Yet another Zainab
Even though child labour is outlawed in the country, it has not stopped people from employing child maids and servants
An eight-year-old housemaid was tortured to death at a Rawalpindi home. The police believe that apart from being beaten viciously, the little girl was also sexually assaulted by her employer. The police have discovered pictures and video clips on the cellphones of the suspect which proves the beating and humiliation the child was frequently subjected to. Hailing from an impoverished family in Muzaffargarh, the child was curiously hired as a housemaid and caretaker for an infant child.
Such incidents keep happening despite reaching the courts and resulting in sentencing. They have mobilised communities and forced the government to introduce laws and devise systems, but little seems to have changed in reality. Observers, lawmakers and activists all agree that children in the country are at a high risk of violence. After the abduction, brutal rape and murder of the unfortunate Kasur girl, Zainab, the government had moved relatively swiftly to pass the Zainab Alert Bill. It was aimed at creating a service which will allow reporting of violence against children very easy and accessible. But as we have seen in the ongoing case, it may not just be enough to create services for reporting. Perhaps the government needs to supplement it with measures to stop the malaise where people abuse and murder children.
Even though child labour is outlawed in the country, it has not stopped people from employing child maids and servants. Moreover, it is extreme poverty that forces people to send their children to work away from them despite being aware of the possible dangers. This creates a supply-demand scenario. This is the chain that needs to be broken — whether by introducing more laws, ensuring implementation on the existing ones or arranging for greater awareness. Children should be in schools and parks, not in other people’s houses doing the cleaning stuff.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 7th, 2020.
Such incidents keep happening despite reaching the courts and resulting in sentencing. They have mobilised communities and forced the government to introduce laws and devise systems, but little seems to have changed in reality. Observers, lawmakers and activists all agree that children in the country are at a high risk of violence. After the abduction, brutal rape and murder of the unfortunate Kasur girl, Zainab, the government had moved relatively swiftly to pass the Zainab Alert Bill. It was aimed at creating a service which will allow reporting of violence against children very easy and accessible. But as we have seen in the ongoing case, it may not just be enough to create services for reporting. Perhaps the government needs to supplement it with measures to stop the malaise where people abuse and murder children.
Even though child labour is outlawed in the country, it has not stopped people from employing child maids and servants. Moreover, it is extreme poverty that forces people to send their children to work away from them despite being aware of the possible dangers. This creates a supply-demand scenario. This is the chain that needs to be broken — whether by introducing more laws, ensuring implementation on the existing ones or arranging for greater awareness. Children should be in schools and parks, not in other people’s houses doing the cleaning stuff.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 7th, 2020.