SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — More and more children, as young as 11, are being forced to work in flea markets or as sidewalk vendors in Tijuana according to Laura Ochoa Garza, executive director of the city’s Boy’s and Girl’s Club.
“You are finding a great deal of children working in places such as street markets,” Ochoa Garza said. “They are being made to work, especially when they’re on vacation from school.”
She also stated that, in the best-case scenarios, the children are working for their parents, but she says there are many kids working in market stalls for strangers or people they hardly know.
Ochoa Garza went on to say the children work long hours and are often exposed to violence and “adult situations.”
Often, the minors have to sleep at the places where they work with no access to private bathrooms or showers.
“Over the last few years, we’ve seen an increase in the number of minors doing work such as selling items on the streets of Tijuana,” Ochoa Garza said. “It used to be just homeless children. Now, it’s kids from humble backgrounds who have to work to help their families, often exposed to unnecessary risks out on the streets.”
The activist said in Mexico, there aren’t many government agencies that can take in these children.
“You also find children working now as domestic help or are having to take care of their younger siblings, earning very little,” she said.
According to a recent survey by Baja California’s Integral Family Development agency — or DIF, as it’s known south of the border — 471 children are working on the streets earning money as street performers or selling candy and other items.
DIF’s survey did not account for children who work as vendors in markets or produce stands.
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