Daily Times

Kudos to the Supreme Court (SC) for taking suo moto notice of the case pertaining to the alleged highhandedness meted out to a child maid in Islamabad. Taking cognizance of the issue of alleged maltreatment and subsequently reported patch-up and compromise, the chief justice of Pakistan has sought a detailed report from the registrar of the Islamabad High Court within 24 hours. The case came to light last week after photos of the child following the alleged torture began circulating on the social media. The maid as young as 10 years was being tortured by the family of a serving lower court judge. The police found the girl bearing clear marks of torture and burns on her body. With a face swollen and bloodied, she narrated her ordeal, which contained horrifying details about her mistreatment at the hands of her employers.

There is no protection of any kind, whether legal or physical, for the large number of domestic servants scattered all over the country, working in different homes, most of whom are young girls who should not be employed in conditions open to abuse in the first place. For years, domestic workers have been among the most exploited of all workers. Numerous cases have been reported in the past about criminal assaults by employers against their workers that occur on a regular basis. They are treated like domestic slaves by their employers. These miserable souls remain busy in doing petty household chores to earn a few bucks while no law exists that could regulate their services. In this situation, an intervention by the SC is welcome. The much needed intervention has raised hopes that something will be done to ease the dire conditions of their lives. According to estimates, there are almost 8.5 million domestic workers in the country that mostly comprise women and underage children. However, no law exists that could protect their basic rights. Even the existing labour laws do not cover domestic workers. In January 2015, a union of 235 domestic workers was registered in Lahore under an International Labour Organisation project. More such unions need to be formed. Unless workers are mobilised by committed leadership within its own ranks, or through missionary zeal by activists, workers’ collective voice will remain suppressed.

The Islamabad incident is in no way an isolated one; it is the kind of story we as a people have become desensitised to. We have never established how important it is to have a proper system of monitoring and registration for these workers who work for little pay and under trying circumstances. Too many children are prey to the wickedness and barbarity of people who are materially privileged and should be an example of empathy, love and caring. That is not the case and so the relevant authorities need to do all they can to ensure that cases such as this one are a rarity, not the norm, and all cases of abuse are dealt with strictly according to the law. In a democratic state, it is the government’s responsibility to end this injustice against domestic workers. It needs to protect their fundamental rights and implement legislation as soon as possible. They need to be treated as human beings and deserve respect from their employers and other people as they are also citizens of Pakistan with equal rights. *