Abuse Among Child Domestic Workers: A research study in West Bengal

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Abuse Among Child Domestic Workers: A research study in West Bengal

A study, launched by Save the Children last week in Delhi, and

available in the UK for the first time, reveals shockingly high

levels of emotional, physical and sexual abuse among children

working as domestic helpers in other people' homes in Calcutta.

More than 50,000 children are employed in this kind of work in the

Indian city and the study - carried out over a four-year period in

six districts of West Bengal - found that these children were

routinely subjected to many different forms of abuse from unsafe

working conditions and lack of food to being beaten, deliberately

burnt or sexually abused.

Save the Children has welcomed the Indian government's recent

amendment to the Child Labour Act but says it does not go far enough

to protect children working as domestic helpers. Save the Children

is calling for the age limit of the act to be raised from 14 to 18

years, as the majority of domestic workers fall into this age range.

Key findings of the research are:

Most child domestic workers are young girls who come from

poor families and are forced to work for up to 15 hours a day with

no breaks and little or no pay.

68% of the children surveyed had faced physical abuse and

46.6% of the children had faced severe abuse that had led to

injuries

32.2% had their private parts touched by the abuser, 20% had

been forced to have sexual intercourse

50% of children do not get any leave in a year, 37% never

see their families

32% of families had no idea where their daughters were

working, 27% admitted they knew they were getting beaten and

harassed.

78% of workers receive less than Rs 500 per month.

Child domestic workers are unlikely to ever go to school, they have

no control over their income, are subject to irregular working hours

and face repeated insults, threats and violence. They do not get to

mingle with other children and often suffer from malnourishment.

Even more worryingly, a significant number of child domestic workers

face sexual abuse. We welcome the move to outlaw this form of

hazardous labour but it does not go far enough to protect children,

said Manab Ray, Manager of Save the Children's Child Domestic Worker project.

The Child Labour Act now states that action can be taken against

anyone who employs children under 14 in domestic work in homes or

hotels but Save the Children¡¦s research shows that 74 per cent of

child domestic workers are between the ages of 12 to 16. The

amendment leaves a large chunk of child domestic workers out in the

cold.

Save the Children is calling for clear procedures to implement the

law, stringent penalties for employers and for agencies that handle

the placement of child domestic workers to be brought under close

scrutiny. The charity is also asking for effective plans to

rehabilitate former child workers and help them re-enter the

education system and benefit from India¡¦s Poverty Allieviation

programmes.

http://www.crin.org/docs/save_uk_cl_ind.pdf