotional abuses. As adult wages are driven down and children are deprived of education, poverty is perpetually "inherited." The GoodWeave program has helped to reduce the incidence of child rug weavers by two-thirds, but an estimated 250,000 children continue to work in the inhumane conditions portrayed in these photos.