igh population growth has a domino effect. The resultant web of poverty puts households under immense economic pressure, exacerbating the menace of child domestic labour in Pakistan. This sharp rise in child domestic labour is leaving minors, primarily girls, extremely vulnerable to abuse.

The brutal torture of a 14-year-old housemaid, Rizwana, at the hands of an affluent lady in Islamabad, and the rape and murder of a 10-year-old minor girl, Fatima, by an influential ‘pir’ in Khairpur, Sindh, in one month alone (July/ August 2023), are a haunting reminder of the vulnerability of these children. The rapidly depleting household economy is forcing some parents to offer their young daughters as domestic workers only to expose them to the risk of violence.

A recent study by the International Labour Organisation and UK Aid estimates that one out of every four households employs a domestic worker, usually a female between the ages of 10 and 14.

According to the latest Population and Housing Census 2023, Pakistan’s total population reaches 241,499,431 (241.49 million), with 38,340,566 (38.34 million) households. While Pakistan’s population growth rate stands at 2.55, the 1.8 percent economic growth rate (as of June 2024) is not helping to control the fast-proliferating poverty. According to the World Bank, 40 pe cent of Pakistanis are now living below the poverty line.

The dire economic state of Pakistanis—a direct result of population increase—is raising concerns about child labour in general, and domestic child labour in particular. Girls, above all, remain most vulnerable.

In the light of ILO’s study of 2022 conflating with the latest population figures of the first Digital Census 2023, there are an estimated 9,585,141 (9.585 million) child domestic workers, mostly female between the ages of 10 and 14, out of a total 38,340,566 (38.34 million) households in Pakistan.

“Child domestic labour robs [children of their] childhood, deprives them of education, and makes girls vulnerable to violence including sexual abuse, torture and even death,” says Munawar Sultana, a leading voice in anti-child labour advocacy. While poverty is a byproduct of increasing population, she says, the unchecked population growth rate is the main culprit in rising domestic child labour in the country. “If Pakistan wants to improve indicators vis-à-vis domestic child labour, it needs to bring population growth to a reasonable level, which will take care of every aspect of life, including domestic child labour.”

The damning 2013 report titled The unending plight of child domestic workers in Pakistan – exploitation, abuse, torture, rape and murder, jointly conducted by Child Rights Movement, Punjab, the Institute for Social Justice, Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, and Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, has taken the lid off the unending sale, exploitation, abuse, torture and murder of child domestic workers. But since, there has been no significant work to curb the menace, taking a massive toll on working minors.

“No other occupation in Pakistan has resulted in the deaths of children more than child domestic labour,” the report reveals. During the period from January 2010 to June 2013 alone, it adds, the deaths of as many as 41 child domestic workers were reported. Of these children, at least 19 died due to severe torture, and 34 were girls.

“In the past ten years, more than 140 cases of abuse, rape and murder of child domestic workers were reported in the media,” according to a report published in January 2020, compiled by Hari Welfare Association, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, and the Institute for Social Justice. “As many as 96 children were raped and 44 murdered during the reference period,” the report says, adding that 79 percent cases were reported from the Punjab, 14 percent from Sindh, six percent from Islamabad and one percent from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“The continuous disturbing reports of torture and murder of child domestic workers indicate the moral decay of the society and the failure of the state that allowed a powerful class to brutally torture and murder children belonging to the working class, poor and marginalised families,” says the report.

Extract: A recent study by the International Labour Organisation and UK Aid estimates that one out of every four households employs a domestic worker, usually a female between the ages of 10 and 14.

The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Pakistan 2023 study, compiled by Iqbal Ahmed Detho, reveals that child domestic labour is unevenly distributed across urban and rural areas in Pakistan but says it is more prevalent and intense in the former, especially in affluent neighbourhoods.

Despite a lack of data to comprehensively quantify the magnitude of child labour, the ILO’s scoping study suggests that child labour is more pronounced in the informal economy than in the formal economy and that child labour in domestic work is a major part of the informal economy. The data collected between 2016 and 2019 also indicates a higher incidence of child labour in domestic work in the provinces of the Punjab and Sindh compared to Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In domestic work, girls have a significantly higher share of 4 percent as compared to 0.7 percent of boys. Domestic work has the second highest median number of 46 hours, and it also displays the highest 30.3 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 14 working during the evening or night. The estimates of earnings of child domestic workers are also outdated.

Young girls are more likely to experience physical and sexual abuse at the hands of adult male household members. The child domestic workers considered second-class humans, are regularly deprived of necessities, including timely meals, suitable medication, and opportunities for rest. This social marginalisation pushes children into solitude.

Miqdad Syed, a renowned lawyer and legal consultant for the National Commission on the Rights of Child, among other causes, identifies individuals to be responsible for up to 90 percent of child domestic labour as parents push their children, especially female children, into domestic work due to poverty or to pay off family debts. “It is also a blot on the society’s collective conscience for socially accepting domestic child labour, which results in a lack of educational opportunities and denial of rights, especially of a girl child,” he laments.

Samia Ali Shah, Population Council’s project director, concurs with the escalation of child labour due to challenging economic circumstances. Besides short-term measures, she emphasises long-term solutions. “The implementation of family planning strategies will not only reduce the financial burden on households but also mitigate the surge in child domestic labour and minimise the risk of abuse and violence against minors in the long run,” she adds.

Nadeem-ul-Haque, a renowned economist and vice chancellor of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad, holds governments responsible for the economic hardships of the masses. “The people have the potential to overcome poverty, but the government’s oppressive taxation doesn’t allow them to start their own businesses and contribute to the economy. Hence, the vicious cycle of poverty goes on. While it takes away the opportunities of education, it intensifies the menace of child labour in the country.”

While Sustainable Development require member states to “end child labour in all its forms by 2025”, including domestic work, Pakistan must align domestic laws with international commitments to ensure the protection of children. In the light of ILO’s conventions 138, 182 and 189 and the Constitution of Pakistan, child domestic labour should be declared a form of slavery and the worst form of child labour and should be immediately banned across the country.

Mehak Naeem, a member of the NCRC Punjab, says that the National Commission on the Rights of Child has submitted a draft bill on the Prohibition of Child Labour in Domestic Work 2024 to the Ministry of Human Rights, which will be presented to the National Assembly for approval.

While incidences of abuse and torture mostly happen to children staying overnight for domestic work, the bill proposes to ban overnight stays of fewer than 18-year-old children at employers’ homes. “The offenders will be charged and penalised with a non-bailable offence,” she says, adding that it will serve as a deterrent against domestic child labour.

Federal Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights Azam Nazeer Tarar says that the National Task Force on Human Rights is currently reviewing the bill on the Prohibition of Child Labour in Domestic Work 2024. “The Ministry of Human Rights is committed to bringing about legislative reforms to end child labour in the country,” he adds.

The writer is an investigative journalist associated with The News International, Pakistan. An EWC and GIJN fellow, he contributes to various international media outlets. His X handle: @AmerMalik3