The plight of child domestic labourers

Tehmina Qasim, 12 years old, is another addition to the count of the child domestic labourers who were tortured to death by their employers in the country, with most of the cases reported in Punjab. Tehmina was so severely tortured by her employers in Islamabad last year that her backbone was damaged. Her elder sister, who was also working for the same employers, managed to bring her to hospital where she was operated to help her at least be able to sit as it would not be possible for her to walk ever according to doctors. The perpetrators could not be punished for this heinous crime against the innocent child as usual as her father entered into a settlement with the employers with the support of his own lawyer after receiving a few hundred thousand rupees and left with Tehmina for his native village in District Rahim Yar Khan in southern Punjab. Tehmina died after a year’s struggle for life last week.

The case was highlighted by a few newspapers and some civil society organizations but to no avail. The government is not interested in looking into the plight of child domestic labourers as most of the bureaucrats and parliamentarians employ children themselves. What should be done to realize the authorities about the gravity of the situation? Tehmina was the 15th child who died as a result of torture by employers since Shazia Masih’s tragic death in January last year.

This is regrettable that despite the outrage following Shazia Masih`s case in Lahore, other innocent lives continue to be affected by the heinous practice of Child Domestic Labour. This is largely the result of impunity with which employers exploit and abuse children working in their homes. In most cases, the perpetrators are never brought to justice and victims or their families are pressurized into settling out of court as happened in the case of Tehmina.

We, as a society, have accepted these blatant violations of child rights and are immuned to such barbaric acts of violence against children. As a result, children are suffering and their futures are at stake. Civil society keeps highlighting such issues but the state has failed to appreciate the seriousness of the situation and react. We should strongly condemn the phenomenon of child domestic labour and at every forum demand both the federal and provincial governments to take solid measures to check growing violence against child domestic labourers and respond to the situation by notifying Child Domestic Labour in the list of banned occupations under the Employment of Children Act (ECA) 1991.

After the 18th amendment, ECA 1991 has to be adopted by the provinces before June 30, 2011 and Punjab has already adopted the Employment of Children Amendment Act 2011 without making any change in the ECA 1991 as far as the schedule of banned occupations is concerned. In this context, it is also noteworthy that most of the cases of violence against child domestic labourers highlighted in the media were from Punjab. The government of Punjab should immediately notify Child Domestic Labour under the schedule of banned occupations of the ECA 2011. Furthermore, the other provinces should also include Child Domestic Labour in ECA’s schedule of banned occupations while adopting the law.

It is hoped, that the effective implementation of the constitutional provision about free and compulsory education for children of five to 16 years could also be a good preventive step. Without ensuring free and compulsory quality education, it will not be possible to eradicate child labour and particularly its worst forms including child domestic labour. No visible steps, however, have been taken by any province or even the Islamabad Capital Territory, for the implementation of this constitutional provision despite the lapse of more than one year of the passage of the 18th amendment.