Ananke | In Focus | Shackled

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SHACKLED Lives in Chains

By Sabin Muzaffar

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Over160 million children worldwide are estimated to be in child labor: 63 million girls and 97 million boys ? and this too ? at the beginning of the year 2020, indicates an ILO-UNICEF 2020 report About 30 million children are employed in some kind of labor in seven South Asian countries in both hazardous and non-hazardous work; a number that has more than doubled when compared with ILO?s conservative estimates of 16 7 million childrenina2013 report

The ILO defines child labor ?as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and/or interferes withtheir schoolingby:deprivingthem of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance withexcessively longandheavy work.?

Interestingly, a child?s employment or work may only be deemed as ?child labor?depending on her or his age, work hours, mode or type of work as well as the conditions in which the work is being performed While there are numerous forms of child labor, those considered the worst include modern day slavery, where a child (aged 5-17 years) is owned and made towork against her or hiswill ?fromthe time of their capture, purchase or birth,?trafficking, serfdom where the child isforced to live and work on land with little or no pay, forced labor, sexual exploitation, debt bondage, beggary and other illicit activities International standards maintain that work must only beperformed by those usually 15 years of age or older and that too if it is stipulated by national law

While Child Domestic Labor (CDL) does not come under the scope of the worst types of labor (though various paradigms within children?s domestic work are deemed hazardous) , recent

reports especially coming out from South Asia relate horrific stories Laying it out in simple details? so that nothingisleft to theimagination of the privileged and the powers that be ?child domestic work refersto labor in the domestic sector; more than often performed by children below the ?relevant minimum age for light work, full time non-hazardous work, in hazardous conditions or slavery like situation Amplified is the aggravation especially when the child is forcefully and without her or his consent immigrated to different cities or countries This, in plain words, mean thechild/minor istrafficked

Bearing in mind that domestic work sector; especially in the South Asian (and also Global South) context; is still mostly unregulated, under-valued and/or is hidden, even though many countries have ratified ILO?s Convention 189 (Domestic Workers Convention) and Convention 138 (Minimum Age Convention) among numerous others. Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh being among them Due to the unregulated positionality of domestic work itself in the labor landscape, child domestic labor thenbecomesharder totackle.

Those who do ?hire? children ? especially girls ? for employment justify by asserting to provide safety and security to the otherwise unprotected minor in the face of child marriages, sexual exploitation and what have you by getting them ?away?from the alleged space of potential abuse

?Look at it this way, we are providing the girl safety of our home in lieu of the services. Good food to eat and no fear of being married off to someone twice or thrice her age. She is sent to us with the express permission of her parents or guardians. It?s a win-win situation for everyone, isn? t it?? said one employer based in the southern city of Karachi,Pakistan.

What the privileged ?benefactors?fail to realize is the fact that this act is

While Child Domestic Labor doesnot come under the scope of the worst typesof labor , recent reports especially coming out from South Asia relate horrific stories. writes

Sabin Muzaffar

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SAVING FROM SAVIOR SYNDROME OF THE PRIVILEGED

actually depriving the child of her or his basic human rights as they are coerced into employment The child is forced to leave home/community/village, usually deprived of education, and are frequently placed in an exploitative environment of the benefactor?s ownership and servitude And, almost all the time such children are not given wages, as payment is often made to parents or guardians A classic exampleof humantrafficking

Pakistan has ratified, adopted, launched as well as passed dozens of policies, conventions, ordinances, principles and lawsrelated to child labor FromratifyingILO?sForced Labor Convention in 1957 to the issuance of Notification Banning Child Domestic Labor and the passing of Zainab Alert Response and Recovery Act in 2020,the country doeshave aplethoraof regulations Thecountry isalsoparty totheUN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in PersonsEspecially Women andChildren To alayperson,this may suggest a somewhat coherent framework protecting thePakistani childfromtheravagesof child labor,abuseand trafficking Thesituationontheground,however,differs!

Experts and lawyers either complain numerous challenges as far as laws are concerned starting with ineffective policies or weak enforcement to lack of trainings and sensitivity especially handlingtheissueof trafficking.

Talkingabout lawsand policies,Miqdad Naqvi,achild rights lawyer said:?We have some toothless laws in some provinces like in (the province of) Punjab The Domestic WorkersAct 2019 waspassed to regulatedomesticworkers and it prohibited domestic work by children under 15 years

In Islamabad Capital Territory, Domestic Workers Act was passed in 2022 prohibiting entry of children in Domestic work till 16 years of age And in case of any violation, (perpetratorsare)only fined (With the)exception (of)where the child is under 12 (years of age) then (there is) only one month punishment It's not a child labor issue but a child protection issue Our child protection laws don't cover it This is why we demand to outlaw Child Domestic Labor as (modern day) slavery and to see it under a child protection lens; not under alabor regime Furthermore,even asalabor issue, labor inspectors have never been able to take cognizance of incidents in private houses but only

commercial establishments, so there are multiple related issuesof it?

Chairperson National Commission on the Rights of Child, Ayesha Raza Farooq also lamented about weak enforcement of the law that not only criminalize labor trafficking but also child domestic labor (full interview ahead).

Across the Global South and by extension South Asia, the pandemic of Child Domestic Labor and exploitation can be attributed to various? already known and acknowledged ? factors from abject poverty, lack of or half-baked social protection policies, socio-economic status and ethnicity/race as well as migration; among other things Deepening the issue are the challenges of (and not limited to) the vastly accepted practice of rural to urban child migration as well as proper implementation of regulations due to national minimum age or executing it in private households Then again,policy isanother areathat needsto belookedintodeeply

Talking about internal or national level human trafficking,Miqdad Naqvi said: ?The issue of internal child traffickingwherebyachild istrafficked without his/her own consent to a family as domestic help is a serious issue. In thiscase,thechilddoesnot receiveany remuneration,but it is the adults who receive the payment on their behalf such as the parents of the child etc.During the hearing of Tayyaba Torture case in 2017, the issue of internal traffickingof minorswasalso highlighted just likeit isbeing highlighted now in Rizwana?s case. But unfortunately, no specific laws to address or recognize this issue as an internal child trafficking issue have yet been made. However, existing penal code and constitutional provisions on fundamental rights as well as the international obligations of Pakistan vis a vis child rights convention all make a good case to argue for the courts to take a child protectionlensontheseissues.

According to a US State Department2023 Trafficking in PersonsReport:Pakistan:?Law enforcement effortsagainst labor trafficking remained inadequate compared to the scale of the problem and for a fourth year,the government did not take adequate action against credible reports of official complicity in trafficking; victim protection services, especially shelter, remained inadequate; and inspection efforts continued to be insufficient to effectively enforce labor laws?

Globally recognized Human Rights Advocate Mandy Sanghera opined: ?We know that modern day slavery and child trafficking are global pandemics and if you look at India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, children are forced into labor,anywherefromfactoriesto households Thenumbers are really shocking and unacceptable And sadly we have seen that after the COVID19 pandemic, there has been an increase because there is a need for cheaper labor, goods and services People will exploit and use people We do need toraiseawarenessandwork together toweed out this systemicproblem?

Taking stock of the situation in Pakistan as a case study, it boils down to the subject of child protection Senior Policy Advisor on governance, gender, GBV, child marriage and former UNDPGender Advisor,FauziaYazdani commented: ?There have been many laws and policies that have been

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made We also have to realize that Pakistan is an over-legislated country so (much so) that we always say that there are many laws. The thing to be seen is that are such laws complimentary?Aretheselawscomplimenting each other towards our unified goals of reducingchild trafficking,child labor and other child rights?challenges? Or are they actually creating more loopholes that can be exploited by others?Implementation hasalso been weak and that needsto be contextualized within the larger rule of law ambit. But I think most importantly, where is a designated ministry or division which is focusing on child rights?Post 18th amendment child rights as a subject was devolvedtotheprovinces?

She added: ?At federal level, it is part of the ministry of human rights administratively When it comes to policy, programming, all things that can influence and support implementation of law,wehavenever seen the

ministry of humanrightstakingalead onit Yes making documentations on National Action Plan or laws; most of the time they are donor-driven So donorscome,they do it,build thecapacity,talk about creatinglaw,then they are done and that?s about it In any case, what the ministry of human rights does is only applicablefor (thecapital city of)Islamabad So where is that national, strategic framework or guidance where all provinces have signed on that yeswewill contribute?If thereisone,how is it being measured? I don? t know of one! When it comestoprovinces,childright isasub, sub of some department and again it faces the same thing You have to look at the human rights policy If they say it is part of human rights then you have to look at the human rights policy of the four provincesIt has one pageon child rights! In Punjab for exampleand in my last research; what I saw was who was making the child rights protection mechanism It wasthe planningdivision Where isthe child

protection bureau in Punjab anchored and under which department? What can the child protection department do?Can it stop child labor?Look at the laws under which all these commissionsarebeinggoverned So its way out of their mandate Each provincial commission have their own laws which are also not uniform. It does not have any consistency or uniformity amongtheprovinces?

In a country where politico-economic destabilization isin effect,where even the rule of law is questionable; the fates of country?s innocent ? the children ? hang in the balance True, it is a tight-rope to walk on but it can bewalkedon!In times like these, action means banding and working together from raising awareness, to creating a uniform, consistent, coherent and inclusive policy on a national level asa blueprint to also be transferred and regionalized/provincialized in order to protect the child and upholding her or hisrights A cohesive social protection plan of action perhaps? It is also important to create a narrative through media channels and other societal platforms that child and adolescent labor should beunderstood as human trafficking and that it certainly falls out of the ambit of family privacy Rigorously continuous trainings of sensitization of security and protection agencies, education is key to face these debilitating challenges in addition to including more women and representatives of marginalized communities within these agencies Lastly, a conversation around the savior syndrome of the privileged should be initiated, especially in context of those in poverty, ignorance, compulsions and economic burden Such ideas of being benefactors of the poor should be shunned and rejected as these do not break the cycle of poverty but in fact amplify it manifold To reiterate:it isa tight-ropetowalkonbut it canbewalked on!

Chairperson

National Commission on the Rightsof Child, Pakistan (NCRC), Ayesha Raza Farooq speakswith Ananke?sEditor, Sabin Muzaffar about child labor in modern day slavery and human trafficking contexts.

UNCHAINING CHILDREN

1 Various laws in Pakistan criminalize labor trafficking, but the situation on the ground remains dire as far as Child Labor and by extension Child Domestic Labor is concerned As the chairperson of an important organization, the National Commission on the Rights of Child (NCRC), which deals with these very issues, what are your views when it comes to situation on the ground vis-a-via policy/law implementation? What needs to be done to meaningfully implement regulationsand laws?

There are multiple general and specialized laws on the subject of child trafficking and child labour. However, there is weak enforcement of the same A multi-pronged approach is needed to combat these issues.Under different provincial legislative enactments on children?s rights, various child protection institutions or units are made whose function is to immediately respond to any child protection issue including any possible case of child abuse and provide immediate protection and assistance to the children in need The existing child protection organisations need to be well-staffed and well-funded with trained child protection officers having well-established linkages with hospitals, counsellors, shelter homes, police, and magistrates. The same goes for the national, provincial, and district level trafficking in persons (TIP) committees made to combat trafficking and District Vigilance Committees (DVCs) formed under provincial Bonded Labour Abolition Acts which are loosely structured, poorly funded,andunder-staffed.

Moreover, in the context of child trafficking, there is a need to sensitize the law enforcement agencies to the issue of child trafficking and provide them with training to enhance their specialised technical investigation skills in line

with new modes of communication being used by human traffickersand organised crime groups Trainings are also required to be provided to develop basic awareness of trafficking among frontline law enforcement practitioners in the areasof legal framework around the issue and referral of victims. The police must know about the traffickingindicatorsand should also be able to identify them when encountering such a case of traffickingin order to apply theright charge under Prevention of Trafficking in Person Act 2018 (PTPA) The lack of knowledge regarding the existence of this law serves as a major hindrance to its application and isalso a reason for a low number of cases being registeredunder thislaw

To address the issue of child domestic labour, NCRC has recently proposed and drafted a criminal amendment bill to criminalize child domestic labour and to make it a non-compoundableand non-bailable offence so that stronger deterrence can be created Once translated into an act of law, police should be made aware of the law and be trained to include the relevant sections/charges in the FIR if any case of child domestic labour is registered

Furthermore, it is imperative to develop family centric programmes that improvelivelihood,and focuson behaviour change communication to foster social disapproval of child domestic labour and stop using poverty as a justification to abuse andexploit children

2.According to the US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report: Pakistan (2023), significant efforts are being made but ?the Government of Pakistan does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.? Understanding full well, this needs concerted efforts from all

stakeholders, what in your view needsto be done in order to combat (internal/local) child trafficking?

Child traffickingisacrucial issueand aholistic approach isneeded to deal with the issue which not only involves legislative and institutional reforms but also measures to address the root causes that lead to child traffickingEconomic deprivation, market downturns, social inequality are some of the crucial structural factors of which trafficking is one manifestationTherefore, economic strengthening isthe most significant step to be taken to address the said issues.

Moreover, there are several legislative gaps in PTPA which need to be filled to ensure that this menace can be effectively curbed For instance, the definition of ?trafficking in persons? as given under PTPA demonstrates that many internationally recognized forms of child trafficking in the country like domestic servitude, forced marriages, beggary, pornography, organ trafficking, and usage of children in drug trafficking remain outside the ambit of ?trafficking in persons?Furthermore, there is multiplicity of laws on the same offences as covered under PTPA Since these laws provide different punishments for the same offences, this creates unnecessary complication in sentencing and provides the defendant with increased defences and loopholes in those laws to get lenient punishments Not only that, but it also gives law enforcement agencies wide ranged power to choose law under which to register cases of human trafficking The laws should beconsolidatedandharmonized

On the institutional side,there is an urgent need to establish a tightly structured and fully functioning National Referral Mechanism (NRM) to link victims of human trafficking

and migrant smuggling with service delivery organizations providing shelter, psychosocial services, legal support, and other facilities. Since PTPA isaspecialized law so separate courts or special benches be established for the implementation of the same Judges of these courts also need specialized training and education on the issue of child trafficking National, provincial and district level TIP committees which have been made to combat trafficking needs to be properly structured, adequately funded, and well-staffed Adding to the issue of child trafficking is the fact that due to a lack of steady mechanisms for the rehabilitation of trafficked children, especially when their own families are involved, even those who are rescued remain susceptible to re-victimization or they return to exploitative situationsand practices. Likewise, early release of children from sheltersor safe homeswithout any risk assessment increases the chances of their further exploitation or repeated trafficking.Therefore, a resourceful and steady mechanism for victim rehabilitation must be provided for trafficking victims so that their reintegration in the society is made possible.Moreover, support services should not only be available for the victims but also be readily available for the offendersto prevent recidivism Psychological support in thisregard must be made easily available and accessible to all such people to address the deeper and larger issues that compel their problematic behaviour so that it can beprevented.

3 There was a recent tweet about amending the PPC and that the NCRC has shared a draft bill with the Ministry of Human Rights, can you tell us more about it, especially how it should be implemented?

Child domestic labour is a very crucial issue and mostly lead to child abuse and torture, in some cases children were even killed by their

exploiters Therefore, the NCRC has shared a criminal amendment bill with the Ministry of Human Rights which criminalizes child domestic labor and make it a non-bailable and non-compoundable offence The most crucial aspect of the bill isthat it defines child as someone below the eighteen years of age as most of our laws,especially labour laws,lack uniformity inhow they defineachild, which creates complication in the application of these laws where especially where they overlap, but keeping in account all the international standardson thepoint, this law rectifies the said situation The draft bill not only provides punishments for the people who are directly involved in engaging children in domestic labour but also for the parents or people in control of children who agree for their children to be engaged in domestic labor.Thebill should beenacted into enforceable law to create stronger deterrence in this regard Once the said bill translates into enforceable law, all the law enforcement agencies, especially the police, need to be made aware of the same so that they can charge the offender under the said provisions when registering a case of child domestic labor.

4 People living below the poverty line and suffering from multiple crises obviously begin exploring options and make short term decisions since more children mean more mouths to feed and thus begin considering children as ?renewable? resource for income. Is there a way out considering the dire state of affairs of the country in terms of economy?Of course, nothing can be accomplished overnight? especially these challenges of a child being trafficked and sent to work in homes? but where to begin to see social change happening on the ground?

Alongside legislative and institutional reforms,measuresneed

to be taken to address the root causes of the problems like child trafficking and child labour which involveeconomic,social,andcultural factors. Economic deprivation and poverty being some of the main reasons owing to which children becomevulnerableto traffickingand forced labour. Therefore,measures should be taken to raise levels of social protection and to create decent employment opportunities for all This is because when adequateemployment opportunities for adults will be created then this will automatically result in a decrease in the incidentsof children being trafficked into child labour Furthermore, implementation of Article 25A should be ensured. Schools can play a very important role in early identification of childrenwho areat risk of trafficking or forced labour by ensuring attendance-based monitoring mechanism so that missing children and child abuse and neglect cases can be detected at early stagesonce it isrealized that achild hasstopped comingto the school.To achieve this purpose, school attendance may be linked with social security programs through which parents can be given economic incentives to send their children to school.Measures should be implemented to address the invisibility of exploitation when it comes to labour in general or domestic labour in particular. In this regard, record and database of workforcein all our sectorsneedsto bemaintained by therelevant labour departments to ensure and monitor the safety of workers as labour force, especially in the informal sectors, is vulnerable to becoming victimsof trafficking

5.Can you tell us more about the work you as well as your organization is doing to combat child trafficking and child domestic labor? What are some of the most critical gaps that need immediate attention?

In order to tackle issues of child trafficking and child domestic labour, it is crucial that all the relevant stakeholders be sensitized and made aware of these issues. NCRC is playing a crucial role in this regard by raising awareness on these issues among public, government officials, and other stakeholders alike. It is also tryingto promotesocial dialogueon theseissuesby conducting various seminars and workshops. As part of its mandate, it is also reviewing some existing laws on the subject to fill any legislative gaps therein and advising relevant government departments to address thesame.Moreover,and to reiterate,NCRChasalready submitted a criminal amendment bill on child domestic labour so that the practice can be criminalized.NCRC is also working on the creation of a central database havingdataon all child related casesand issuesasthisis important to gauge the exact nature and extent of the child rights related issues. It is also trying to design a referral mechanism whereby children in need of help can be immediately connected to relevant entities providing support services like rehabilitation, psychosocial services,shelter and so forth.NCRChasan inclusivestructurewhereit hasitschildmemberswhose input is constantly taken in the pursuit of all of its initiatives. Taking the said input into account, NCRC is also designingasocial mediacampaign on priority areas as highlighted by the children themselves like child abuse,corporal punishment and,most importantly,child domesticlabor.

6 Anything else you?d like to say?

All the stakeholders need to come together and make joint efforts to address the violation of children?s rights at different levelsand to ensure better protection of all the children.Laws alone cannot achieve the desired effect unless they are accompanied by efficient institutionsto implement those.Therefore,the relevant institutions and the coordination between the said institutions needs to be strengthened. Moreover,there isaneed for harmonised and consolidated legislation on child trafficking and child labour across the board.Once there is adequate legislation on the subject, the next crucial stage is the implementation of the said legislation and to ensure which coordinated efforts of the relevant government departments and civil society are needed, as also mentioned above. Furthermore, community mobilization and awarenessraisingasto the existence of the legislative framework around child trafficking and child labour needs to be done. A robust oversight is needed to ensure that all the child protection institutions and anti-trafficking departments are working effectively.Also,more public dialoguesand discussion on these issues should be done to create political visibility of the issue and sensitize the government officials and masses alike to the gravity of theproblem.

Chairperson National Commission on the Rights of Child, Pakistan (NCRC), Ayesha Raza Farooq (Image credit: NCRC)

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