Poverty, misery, abuse and death
In recent weeks, the death of five girl child domestic workers once again highlights the menace of rampant violence and abuse against the child domestic workers in the country. The situation has reached to the alarming levels. The beating, abusing and sexual violence against these domestic child workers have become a norm. This violence and abuse continued unabated in the society without considering it a crime.
The plight of tens of thousands of under-18 domestic workers is worsening in Pakistan. They are hired through parents and middle-men, on monthly and many times on yearly basis. Violence against them is widely reported. The overwhelming majority of these children belong to the poorest and most backward districts of Punjab. The poverty ridden poor families of these districts send their children to the posh areas of the big cities. They are mostly employed through the middle man on the meager wages of 15 to 20 pounds per month. In some cases, they are employed on three or five years period against the specific sum paid to the parents for once. This amount ranges between 150 to 300 pounds for three years. The parents and middle men left these vulnerable children to the mercy of employer family. These young children work 14 to 18 hours a day mostly without any proper break. The verbal and physical abuse and violence is the matter of everyday life for them. Even they are not allowed to meet their parents for months. They lived under the worst form of slavery. The young girls are the most vulnerable and face sexual abuse and violence so often.
If the poor and helpless parents tries to raise their voice against this abuse and violence than the rich and influential employers allege them for theft threaten to hand over the child to police to silent the parents.
These girls were aged between 10 to 15 years and tortured to death by their employers on the charges of stealing money or gold ornaments. In two cases, the girl child domestic workers were also raped and sexually abused. All these cases were reported from the different posh and rich areas of Lahore which is the second largest city in Pakistan. The people involved in the torture and abuse of these girls are members of educated upper middle class families.
According to press reports, at least 21 child domestic workers (CDWs) were tortured to death in 2013, mostly in Punjab. Except two, all were girls. Another finding states that between January 2010 and June 2013, more than 41 cases of torture on child domestic workers were reported. Some were even poisoned.
Data compiled by the Child Rights Movement (CRM), an alliance of more than 25 non-governmental organisations working on rights, states, “In 2011, a total of 11 cases of child abuse at workplace were reported; shockingly, seven of them lost their lives. In 2012, eight children were abused, two died and six seriously injured.”
There is no law which prohibits domestic child labour in any province. Even the existing laws of child labour and protection, indirectly regulate child labour.
The governments should devise policies to protect the vulnerable domestic child labour. Such cases are not vigorously pursued by the state and end up on a sad note of compensation (Diyat).
Undoubtedly, the issue needs a forceful collective voice. The General Elections 2013 manifesto of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) promises to “Enact or improve legislation on violence against women and child abuse.” It also assures to “introduce a transparent system of income support programme for needy families with incomes below the prescribed limit with a special focus on widows, orphans and the girl child,” for social protection.
The abolition of child labour is a long pending matter. Government can stop domestic child labour legally just through a notification under the existing law terming CDW as the most hazardous form of labour. But it is not being done — despite repeated demands. It just needs a single stroke of pen. But nothing has been done in this regard so far. All forms of forced labour and slavery are banned under the law in the country but practically it is still going on. More than 10 million children are employed as child labour. Child labour is the worst form of slavery and exploitation. It must be stopped. The trade union movement and women rights movement should launch a country wide movement against this curse and cruel practice. The labour movement and women rights bodies should immediately call for declaring child domestic labour as the worst form of child slavery and demand a complete ban on it.
No child labour survey had been conducted since 1996 to determine the exact number of child labour in the country. So no up to date figures are available at the moment.
Unicef reports that one in six children aged 5-14 years are employed as child labour in developing countries. In the least developed countries, 30 per cent of all children are engaged in child labour. The ILO finds that the number of child labourers in Pakistan exceeded 12 million in 2012 while Unicef estimates put it at around 10 million.
The history of legislation has been rather unkind to child domestic workers in Pakistan. In the largest populated province of Punjab, a law was enacted in 1952, and later in 1983. Both the laws were not notified to come into force. In Sindh, the Children Act 1955 was notified to come into force in 1974. The first law about children employment in the subcontinent came into force in 1930, during the British Rule. India modified this law and introduced its Child Employment Act in 1986, while Pakistan almost copied this law in 1991. India, in 2006, passed the Prohibition of Child Labour Act banning domestic child labour. After the devolution, the Punjab Government in Pakistan introduced the Children Employment Act 2011. The law prohibits four professions and defines 34 areas/occupations as hazardous for child labour but does not include the form of domestic child labour.
In the light of the UNCRC and its Optional Protocol on Sale of Children, ILO’s Conventions 182 and the Constitution of Pakistan, the federal and provincial governments should immediately declare CDW a form of slavery and include it in the list of worst form of child labour. They should immediately be banned across the country under the list of banned occupation given in the Punjab Employment of Children (Amendment) Act 2011.
The laws alone will not fully solve the problem. The full implementation of laws can improve the situation but it can not completely abolish the child labour, especially domestic child labour. The existing economic and social conditions have created this menace and radical change in the economic and social conditions along with political transformation will abolish the conditions which nourish such social evils. The question of child labour is directly linked with system which creates poverty and hunger. Capitalist system creates the conditions in which child labour and poverty flourishes. The struggle to abolish child labour, exploitation, hunger and poverty is directly linked with the struggle to abolish the rotten capitalist and feudal system.