Election Observation in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)
At the age when Hira should be getting up early in the morning and getting ready to go to school, she wakes up at the crack of dawn to go to work. Hira is a young child; her demeanor and physique display that she is not more than 14 years of age. Her childhood has been forced to end before it even started. Such is the unfortunate reality of scores of young children in Pakistan who are forced to work at an age when they ought to be studying for a better future.
Hira is the eldest of her six siblings. Her mother passed away when she was a little child and her father remarried. She lives with her father, stepmother, and four step-siblings. Knowing she is a stepdaughter, Hira has always felt like she has to earn her place in the household. At this age, Hira like all other children should be living within the comfort of her home, under the protection of her family. Instead, her circumstances forced her to go to work. Belonging to an underprivileged background, where her parents find it hard to make the ends meet, this young child contributes to the household income. Her earnings are not sufficient enough to meet the expenses, yet contribute meagerly to the needs of the house.
Hira works as a domestic helper in not one but four different houses. Her day starts at five in the morning, as she helps her stepmother fetch water, clean up the house, and feed her younger siblings. By the time she is done with her house chores, it’s time for her to go to work. At around seven she sets off to the first house she works in. It is 40 minutes away from where she lives and travels by foot since she cannot afford to take public transport. It takes her two hours at one house. She cleans up the house and does everything from scrubbing toilets to washing clothes. Once she gets done from one house, she moves on to the next one. She repeats the same routine for the next three houses and by the time she gets free, it is seven in the evening. After such a rigorous day at work, when she finally gets home, Hira has to cook dinner for her family. An insight into her regular day indicates she works for 14 hours on end every day and for this laborious day she earns a meager PKR 6,000 per month. The fact that a mere 14-year-old girl works tirelessly for 14 hours a day and ends up earning the money not even close to the minimum pay highlights the cruelty and exploitation.
Going to school is a far-fetched reality for Hira since her parents cannot possibly pay for the school and accompanying expenses – her reality forces her to flip chapatis (flatbread) instead of flipping through pages of books. On her way to work when she crosses children her age dressed in their school uniforms – the toll that it takes on Hira must be unexplainable. This is the age for her to have not a single worry in the world and yet she worries about providing for his family. When asked if she ever felt like going to school, her eyes teared up and she replied she always dreamed of going to the school, wanted to feel what adorning a uniform felt like and learn new things so she could become educated. “but going to school is impossible for me. My parents do not have enough money to send all seven of their children to school. We have to fend for ourselves and clothe ourselves. We cannot even think about asking our parents to pay for our school.” Even with her and her stepmother’s cumulative income, they rake up a total of PKR 20,000 per month. This income is not enough to bear the expenses of a nine-member household.
The general opinion in the country regarding child labor pivots towards acceptability. It has become a norm to engage young children since there are hardly any laws enforced that protect them and can be easily exploited. While laws exist, however, the lack of their enforcement makes it easier to get away with this exploitation. Industries prefer engaging younger children in labor because they are aware they can get away with oppressing them without being held accountable.
When asked about her working conditions, Hira complained of extended working hours and general mistreatment by her employers. At times she works all seven days of the week when the employers insist on doing so and are barely compensated for the extra work. She has to deal with the poor behaviors of not just one but four employers. If she breaks something by mistake or does something wrong, she is punished through a deduction in her pay. She is overworked and underpaid. This would have been unfair if this were happening to an adult, the fact that this is the situation of a young child is outrightly unjustifiable.
Young children like Hira are also more susceptible to sexual harassment because her status as a minor, who is unprotected in her workplace leaves her more vulnerable to untoward advances. There have been far more instances of sexual harassment among children engaged in labor, scores of which go unreported firstly because the child’s innocence bars them from understanding the extent of this invasion, and secondly knowing they have no support, most keep quiet. There also have been reports of young house helps who were violently beaten up by their employers because they were not able to comply with their orders. One such unfortunate incident from a couple of years ago involved a young 10-12-year-old house help who was electrocuted to death by her employers because she ate something without their permission. Her life was the price she paid for this one act. This is the harsh reality of the young, domestic labor employed by households. There is no check and balance, and no laws or rules apply that may protect them from exploitation. Their employment as domestic helps starts from as young as eight-year-old children, or even younger in some cases. The parents need money, so they do not have much of an option except to send them to work.
The general acceptability and nonchalant attitude towards hiring children especially as domestic help has endangered the lives of many. There is a general trend to have more children so they can help out with household expenses, the poor financial conditions make it impossible for the parents to send their off-springs to school and they would much rather want their children to earn and contribute to the household finances.
No child deserves to be left unaccompanied in a workplace at such a young age, they deserve an education, to have a childhood, to retain their innocence, and to work towards a better future. Keeping them from getting educated and leaving them at the behest of the world has ended rather badly for some as there have been instances of them being assaulted, tortured, and killed in some cases. There is a need to actively prohibit child labor, the government and civil society should play a crucial role to ensure that no children, like Hira, are forced to leave their childhood behind to earn money and risk their lives for a meager livelihood.