The BBC has shone the spotlight on little Tayyaba once more. The British broadcaster aired over the weekend a documentary by Secunder Kermani simply titled, Pakistan’s Child Maids.
The Dominique Strauss-Khan case put an end to the argument that only poor men, unexposed to sophistry and worldliness, rape. In much the same way, Tayyaba’s story debunked once and for all the myth that only the poor and the illiterate, who are largely and unfairly written off as backward and therefore incapable of being sentient, mistreat children.
Tayyaba was just 10-years-old when she was tortured by a judge, no less, and his wife. And she made history when the Chief Justice of Pakistan personally took up the case to ensure that justice was done. But this is a question that goes beyond incidents of physical harm and due process. And it is one that must start with the elite.
Pakistan needs to become a welfare state as promised by Quaid-e-Azam and as enshrined in the Constitution. For the gross disparity in wealth and access to resources lie at the root of much of the violence in this country that targets the most vulnerable. In other words, those who serve as indentured labour are robbed of their fundamental rights stolen from the very outset. And the exploitation is inevitably handed down from generation to generation. This is what happened to little Tayyaba. Her father, a manual labourer, lost a finger in an accident. Finding himself suddenly out of a job and with his wife needing an operation – he sent his daughter off to work for a seemingly well-to-do couple.
According to Kermani’s documentary, Pakistan is home to more than a few agencies that provide child maids to those who can afford them. The authorities must act at once to criminalise this practice. For this is child trafficking by another name. Punitive action must also extend to those who sign up for such services. For no one has the right to buy and sell children into slavery.
In fact, the entire structure of domestic labour in this country is problematic. For one thing, it does not fall within the purview of the formal sector. Regrettably, it is often considered a ‘safe’ option for women and the girl child; who may be uncomfortable mixing with men in the public sphere. Yet torture and sexual assault do not recognise any such man-made boundaries. Especially when monetary imbalance enters into the equation.
So, what is to be done? In short, Pakistan must end all child slavery. From underage maids to those who work in factories and brick kilns. As long as it does not, the country is guilty of not honouring its international commitments. And worse of all, it is culpable of being complicit in hurting little girls like Tayyaba. *
Published in Daily Times, June 12th 2018.