Child Labor is one of the darkest truths about our society. While we all condemn it, unanimously, because child labor robs innocent children from their childhood but at the same time, sometimes there is literally no alternative for the families of these children other than having young kids become earning members of the family. The fact that we currently have over 12.5 million child laborers in Pakistan even though they’re not even allowed to work in the first place is the living testimony to how lax our legal system is to providing for them.

Moreover, the cases of violence and the use of force against these children is probably what needs to be addressed while accepting that child labor is a reality and cannot be changed. Probably by making sure that these child laborers are treated in the most humane way is a better solution to dealing with something that can’t be curtailed by simply banning the practice.

Children kept in employment are treated extremely disgustingly, they’re beaten, starved and sometimes even murdered

Shazia Masih, a 12 year old Pakistani Christian, working as a maid at a lawyer’s house who also happened to be a former head of the Lahore Bar Association, was murdered by her employers for not working up to the mark even though she received about Rs. 800 per month for her work.

Similarly, Tayyaba, a minor girl who worked in Islamabad at a home of a session was a victim of brutality as well, at the hands of her employers.

These are just two of the many examples of brutal treatment that child laborers in Pakistan are at the receiving end of.

This video of a child laborer being beaten ruthlessly by the owner of the restaurant he works at, in Dera Ghazi Khan has brought shame to us as humans, once again

The kid was beaten ruthlessly by the owner while he was crying and screaming uncontrollably and unfortunately, people around seemed to be enjoying the whole scene.

People who saw the video were terribly outraged

Fortunately, the police in the area took notice of the incident after the video went viral and soon after, arrested the perpetrator 

While the police needs to be commended here, the story does not end here.

The right to education has been made free and compulsory for all children up to the age of 16 years, according to Pakistan’s Constitution

Accordingly, Pakistan is bound under the Constitution and this Convention to raise the minimum age of employment to 14 to 16 years.

Regulatory bodies need to be set up in order to monitor the situation and make sure children are indeed getting QUALITY education that wouldn’t result in these children being stuck in the vicious cycle of extreme poverty that leads to them sending their children to earn money to contribute to the family, and so on.

Currently, it is immensely difficult to entirely uproot the problem of child workers as we have a long way to go before a shift in the mindset is brought about. What the government can do is make sure that if the child workers are being hired, it is done so through a formal contractual arrangement where the hiring body is liable for the child’s education and protection and the child is expected to do soft work only.

And for anyone who sees children being treated badly, report. Don’t wait till something affects you to become engaged in a cause. Your participation is needed to bring change, not your passive hatred of something.

Cover image via: voc.org.pk