Arjun Poudel

Though the government ratified the International Labor Organization (ILO) convention to end the worst forms of child labor some 20 years ago, exploitation, torture and grim treatment of under-age domestic help has continued.

The situation of most domestic help is pathetic and they are subject to different kinds of abuse including the sexual abuse, say organizations working in child rights. Several past studies show that a majority of domestic workers employed by well-off families in the major cities are minors and they have been denied even their basic rights.

The government has incorporated the spirit of the ILO convention into the constitution and laws and mechanisms have been created to ensure that no child is deprived of basic rights. But thousands of underage children are forced to work as domestic help for well-off families.

A latest report, unveiled by Children and Women in Social Service and Human Rights (CWISH) on Monday, also shows that a majority of child domestic workers are 10 to 14 years of age. The organization, which advocates the rights of children and women, said that the study was conducted among 347 child domestic workers - 234 girls and 113 boys- attending non-formal classes at different locations in Kathmandu this year.

About 58 percent of respondents are working because of the economic hardship of their families. "It is interesting that about 67percent of child domestic workers are willing to go back home and about 28 percent want to explore other work due to other reasons," the report says. The report also shows that a significant number of children have missed their mothers badly after they left home. The report shows that about 62 percent of children working as domestic help have been continuing their education but child rights officials claim that a very small number of such children have been getting a proper education. Their employers put them into schools just to show that they are being provided education.

"Children working as domestic help are not allowed to go to school regularly. They have to toil away in the house whenever their masters feel that is necessary," Pradeep Dangol, a child rights officer at CWISH, said, adding, "They have been forced to quit their studies if they start spending more time on their books." He claims that almost all domestic help toiling in the capital and other cities have been experiencing torture and abuse.

The Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 2000 prohibits government officials from keeping domestic help but these rules have been violated even by the law enforcement people. "Even government officials, ministers, lawyers, doctors and officials working at United Nations agencies have been keeping under-age children as domestic help and abusing their rights," Sumnima Tuladhar, executive director of Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN), said.

CWIN is a non-governmental organization (NGO) working as an advocate for children´s rights, and supporting child laborers, street children, children being exploited sexually and child victims of violence.

Tuladhar said that most domestic help have not been getting their wages. She said the government has been working to ensure the rights of children but its work is not sufficient for completely stopping the exploitation. "Over the year, we have been coordinating with the government. They have been striving, but their work is not sufficient to end child labor completely," she added.

A study conducted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2003 estimated that the domestic help population in the capital is about 21,000.

Published on: 13 June 2013 | Republica