Child Labor in Peruvian Tourism

 

When we were trekking up Rainbow mountain, at the beginning of the trail I noticed two young children dressed in traditional clothing with llamas who were asking our group if we wanted to take a picture with them. The most disturbing thing about this encounter was that our tour guide was encouraging us to take pictures with these children. This is modern day child labor in the tourism industry. While there must be laws against child labor in Peru (as it is commonly recognized as inhumane), it must be very difficult to regulate child labor in tourism because the children are self employed (in that they work for tips). However, tourist agencies and government tourism officials should prohibit these children from selling their image. 

Additionally, on the car ride to Rainbow mountain, we stopped and a woman and her child were selling snacks. The woman was dressed in Western clothes while her daughter was dressed in traditional Peruvian clothing. Was this woman attempting to use her child’s traditional clothing to sell more snacks and appear authentic to tourists? It is impossible to know, especially because traditional clothing was more common in the rural mountains we were visiting. Even if her child’s traditional clothing was not of importance, why was this girl not in school? Child labor in tourism needs to be recognized and addressed.