Some Moldovan children are exploited by labor. The conclusion belongs to a working group of 22 children, who monitored the way their peers are protected against economic exploitation, during three months, Info-Prim Neo reports. Irina Gusan from Drochia, a member of the working group, told a seminar on June 22 that those children came from vulnerable families. They are impelled by parents to beg. The money is used to keep the families, or for the parents' needs. Some children leave school to go and work abroad, others have to work in agriculture. “For instance, a 16-year-old girl works in a night club, and another young lady works 105 hours a week, while the law allows children to work but 35 hours a week. Practically, there are no work contracts concluded in all the cases, the children have no guarantee they will get wages,” Gusan explains. “Often the children coming from families in which the parents drink alcohol have to work to keep the other members of the family. We have noticed that many children aged 15-16 go and work in constructions, where they may get injured, since the necessary protection measures are not ensured. Girls take care of other households or other children,” said Lidia Galus from Sangerei, a representative of the monitoring group. “A 14-year-old boy had to abandon school to go and work in constructions abroad. He made the decision because his mother did not have a steady job and had to take care of two younger brothers. He got injured on the site,” Lidia Galus said. According to her, children are not exploited only in rural areas, the same happens all over the country. In villages, children are involved in farming works, in towns, children work in night clubs or in construction works. Their investigations establish that sometimes even teachers compel pupils to work to get higher marks at exams. The representatives of the working group monitoring the Child's Rights in Moldova suggest the authorities to investigate all the cases of exploiting children through labor and to punish the employees breaking the law, as well as the parents. The action is part of an initiative called “Children monitor the observance of their own rights”, launched in July 2008 by the Child's Rights Information and Documentation Center.