The invisible workers
There are more than an estimated 12 million child labourers in Pakistan, it’s time for the government to tackle this problem head on. On World Day against Child Labour, as organisations and citizens reflect on the issues of child workers, Images on Sunday looks at child labour in the informal sector
Silent victims
The practice of employing children as domestic staff begs the question: what kind of society condones such a cruel practice?
Eleven-year-old Shan Ali, who worked as babysitter for Atiya Al Hussain’s seven-month-old son, was reported dead to the police on Jan 5, 2012. Initially Atiya and her husband, Mudassar Abbas, told the police that Shan had committed suicide but the autopsy performed on him indicated he had been strangled to death. Eventually, Atiya confessed: while she was trying to sleep, Shan had neglected her son and she choked the 11-year-old boy to death in a fit of anger.
Leaving aside the absurdity of having a pre-teen look after a young child and the exploitation of Shan, what is highlighted in this case is the lack of adequate child labour laws in the informal sector. Shan should never have been employed in the first place, let alone be working in an environment where his employer was physically abusive and be able to get away with it. But there is no official government agency or implementation of laws to protect children working as domestic staff in affluent households.
The number of children working as maids or domestic help is hard to come by — there are no statistics on child domestic labour in Pakistan; not surprising given the invisible nature of the work. According to International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) report in 2012, however, there are an estimated 12 million child labourers in Pakistan. Women and young girls make up a disproportionate number of these workers; 8.5m of these workers are female but a significant number of boys are also exposed to similar problems and vulnerabilities.
Twelve-year-old Tehmina was pushed off a balcony by her employer for demanding her salary after not being paid for several months. She suffered spinal cord injuries and was paralysed. Her father was given some compensation but in return was asked to drop all charges against the employers. Within 3-4 months, neglect, poverty and her injuries claimed Tehmina’s life.
However, as Fazela Gulrez, a child rights activist, points out, the actual number of child labourers, let alone children currently working as domestic staff, is hard to ascertain. “No survey has been conducted on child labour in Pakistan since 1996,” she says.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Since these children work behind closed doors, in the privacy of people’s homes, it increases the chances of abuse and exploitation. According to the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc), violence against domestic child workers is on the increase; between January 2010 and December 2014, 47 cases of violence against child domestic workers were reported in different parts of the country, while as many as 24 children lost their lives from violence committed by their employers. Cases of such nature began to make headlines after January 2010, when Shazia Masih was tortured to death in Lahore at the hands of the family of a noted lawyer.