Horrors of Domestic Chlid Labor

Photo Credits: DAWN news

To raise our voice against child labour, we should first get clear on what constitutes child labour. The Convention on the Rights of the Child declares that anyone who is under the age of eighteen is a child, and therefore they should be treated like one. Now coming to international laws related to child labour, the International Labour Organisation has many conventions addressing this issue, including ILO's Convention No. 138, which clearly sets the minimum age for labour at these standards: the general minimum age for admission to employment or work at 15 years (13 for light work) and the minimum age for hazardous work at 18 years (16 under certain strict conditions). It provides for the possibility of initially setting the general minimum age at 14 (12 for light work) where the economy and educational facilities are insufficiently developed". According to the above-mentioned convention and the ILO's Convention No. 189 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, no child is allowed to work in a dangerous work environment anywhere in the world.

Fortunately, Pakistan has ratified this convention and has set the minimum age for employment at 14, but is unfortunately unable to implement it. Article 11.3 of the Constitution of Pakistan says, "No child below the age of fourteen years shall be engaged in any factory, mine, or any other hazardous employment."

picture by DAWN news

Particularly in Pakistan, child labour is increasing rapidly due to many causes, including poverty, unemployment, and inflation. Child labour itself has many types, including children working in factories or kilns, forced child labour, and domestic child labour. There is a perception, specifically in undeveloped countries like India and Pakistan, that domestic child labour is less dangerous and threatening to a child. Parents of children involved in domestic child labour believe that their children are safer at home than working in a factory or kiln. The reality is different; domestic labour can be a far greater threat to a child in some cases because the child is left in someone's private space where there is no accountability. mentioning the horrible housemaid torture by judge's wife case in Islamabad and recently another case in which a woman was arrested from the G-15 sector for allegedly torturing her 13-year-old maid, reported by Dawn News. The question is: how many of these invisible domestic child workers are being employed in Pakistan? The answer is unknown because there are no statistics. Researchers can go to factories and kilns and collect data about children working there, but it is not possible for a researcher to go to every house and check if they are employing a child or not.

Now, what can we do? We can change people's minds. We can change the perception of society through social media. We can look around our neighbourhood and run awareness campaigns against child labour, and we can call out people involved in domestic child labour. We can simply say no to child labour, whether it is happening in factories or at home.

KASUR; The Home of Pedophyles

According to UNICEF, only 34% of children under the age of 5 are registered at birth in Pakistan, and 3.3 million children are trapped in child labour. Moreover, according to the Sahil (an NGO for child rights) report, 55% of girls and 45% of boys are victims of child abuse. These figures are alarming, but why are they increasing? 

In Pakistan, there are a lot of cultural taboos and religious misconceptions that make us keep our mouths shut on such issues, making them discreet. We feel ashamed to talk about child abuse, and we do not discuss these issues with our children. That is where the problem begins. Not knowing their rights makes them vulnerable to pedophyles. Parents have the most important role to play. They are the protectors and should not allow their kids to be alone with anyone, but in a country where there is extreme poverty, which is expected to reach 37% by 2023 (World Bank, 2023), a poor man has no option but to make their children useful and send them to work, where the children see the most cruel face of this world. The Zainab case, the housemaid torture case, and the Kasur child abuse scandal are some of the famous cases in Pakistan, but a lot of cases never get reported due to many reasons.

From Pakistan Observer

Now coming to Kasur, which I would name the home of brutal pedophyles, Although child abuse is widespread in Pakistan, what makes Kasur different is the level of brutality it holds. The most alarming issue emerging from this district is the rise in child pornography. Child pornography is one of the worst emerging issues that humanity faces in the 21st century and is considered the most important issue by the rulers in developed countries, but in countries like Pakistan, it is not given much importance. Many child pornography images were posted on Facebook. In 2010, during the Kasur incident of child abuse, many children were sexually abused, and their videos were sent to their parents to blackmail them. As the victim is being blackmailed by their online footage, this not only takes abuse of their childhood but also their entire life.

The FIA's cybercrime division is in charge of handling cases of digital child exploitation, but the NGOS want the perpetrators to be hanged in public to set an example for others. The pedophyles must be publicly hanged in order to suppress this crime, but what if these organised criminal gangs are backed by powerful and wealthy individuals? Until my next blog, I'll leave this question up to the readers.