Recommendation to address Child Domestic Labour

To protect children from domestic labour, existing laws and regulations need to be effectively enforced, while reviewing and amending laws to close loopholes. Child protection case management and referral mechanisms are needed to respond to such cases, tailored to the specificities of domestic work and its particular protection needs, as well as efforts to prevent such cases.

Legislative Bodies: Parliament and Provincial Assemblies

• There is a need to harmonise all federal and provincial laws relating to the definition of a child to define anyone under the age of 18 as a child, and provinces must raise the minimum age for admission to employment in line with the age for compulsory education as defined in Article 25(A).
• Article 11 (3) of the Constitution of Pakistan should be amended to prohibit the employment of children (under 18 years of age) in factories, mines or hazardous occupations in accordance with Pakistan’s commitment to the ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour No.182.
• The federal government should introduce the criminal law amendments in Pakistan Penal Code, to penalise child domestic labour as slavery-like practice; the offence should be cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable.
• The offence in PPC 328A dealing with cruelty to a child should be made cognizable.
• Light work needs to be defined in the context of child labour in domestic work. The details of domestic work and the hours of work that are or are not included in light work should be explicitly defined in laws or rules. The right of children between the ages of 16 and 18 to perform light work should be protected.
• Introduce laws and rules to recognise and regulate adult domestic workers as “real work” and amend domestic worker laws in Punjab, Sindh and KP to prohibit the employment of children as domestic workers. Law on regulating domestic worker should be enacted in Balochistan to protect domestic workers.
• Punjab government should immediately introduce the rules and framework under the Punjab Domestic Workers Act, 2019 and amend the law to raise the minimum age for light work from 15 to 16 years.
• Sindh Provincial government should immediately ban the child domestic labour in Sindh by amending the schedule of The Sindh Prohibition of Employment of Children Act, 2017, and The Sindh Home Based Workers Act, 2018 should be amended to prohibit employment of children.
• The issue of hazardous labour and child domestic labour as a hazardous occupation should be included in the list of prohibited occupations/ processes of the KP Prohibition of Employment of Children Act, 2015, and KP Home Based Workers (Welfare and Protection) Act, 2021 should be amended to prohibit employment of children.
• The Government of Balochistan should introduce the Rules for the Implementation of the Employment of Children in Balochistan (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 2021.
• The Government of Pakistan should ratify the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), particularly in relation to child domestic labour.

Federal and Provincial Governments

• It is recommended that the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics’ annual Labour Force Survey (LFS) should include child domestic labour in the child labour component as a regular feature, and cover the age group 5-17 years (currently it covers those over 10 years).
• Provincial governments must develop action plans to eradicate child labour, taking into account the findings of the child labour surveys and national and international commitments.
• There must be a ban on child domestic labour for public office holders, public representatives and political office holders. Admission to public places such as hotels, restaurants, wedding halls, parks, playgrounds, public transport and car parks should be banned for adults accompanied by child domestic labour, and these prohibitions should be publicly displayed.
• Children up to the age of sixteen should go to schools by strictly enforcing the laws on compulsory education and free education in ICT and the respective provinces in line with Article 25(A) of Pakistan’s Constitution. The government should focus on alternative learning opportunities for children out-of-schools.
• Effective cooperation and strong coordination must be developed between provincial governments and district administrations to prevent child domestic labour.
• Provincial governments and ICT must increase budgetary allocations to improve the education system and provide mechanisms to ensure student attendance in primary, middle and high schools and ensure that no child is absent from school. There is also a need to connect schools with training institutes such as TEVTA and provide skills trainings.
• The establishment of a coherent and efficient vigilance system is required in ICT and in all provinces to identify children who are engaged in child labour in domestic, including the establishment of district-level vigilance committees.
• The federal and provincial governments must improve their child protection systems and ensure that services and support are available and accessible to children who have been physically, sexually or otherwise abused or exploited as domestic workers through well-coordinated child protection case management and referral systems. Child protection centres and child protection units should be established in all districts of Pakistan under federal and provincial child protection laws.
• A neighbourhood watch system should be introduced so that individuals can report cases of child domestic labour to the relevant authorities. A neighbourhood watch system should not replace the state monitoring system but complement it.
• A mandatory reporting system should be established and referral mechanisms should be put in place for immediate response with interdepartmental case management protocols.
• Training programmes should be conducted for law enforcement agencies, including labour department, police, social welfare, child protection agencies and commissions on child rights and child protection laws. Police and other law enforcement agencies should be trained to deal with the newly amended provisions in the Pakistan Penal Code 1860, internal child trafficking and its consequences.
• There is a need to develop a formal linkage of child labour/child domestic labour with social safety nets as a policy measure with a strategy to improve the existing Ehsaas, Bait-ul-Mal and other provincial social protection programmes, and expand the scope and scale of the programmes to reach children working in the informal sector and in the worst forms of child labour, including child domestic labourers and their families.
• Provincial departments should conduct in- depth research on the prevalence and impact of child domestic labour. A needs gap analysis could be conducted to assess the problems in implementing child labour laws in the respective regions.
• Complaint handling through the helpline 1121 administered by the Sindh Child Protection Authority/KP Child Protection and Welfare Commission/ Punjab Child Protection and Welfare Bureau and Child Protection Institute Islamabad  should be made more effective and accessible by implementing streamlined procedures, enhancing staff training, ensuring timely responses, and promoting public awareness to safeguard the rights and well-being of children across Pakistan.
• Child Protection Officers should be trained for the recovery, rehabilitation and reunification of child victims of domestic labour.
• The federal and provincial governments should include families of domestic workers with children or those living below the poverty line in social protection schemes.
• The federal and provincial governments should introduce programmes to upskill adult domestic workers, and include them in the social safety nets to reduce child labour in the province.
• The number of labour officers and the technical capacity of labour inspectors need to be enhanced to improve the effectiveness of monitoring and accountability mechanisms to address child domestic labour.
• Labour inspectors should be given more powers to carry out on-site inspections, without prior notice or information.
• The Labour Departments have implemented projects to curb child labour in various industrial sectors. They should also focus on and include child domestic labour in their projects.
• Government agencies can play an effective role in mobilising public opinion against child domestic labour and the ways in which child domestic labour robs children of childhood. The Chief Secretaries of the respective provinces, PTA, PEMRA etc. can help to bring the issue to the forefront without spending much money.
• Parenting is a neglected area that should be highlighted for both awareness and punishment in the context of trafficking, as in the  Kamran murder case in Punjab in 2022. It is recommended that the human trafficking law be applied and parents be held accountable for neglect and exploitation.

Judicial bodies: District Judiciary and Higher Judiciary

• The higher courts should develop their rules for dealing with children and labour issues involving children. This will guide the subordinate courts, including trial courts, labour courts, magistrates and other judicial bodies.
• The superior judiciary should apply the notion of child protection when adjudicating children’s matters to ensure the best interests of the child, as provided for in international human rights law and standards, and ensure that children have prompt access to justice and redress.
• The judiciary should follow the guiding principle of child justice when interacting with children in contact or in conflict with the law.
• Strengthen the functioning of labour courts by training judges/presiding officers on international labour standards, national and provincial labour and industrial laws.

National and Provincial Human Rights Institutions

• NHRIs should closely monitor the implementation of international commitments to which the State is a party to ensure that the recommendations of the UN bodies are followed through the various periodic reviews.
• Establish effective and accessible grievance mechanisms, investigate complaints promptly and take appropriate action where warranted.
• In-depth research should be conducted at the federal and provincial levels on the impact of child labour in domestic work.
• Coordinate with Treaty Implementation Cells to obtain data/figures on CDL and status of government compliance with ratified treaties.
• NHRIs should recommend to the Government of Pakistan to ratify the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189).
• NHRIs should be strengthened to include jurisdiction over business entities with a broader scope and to take cognizance of complaints, as envisaged in the “Action Plan on Human Rights and Business”. NHRIs should recommend that all state institutions and officials observe the Universal Children’s Day on 20 November at the state level to highlight the problems of children and the plight of child abuse and exploitation.