Maliciously raped by the son of her employer in Rahim Yar Khan and left tied up to a charpoy in the blistering heat, bleeding, 10-year-old Naseem is the 16th case of child domestic labour abuse in Punjab since January 2010.
Naseem, who had been missing for a few days, finally managed to escape the employer’s house, and limped home to tell her parents the whole story. It was later found in a medical report that not only had the child been raped regularly, she was also a victim of physical violence. Naseem is still in the district hospital of Rahim Yar Khan, clutching onto the frail rungs of life, while her parents despair at the thought of losing their daughter.
This case is yet another reminder of the level of sufferings and exploitations that child domestic labourers face in the country. It was discovered that the employer’s son had gone to the extent to threaten the child from approaching the police, and then tying her up to illegally detain her.
“Despite voices being raised by human and child rights organizations, this matter is not being given any thought,” says Punjab SPARC Regional Manager Sajjad Cheema. “I grieve over cases like these. Once more, there is another child labourer in this condition. Shazia Masih’s case happened in January, and it is disheartening that other innocent live is continuing to be affected by the heinous practice with child domestic labour.”
Cheema says that child domestic labour is amongst the most common forms of child labour in Pakistan, yet it is more or less ignored. Working in situations where children are engaged in performing tasks in the homes of exploitative employers is certainly not a healthy occupation for children, he says. Not only they are tortured physically, they are also seriously affected psychologically, emotionally and mentally. These children are also involved in hazardous work, yet at the same time, they are denied their basic rights of education, health and livelihood.
A Lahore-based psychologist revealed that she had handled such cases and the matter remained in the hands of the police and the government in such cases. Refusing to reveal her identity for professional reasons, she said that the children of the country could not be expected to carry on working like slaves at homes of ‘slave riders’.
“The policemen know what lies behind closed doors. But if a high profile person is involved, they hesitate lodging an FIR. I know because I have worked with a child whose parents were driven away by the police in a similar case,” she said.
She said that the child’s right to safety was the police’s responsibility and the government was even more responsible for upholding these rights. Unfortunately, however, government officials themselves kept minors as labourers in their houses, she said.
She said, “Even if the child labourers are treated well, it is unfair that they should be missing out on their education and their age to play and to indulge in creative thoughts. This is why our nation is so stunted.” She also says that the abused child may grow up as an aggressor himself. “The oppressed always turns to be the oppressor,” she says. “Tomorrow, this child will do the same.”
Meanwhile, SPARC maintains that it is the only organization that deals in such cases. Cheema persists that the federal and provincial governments must take steps and the federal government should immediately notify child domestic labour in the schedule of banned occupations under the Employment of Children Act (ECA) 1991.
“Both the federal and provincial governments should prohibit government employees from employing children as domestic servants and should immediately start programmes for the rehabilitation of child domestic labourers. The effective implementation of the constitutional provision about free and compulsory primary education for children of five to 16 years could also be a good step,” he says.
After the 18th amendment, the ECA 1991 has to be adopted by the provinces before June 30, 2011 otherwise it will lapse. In this context, it is also important to see that most of the cases of violence against child domestic labourers fall in Punjab. This multiplies the need of adoption of ECA 1991 immediately in Punjab particularly to give some protection to the child labourers.
