Society for Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) held a conference on Monday at the Lahore Press Club on child domestic labour during which it was observed that immediate and effective steps should be taken by the Punjab government to put an end to child domestic labour by banning it. SPARC Regional Manager Sajjad Cheema said that this could be done under the Employment of Children (Amendment) Act 2011. The conference was held in connection with the Child Labour Free Week (CLFW), which is being commemorated from June 7 to 12. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that domestic service is the single largest source of employment for girls under 16 around the world. According to Anti-Slavery International, Asia is home to about 60 percent of child domestic labourers, out of which 90 percent are girls.
Child domestic labour is the worst form of child labour depriving a number of children from their basic rights of health, education, livelihood and protection. According to the ILO, every fourth household employs a child for work in Pakistan. Since January 2010, more than 12 children have lost their lives due to torture inflicted by their employers and around 95 percent of these cases have been reported in Punjab which is alarming, SPARC said. Most children are made to work consistently without a break, often on twelve hour shifts. They are provided with inadequate food and deprived of their basic educational rights.
Despite the outrage following these cases, other innocent lives continue to be affected by the practice. To make this movement stronger, SPARC has launched a postcard campaign against child domestic labour in Punjab in which 5,000 postcards will be signed and sent to the Punjab CM from across the province. It is imperative that the federal and provincial governments take solid measures to check growing violence against child domestic labourers and notify child domestic labour in the list of banned occupations under the Employment of Children Act.
