Child labour in domestic service
(SYED DANISH UDDIN, karachi)
Child labour in domestic
service is very common and acceptable. It may be paid or unpaid work. It takes
place in the home and duties include cleaning, cooking, baby sitting and caring
among many other small and big chores. Domestic work is predominantly the domain
of female child labourers. These children work long hours, do not go to school
and many of them are separated from their parents for long periods of time. They
often face the risk of sexual and physical abuse from their employers.
A Rapid Assessment (RA) on child domestic labour by SPARC in Islamabad (Capital)
and four provincial capitals based on selected localities covering 2,492
households in 2004; reveals that every fourth household in Pakistan employs
children for domestic purposes. Majority of these 62 percent were girls.
However, there were distinct provincial variations in the prevalence of female
child domestic workers. In Peshawar and Quetta, the proportion of girls was
lower than in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad/Rawalpindi. The NWFP and Balochistan
are relatively conservative regions and do not encourage female mobility and
employment.
Many of children interviewed for the research were between ages 6 to10, (27
percent) and 11-14, (42 percent). These children are subject to all forms of
abuse; verbal, physical and sexual, many are in debt bondage and many under the
camouflage of adoption, deprived of their basic rights. They have no access to
education, play and peer interaction. The working hours are long and ill defined
with low or no wages. Most of these children are illiterate, and have no
alternative livelihood skills; trapped in inter-generational poverty and
servitude. These children work under difficult circumstances and are exposed to
safety and health hazards. Their jobs are invisible too: domestic work belongs
in the informal labour market, is unregistered and does not show up in the
national child labour statistics. Domestic child labour adversely impacts on the
child’s growth and development. The child suffers from a number of problems that
mars her/his personality forever, such as:
a. Respect for identity, selfhood and freedom.
b. Parental nurture and guidance
c. Physical well-being
d. Educational development
e. Psycho-social and emotional development
f. Gross Abuse and exploitation, including sexual exploitation
Child domestic labour is considered as one of the worst forms of child labour
worldwide. Despite some interventions and strong recommendations by civil
society groups, the Ministry of Labour has been hesitant in including child
domestic labour in the hazardous occupations