The situation of the girl child deserves particular attention for various reasons, but particularly because of the nature of their work and the conditions under which they work. Much of their work is hidden from public view. For example, domestic service is a major sector of child employment. Girls working as child domestics are largely ?invisible? workers, dispersed and mostly ignored.

Isolated from home and sometimes virtually enslaved, they are frequently exposed to violence and sexual abuse. Those who do piecework at home are often exploited through the need to work long hours for minimal rates of pay and many children work in the informal sector, or on the streets. Not only are many children deprived of education but they do not get sufficient rest and enjoy little recreation.

...According to ILO Convention No. 182 (1999), the worst forms of child labour comprise: all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the... trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced...labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; the use, procurement or offering of a child for prostitution, production of pornography or pornographic performances; the use, procurement or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs; and work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children. This is the primary area of intervention for labour inspectors.

Other potentially harmful work: activities in this category, which are also under the purview of labour inspection systems in most countries in the world, comprise of work which exposes children to physical, psychological or sexual abuse; work underground, underwater, at dangerous heights or in confined spaces; work with dangerous machinery, equipment and tools, or which involves the manual handling or transport of heavy loads; work in an unhealthy environment which may, for example, expose children to hazardous substances, agents or processes, or to temperatures, noise levels, or vibrations damaging to their health; and work under particularly difficult conditions...for long hours or during the night or...where the child is unreasonably confined to the premises of the employer.

Even where children do not suffer the worst forms of abuse...or otherwise dangerous conditions, then they are often not allowed sufficient rest, or have to work in cramped conditions...without appropriate welfare facilities.

Finally, many millions of children traditionally work in agriculture as part of the family unit, but are exposed to risk from the fact that their home is a workplace which presents a wide variety of hazards.

....Concentrated and visible child labour: where children are at work in one place, easily visible, approached from outside, for example, seamstresses, tailors, metal workers, woodworkers...bakers, confectioners, cooks...workers in small repair shops...service workers in congested areas...helpers in supermarkets, vendors, porters, cleaners...stone and brick breakers on road and building construction sites.

In rural areas: as part of the workforce on large commercial plantations, either individually or with their families, in smaller scale but still commercial agricultural production, or harvesting for either domestic or export use, in agricultural processing, work on factory ships or on fishing fleets or fishing platforms.

Concentrated and invisible child labour: where children work together or near each other, invisible or inaccessible to outsiders: brick kiln workers, quarry workers, carpenters, helpers and carriers at construction sites...helpers producing pottery, glass, metal products, plastic goods, jeweller...traditional carpet and textile weavers whether in groups of households or small workshops, cigarette makers, workers in match, explosive and firework factories, miners for coal and minerals.