A massive barrier to girls’ education is full time work at an early age. And when I say full-time work, I mean household chores at someone else’s house. And when I say early age, I mean as young as 5. At the age of 5, many girls are excited. Some are excited thinking about their future in school. Will they fit in? Will they like the teachers? What will they be doing all day that now they have to spend 8 hours at this institution their parents are singing praises of? Some are excited for the social life. Will I make friends? Will I be invited to birthday parties?
And others are being transported away. To someone else’s house. To do household chores. For someone else. The time that could be spent educating the girls is otherwise wasted sending these children to other people’s houses. ‘Is se wo paise kamati hai’, ‘unka aise ghar chalta hai’, ‘achi khasi tankha to milti hai unay aur kya chaye’ is something I frequently hear whenever I try bringing up this up in conversation. It is our responsibility – those who can afford to educate these children to a level whereby they can stand on their own two feet rather than relying on their children to go work and bring home dehari.
One can imagine that for this relationship between the rich and poor to continue for all these years, it must mean both are benefitting from this trade. Afterall in 2019 the International Labour Organisation reported 8.5 million domestic workers (including many children). General Secretary of the Domestic Workers Union: Arooma Shahzad postulates ‘Parents often see their children as a way to lift their families out of poverty’. It therefore must mean some good is coming out of this relationship that has been indoctrinated in society.
Sadly, this is hardly the case. The abusive conditions these children (both girls and boys) are kept in is quite frankly disturbing. For girls especially. They go from not having a voice in their own house to not having a voice in another’s house either due to the patriarchal structure of our society. The harsh brutality they experience whilst working there is unimaginable and for such a minute salary. Rs 4,000 was how much Uzma Bibi, aged 16, was earning per month. £17.78 is what the poor girl earned to take home to her parents only to be brutally murdered by her employers and abandoned in a large drain. Zahra, an eight-year-old girl, was admitted into a hospital in Rawalpindi in May last year. Why? Because her employers were furious over Zahra allowing their pet parrots to escape. She died the next day. There are hundreds of similar examples where poor young girls have met their maker in the most gruesome of ways. We need to take a strong look in the mirror and ask ourselves: if we are not comfortable with subjecting our own daughters to this abuse, what gives us the right to subject someone else’s daughters?
Despite the barbarism, the poor in Pakistan are still willing to send their girls into the unknown just for the sake of a few pounds. They know of no other employment. This has been a generational practice. But things need to change. We need to educate these girls so that they can stand on their own two feet allowing her to change the course of her life and the lives of her offspring.
We don’t want any more hashtag’s.
We don’t want any more murders or rapes.
We want education for girls.
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About Author:
The author is studying psychology at the University of Nottingham, Zeenish Nasir is a strong supporter of Women’s Rights and female education in Pakistan. In addition to her degree, she is also interested in understanding which pillars in society need to be changed to achieve sustainable growth and development; particularly underdeveloped countries..