In Pakistan, a large number of children are trafficked as child labour (mostly domestic labour) who are subjected to exploitation, physical and sexual abuse, incarceration, and separation from their parents while working as servants. Their reasons of labour could be the lack of education, poverty, and unemployment. There could be many forms of labour. The young boys are exploited for sexual activities or labour near hotels, bus terminals, and truck stops. Couples who are unable to conceive children are sold new-born babies. Young girls may occasionally be considered as a commodity and traded between two groups of people to resolve differences or debts. A report by Al Jazeera found that in Pakistan, the brick kiln business employs almost 2 million children, who live in slave-like conditions, are required to work for 14 hours per day, six days per week, and have no fundamental worker protections or access to social security. Walk Free Foundation’s Global Slavery Index 2018 found out that Pakistan ranks eighth among 167 countries in terms of the prevalence of modern slavery, with an estimated 3,186,000 people living under conditions of slavery.
The report of the Human Rights Commission, titled ‘Modern Slavery: Trafficking in Women and Girls in Pakistan (2022)’, reported various case studies of child trafficking for domestic servitude, prostitution, and forced labour. To quote as an example, one case study was, “Shanzay belonged to a poor, lower-caste family in Kasur, Punjab, with nine other siblings. Her family had never owned a house; they sometimes slept on roadsides, in huts, or in small rooms on other people’s agricultural lands. When Shanzay was around, her father, who was a drug addict, sold her to a rich family in exchange for a large sum of money, after which she worked as a child domestic labourer for the past 10-11 years”. And many more. These case studies show the gravity of the situation in Pakistan.
Articles 3 to 11 of the Constitution of Pakistan aim to abolish all forms of exploitation and ban slavery and forced labour. The Government of Pakistan has enacted laws to prevent the employment of children of age below sixteen years and declared access to free and compulsory education to all children of age five to sixteen years as mentioned in Article 25A of the Constitution. Moreover, Pakistan has signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child and is therefore committed to protecting the rights of all Pakistani children while ensuring them health, education, nutrition, entertainment and all other rights.
Federal and Provincial Governments in Pakistan passed child protection and prevention of child labour related legislations to protect children from domestic labour and other forms of child exploitation. In this regard, the following laws can be consulted:
- The Employment of Children Act, 1991
- The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act, 2010
- The Sindh Child Protection Authority Act, 2011
- The Balochistan Child Protection Act, 2016
- The Sindh Prohibition of Employment of Children Act, 2017
- The Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act (PTPA) 2018
- The Islamabad Capital Territory Child Protection Act, 2018
- The Punjab Domestic Workers Act, 2019
- The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Home Based Workers Welfare and Protection Act, 2021
- The Islamabad Capital Territory Domestic Workers Act, 2022
All these laws explain the issues of minimum age for child labour, various forms of child exploitation, what is the ‘best interest of a child’, child at risk, child protection processes, institutions for child protection, child protection courts, punishments for those who force child for labour and other harmful practices, and so on.
Even then, thousands of children become victims of various forms of exploitation, every year. Why so?
In this regard, the Committee on the Rights of Child (“CRC”) is alarmed about the extremely high number of children involved in child labour. The Committee is concerned about the issues such as hazardous and slavery-like conditions in domestic servitude and prostitution; reports of abuse and torture of working children, including child domestic workers, in some cases leading to the deaths of such children, mainly girls; absence of nationwide or provincial studies on the extent of child labour; insufficient programs and mechanisms to identify and protect child victims of forced labour, particularly bonded labour and child labour in the informal sector, including domestic work; low minimum age for hazardous work, namely 14 years; and inadequate sufficiently trained inspectors, their vulnerability to corruption and a lack of resources to inspect workplaces.
Keeping in view the above-mentioned issues, the suggestions by CRC are worth noticing. The Committee suggested that Pakistan must take action to end child labour, particularly the worst forms, by addressing root causes such as poverty; monitor workplaces that employ children to prevent abuse and exploitation; end bonded and forced labour of children, particularly from marginalized and disadvantaged groups, and bring those responsible to justice; conduct a survey to assess the extent of child labour, including bonded and forced labour, and report findings in the next periodic report; develop programs to identify and protect child victims of forced labour and child labour in the informal sector; strengthen the labour inspectorate by eradicating corruption and providing necessary support, including expertise on child labour, to monitor labour law standards and handle complaints; establish minimum ages for employment in accordance with international standards and enforce them, including by requiring employers to prove the age of child workers; and seek technical assistance from the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour of the International Labour Organization.
Having said that, there is a need to advocate and explain the rights of the child to the general public for their safety and protection and to end the crimes relating to child trafficking, sexual abuse, and exploitation. Awareness of rights, laws, and policies among the people and enforcing rule of law will not only protect children but also bring a good name to the people of Pakistan in the eyes of the international community.
The writer is a Senior Research Fellow at the School for Law and Development.
