It is undoubted that children are the most vulnerable group in any society. They are likely targets of all kinds of abuse and their vulnerability only increases in accordance to their socio-economic status. Unfortunately, because the majority of the population is poor, the majority of Nepali children are even more vulnerable to abuse, neglect and exploitation, in comparison to their counterparts in developed parts of the world.

The most apparent reason for this is that, as a result of economic scarcity, children are forced to work in the labour market and make up a sizeable proportion of the workforce. They are often seen undertaking the most menial of labour, which is also often the most laboursome—from working in brick and clothing factories, to being domestic workers and waiters.

Due to the extreme poverty from which many of these children emerge, they simply have no choice but to go out and find work before even reaching their teens. They are yet to develop critical thinking capacities and as children, are less physically developed, which means that they cannot protect themselves from any abuse they receive—whether it be physical, emotional or sexual.

Within the context of Nepal, according to a new report published by World Education Nepal and Plan International, Kathmandu has the highest incident of the worst forms of child labour. Child labour itself is a type of abuse, but combined with the other kinds of abuse the children are victim to in the work environment, the gravity of the situation is only amplified.

Among all kinds of child labour, the most common form here in Nepal is the use of children as domestic workers with around 172,000 children in the sector. This number is followed by those working in brick kilns, tea shops and the transportation sector.

As the report rightly highlights, what matters more than the numbers, is the conditions under which many of these children are made to work. Their work hours are long—up to 12 hour shifts in the transport sector and brick kilns—if they aren’t working almost round the clock, as with many cases of domestic workers. They are denied basic rights and often deprived of an education.

As girls, they are often the victims of all kinds of sexual abuse. Stories of girl domestic workers being impregnated by the males of the families for whom they work, surface time and again in the media. In many ways, parallels can be drawn between the realities faced by child labourers in Nepal and that of migrant workers— especially female ones. They are often scared and unaware of where to report the abuse abuse they’ve received. They can even be forced to keep quiet and hide from the authorities. That is why stringent child labour laws need to be enacted here at home.

If the occurrence of child labour cannot be immediately wished away or eradicated, the least that can be done is to investigate reported abuses and prosecute the perpatrators. A good place to begin to eliminate child labour and abuse would be in the sectors where it is most evident. This can be done by keeping a roster of child workers, enforcing regulations that keep them in school, ensuring they make enough to subsist, and in case of any exploitation and abuse, by punishing the predators.

Stringent child labour laws need to be enacted to eliminate child labour.

Published on: 27 November 2012 | The Kathmandu Post