ISLAMABAD: Child domestic workers are seen everywhere in the society but sadly this `modern form of slavery` has remained outside the scope of national child labour legislation.

This emerged as the considered opinion at a seminar held by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) here on Thursday to finalize a `Position Paper for Banning Child Domestic Labour`.

Sparc Executive Director Sadia Hussein urged the government to organize a child labour survey to measure the social, civil, political and economic settings and policies required for children`s rights in the country.

She said the agenda of the event was `to formulate a substantial position paper with established policy goals in order to ban child domestic labour in Pakistan through lobbying and advocacy`.

Advocate Anees Jillani informed the seminar that nocomprehensive or precise laws exist in Pakistan that deal with domestic labour and none in particular for child domestic labour.

The Provincial Employees Social Security Ordinance 1965 and The Minimum Wages Act 1961 do address domestic labour but deal only with the liability of providing medical expenses for household help and the minimum wage of Rs14,000 respectively, he said.

There is no substantial legal framework that may aid in protecting domestic workers, he said referring to the meanderings in the ongoing Tayyaba case.

For all practical purposes, children aged six to 18, employed for domestic tasks, including cooking, cleaning, caring for younger children or elderly members of the household, are an `invisible sector` to legislators, he added.

Advocate Jillani stressed theneed for amendments in existing provincial laws and in the Employment of Children Act (ECA) 1991 to save such child workers from their deplorable conditions.

Haleema, formerly a domestic child worker, made these conditions vivid by recounting her life of drudgery and oppression.

Asked why employers prefer children as domestic servants over adults, she said, `because helpless as they are they cannot protest. Adults can negotiate wages but a child, abandoned to the whims of the employer, cannot and can be employed for very low wages.

Human rights activist Tahira Abdullah regretted that the Domestic Workers Bill has still not emerged as an implementable legislation. She called for its endorsement, and referenced Article 25-A of the Constitution how the loop-holes and lacunae exist within the laws that fur-ther prohibit any constructive protection for child domestic workers.

She said the Employment of Children Act, 1991 (ECA), Punjab Restriction on Employment of Children Ordinance 2016 and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prohibition of Employment of Children Act 2015 `do not definitely tackle child domestic labour and do not specify the child age in the formal sector`.

Women Crisis Centre Islamabad Manager Saira FurganManagerand twoMNAs from Sindh, Shamsun Nisa Memon and Musarat Rafique also took part in the seminar.

Dr. Attiya Inayatullah concluded the seminar by appreciating Sparc`s efforts. She said determined efforts by the civil society would restrain child domestic labour and eventually liberate them to enjoy normal lives. Maliha Safiullah