Practice of employing children as domestic workers widespread in Pakistan

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The practice of employing children as domestic workers has become a norm in Pakistani society. One in every four households in Pakistan employs a child in domestic work, predominantly children in the age group of 10 to 14 years, according to a study conducted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 2022, wrote Rida Tahir, a barrister for Pakistan based The News International newspaper.

According to Tahir, it is important to distinguish between child labour in domestic work and children performing non-hazardous household chores in their homes in reasonable conditions under supervision.

Domestic labour entails children performing household chores while working in private homes. Child domestic workers are vulnerable to hazards such as carrying heavy tools, handling dangerous items such as knives and hammers, making tea on the stove and cleaning with toxic chemicals.

They do not have set working hours and do not have access to education or healthcare. Furthermore, children working as domestic labourers are vulnerable to malnourishment, unreasonable confinement to the employer’s premises, and sexual abuse.

It is seen in a positive light as a protected and non-stigmatized type of child labour and is perceived as less cruel than other forms of employment, such as children working in brick kilns or factories. Child labour in domestic work is socially and culturally accepted in society, despite being explicitly illegal in some provinces, according to Tahir for The News International newspaper.

Section 3 of the Punjab Domestic Workers Act, 2019 and the Islamabad Capital Territory Domestic Workers Act, 2022 prohibit children under the ages of 15 (Punjab) and 16 (ICT) from working in a household in any capacity. To a large extent, the two laws mirror each other. For example, under Section 4 titled “Rights and entitlements of Domestic Workers,” both laws require “…dignified working conditions and occupational safety and health measures.”

The Balochistan Employment of Children (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 2021 applies in Balochistan. Section 3(2) of the Act makes it illegal for a child or adolescent to be employed or permitted to work in the processes listed in Part II of the Schedule. ‘Domestic Child Labour’ is mentioned in serial no 38 in Part II of the Schedule.

Children in Sindh are, however, not explicitly protected from domestic work. The Sindh Prohibition of Employment of Children Act 2017 defines a “child” as anyone under the age of 14. Children under 14 years are not allowed to work as labourers in any establishment (Section 3 (1)). However, the Act defines “adolescent” as “a person who has completed his 14th but has not completed 18th year of his age”. It is prohibited to employ adolescents to work in any hazardous work included in the

As per the Schedule, hazardous work includes spice grinding, shells and manufacturing, wool cleaning, etc. The Act does not provide protection from domestic work. Therefore, there is a lack of adequate protection provided to child domestic workers and the offenders are usually allowed to go scot-free, as per Tahir in The News International report. (ANI)