30th July is a UN day to raise awareness against human trafficking. Human trafficking is the first and the oldest form of man’s exploitation of man. The hieroglyphics on the walls of the caves tell the story of men brutalized for labour, from building astounding structures to growing grains, one party living off, and quite richly, of the sweat, tears and blood of the other. According to the definition of trafficking, the victim is coerced, deceived or held against his will for exploitation. Unlike human smuggling, trafficking may not involve any displacement at all as is generally believed, due to popular media. The absence of free will does not only mean forcing or deceiving the victim into toiling hard but also the meagre wages and the harsh living conditions constitute trafficking, that is why, trafficking has been termed as the modern day slavery. It may be worth noting that the human rights movements which also gave birth to the labour laws and made the dignity of man the cornerstone of all human rights ideals, have their roots in the abolitionist movements in the global North.
Pakistan, like most other developing country, has all the conditions conducive to trafficking in humans like poor economic conditions; disregard to human rights and the dignity of person; corrupt public officials complicit in the crime; non-criminalization of a number of internationally recognized forms of trafficking due to social and cultural reasons like forced marriages or child marriages; poor law and order; non-prosecution or half willing prosecution; abysmal access to education; deficient employment opportunities; inadequate social safety nets ; intersection of vulnerabilities making women and children the easiest prey to the traffickers and above all the ages old customs of caste and class condoning trafficking.
Most common form of trafficking in Pakistan is the debt bondage and an estimated number of those working in slavery like conditions is in millions. The largest sector to employ this labor is the agriculture as the landless peasants have traditionally been working as bonded labor for the land owners. After agriculture, brick kilns is another sector which is known for the exploitative practices. Exploitation becomes worst in the manufacturing sectors where the wages are paid for the work finished which makes the parents employ children also and to work as long as the whole family could. Once it was the carpet weaving and the sports goods industry too, notorious for employing child labour with all its ugly aspects, but newer techniques of manufacturing and largely the international pressure, led to phasing out of the child labour. Since the global market is the primary consumer of the sports goods so the awareness raised by the activists led to the adoption of ethical practices in the sports goods industry like limiting work hours and schools for the child labour.
The domestic servants are not covered by labour laws as the houses do not fall under the definition of “establishment”, hence, neither minimum wage laws nor provisions related to rest and recreation or social security can be invoked by them
Appalling poverty and the acute lack of opportunities are the primary reasons that the victims make desperate choices. Recent case of a young domestic maid from Muzzaffargarh employed in a house in Rawalpindi, who was tortured to death for freeing the pet parrots, shook the conscience of everyone. The poor child was not abducted or kept in servitude without wages, as the movies on trafficking present it’s victims, but the real conditions of her life and the cruel treatment meted out to her were similar to those of the worst form of slavery (as the investigators found out on the forensic analysis of the phone of her employer like her pictures in cages). Domestic servitude and the employment of children as domestic help are among those examples of trafficking which are not criminalized in our local jurisdiction. It is only some case of extreme brutality which catches the attention of the law enforcement agencies and the perpetrators are booked under the provisions of Pakistan Penal Code dealing with grievous hurt generally. The domestic servants are not covered by labour laws too as the houses do not fall under the definition of “establishment” either, hence, neither minimum wage laws nor provisions related to rest and recreation or social security can be invoked by them. Homeland Security US has identified forced labour, sex trafficking and the debt bondage as three types of trafficking. These three types are not mutually exclusive and are often found overlapping as is often the case with the domestic help toiling away beyond the public gaze.
The traditional argument that by ending this child (domestic) labour, these children would be turned out in the streets, appears very logical on the face of it. Let’s not forget that when in 1992 bonded labor was criminalized federally and in 2016 child labour at brick kilns provincially (as labour laws are now in the provincial domain), we heard the similar arguments. It was contended that by interfering with the practice of advance wages and penalizing employers and the parents for the presence of children under fourteen during the school hours at the site of work in brick kilns, the whole sectors will be brought down. As for the wages, the governments found a mid way by limiting advance wages in terms of amount and the period for which such wages are paid. However, the penalizing of bonded labour came about only after a hard struggle by the rights advocates which also attracted the attention of the international media.
The issue of trafficking comes to the fore only when some horrendous incident catches attention and then it is all forgotten. Consistent and continuous efforts to raise awareness is required, so that the victims too are aware of the ill informed choices they make in search of greener pastures and similarly the conscientious citizens who object to be benefitted from this modern day slavery are able to make ethical choices. As they say, “when you see something, say something”, one may call at the helpline of Child Protection Bureau, for example, if one exists in your city, when you spot a child in distress. When in 2016 the employment of children at brick kilns was criminalized, the complaints could be lodged with the District Labour Committees constituted under the law and for quite some time some serious work was done. Since the law still exists, so one can lodge a complaint with the labour inspectors. Action against trafficking is not something that we have to leave to the government agencies only but here individual action also matters. You should know about your slavery foot print form the underpaid children and women working at your places to the products manufactured in the sweat shops for you.
The writer specializes in gender and human rights