unt of hours children could work a day in a textile factory. It wasnt until the Fair Labour Standards Act of 1938 that real progress was made in child labour in the United States. One example of these terrible abuses is the story of Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani child who was forced into labour as a carpet weaver. At the age of four, the boy was sold as an indentured servant to a factory owner for the equivalent of $16 dollars. Iqbals parents were forced to sell him in order to feed and clothe the rest of their family, a situation that is extremely common in the poor villages of India like Iqbals. At the factory, Iqbal would begin work around 6 a.m., working 14-hour days with one 30-minute break for lunch. The conditions in the factory were very poor with very little lighting and no fresh air. The children that worked there were not allowed to speak and were often beaten if the broke the rules or made mistakes. When Iqbal was 10 years old, he was severely beaten by the factory owner, a man named Arshbad, and decided to escape and report it to the police. When the police looked the other way, Iqbal was forced to return to the factory and was chained to his loom. Some time later, Iqbal escaped and went to a meeting of the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, an organization whose goal was to free Pakistans bonded workers. Here Iqbal listened to a man named Kahn talk and spoke to him afterward. With Kahns help, Iqbal was free and started to attend a school operated by the BLLF. Iqbal became a crusader for the rights of children, addressing crowds across India and Pakistan. His work had a large impact, reducing the export demand once people in developed nations heard of the conditions in the factories. Iqbal was awarded the Reebok Human Rights award in 1994 and continued to study hard at school with dreams of becoming a lawyer and fighting for childrens rights. Because his work had resulted in the loss of income to many factory workers due to a decre...
