All Work And No Play

The Child Domestic Workers’ plight

Despite child labour legislation enforced in the country, the children engaged in domestic work are not treated as children at all. The domestic workers below the age of 18 years old who are employed within households to perform chores, can be as young as four or five years old. Children in domestic work are one of the most disturbing factors in our society. The high incidence of deceptive recruitment and trafficking characterizes it and the exploitative nature of the working conditions make the children vulnerable to sexual abuse.

The North Eastern Regional Domestic Workers Welfare Trust (NERDWWT), an NGO based in Guwahati, is dedicated to the service of the society and is working for the welfare of child domestic workers through its different programmes. Its studies reveal that most of the children workers are being engaged in domestic work.

Children are employed to perform household tasks. They are one of the most exploited groups of unorganized workers. The girls are most vulnerable to psychological, physical and sexual abuse. Many are beaten up since there is no specific law to regulate domestic work. Children in domestic work live under conditions a little better than slavery. As domestic workers are not recognized as workers and domestic work is not considered as hazardous work, the laws related to children fail to include the child domestic workers in the list of child labor.

Many children engaged in domestic work are brought or trafficked from villages to work in large cities. Most children in domestic work are girls, because domestic work is considered to be a female responsibility. They generally belong to the backward and scheduled castes or tribes. Most of them do not get payment and in some cases the payment is taken by their parents. Most of them are illiterate and have to work for more than 18 hours a day. They are deprived of their self-identity and selfhood. They also lose their parental nurturing and guidance. As they are deprived of their right to education, they are deprived of discovery of their potentials, development of talents and are thus unprepared to face the challenges of life ahead. Their psychological and emotional development is affected.

Children in domestic work are popular with employers because they are docile and can be manipulated according to the needs of the employers. They can be paid less and are less troublesome because of being unaware of and unable to demand their rights. Poverty and unemployment of the parents, death of the parents, lack of educational institutions in the vicinity, lack of political and parental will to recognize child rights and economic failure through natural calamities and displacement are the causes of child domestic workers.

Children in domestic work is however justified because domestic work is a solution to poverty and the children are better off because they get food, shelter and the parents have one mouth less to feed.

It is essential to strengthen and extend the areas in identifying the child domestic workers and implement intervention programmes. Through a media and poster campaign, this menace and related issues can be brought to light and the employers can be sensitized about making provisions for their education and not simply exploiting these child workers. Children can be encouraged to participate in decision making and bringing out their problems. The network between the source regions and destinations of child workers can be strengthened.