Child labor is common in the developing world; even more so in conflict-prone countries. Poverty, lack of access to quality education, little or no social safety nets for the vulnerable and marginalized communities, prolonged political instability, absence of rule of law—all extract a heavy toll on children from poor backgrounds. The picture in Nepal is truly grim.
International Labor Organization’s National Child Labor Report 2011 estimates 1.6 million Nepali children between 5 and 17 are working as laborers, with 8 percent of them employed in hazardous occupations. According to UNICEF, over 12,000 Nepali children are trafficked to India every year while up to 13,000 girls are working in the ‘night entertainment industry’ in the country itself. An astounding four out of 10 children work in Nepal, and six out of 10 child workers are girls. Nearly half the children who work never attend school. [break]
Everyone understands that underage employment is undesirable. But eradicating it is no easy task in a society long used to child labor, often (arguably) to the child’s benefit. What is the harm in getting some work done from a child while looking after his day to day needs? If the child had not been taken up by a particular family or employer, the argument goes, he would have, in all probability, starved to death. Many children employed in households are also getting education, something beyond the reach of their biological families.
While it is easy to be idealistic about these things, practically, there seems to be nothing wrong in this ‘win-win’ formula. If only it were the whole story! The other half of the story consists of horrendous tales of sexual exploitation, and outright physical and verbal abuse of children. Often, the master-servant relation is so entrenched that the ‘masters’ tend to forget those in their employment are children whose psychological, physical and dietary needs are vastly different to that of adults.
As studies after studies have shown that the drawbacks of underage employment far outweigh its benefits, strong laws have been enacted against child labor, in Nepal too. The Child Labor Act 1992 provisions for up to three months of jail time for employing an underage child. Employing children in dangerous work is punishable by up to one year in prison.
The government has also ratified various international conventions that set age standards for children’s admission to various occupations. But old beliefs are hard to change. Child labor continues to be a widely accepted practice in Nepal. Every other urban household employs an underage ‘helper’. Although it is against the law, children can be seen involved in back-breaking work in stone quarries openly.
Even many rights defenders working for child’s rights employ underage children. In this situation it is impossible to bring about the desired change without active government intervention. Programs like compensating the poor families that send their children to schools with food items or minimal financial incentives have been tremendously successful in the pockets where they have been tried. Such programs need to be expanded. Simply having strong child labor laws is useless. In any case, on the weight of evidence so, far dangling the right carrots could be so much more effective than brandishing the threatening sticks.
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