Minor workers left to fend for themselves

Punjab’s law protecting house helps has not seen any implementation since its passing

LAHORE:

Having next to no legal cover during the course of their employment, domestic workers are bound to the whims of their employers, which opens the door for violence against such workers, especially minor ones.

In Pakistan’s most populous province, where under the Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019, children below 15 years of age cannot be employed in any factory or home, kids being employed as house helps is a common sight. The blatant violation of the law has led to instances of sexual and physical violence against them have seen a significant rise. For instance, recently, in the posh Defence area of Lahore, the provincial capital, two domestic workers, 11-year-old Kamran and his 6-year-old younger brother, Rizwan, were both tortured by their employer.

Resultantly, Kamran lost his life and his sibling was seriously injured. Presently, Rizwan, along with his two sisters, has been taken into custody by the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau and the perpetrators of the crime have been arrested. However, in light of the horrific event, activists have started asking whether there is any legislative implementation in the province at all.

One such activist, Rashida Qureshi, talking about the present legislation’s shortcomings and its lack of implementation, told The Express Tribune that there is no such law that if a citizen sees a child under the age of 15 working in a house, he can report it to a department. “Only when a child has been abused somewhere, then the police and the Child Protection Bureau wake up to the problem.” Qureshi was of the view that employing domestic child labor is inhumane as they are not given proper food, shelter, or clothing. “The elite class that employs minors must be held accountable and so should be the parents who subject their children to such masters.”

However, the accountability that Qureshi talks about, is aeons away, as per Deputy Director Labour Department, Nadeem Akhtar, who said that there was no actual law to protect domestic workers in Punjab. “The 2019 Act is just sitting there despite being passed as rules have not been made.” Akhtar further added that his department could not prevent domestic child labour and that a separate authority or department should be established to curtail it. Sara Ahmed, Chairperson of Child Protection Bureau Punjab, when asked why her department was not doing more to curb the practice, said that the bureau did not have the authority to take any action against the owner of a house who hires domestic child labor. “The Child Protection Bureau can only provide protection to abandoned, destitute children and if a child has been sexually or physically abused,” Ahmed told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2022.