Child labor remains a significant issue in Pakistan. The country has faced challenges in effectively eliminating child labor due to a variety of socio-economic factors.
LAHORE: Executive Director WISE Bushra Khaliq, Director of the Justice & Child Rights Movement Iftikhar Mubarak, General Secretary of the Lahore-based Bonded Labour Liberation Front Pakistan Syed Ghulam Fatima, General Secretary of the Women Domestic Workers Union Punjab Shazia Saeed, lawyer and child rights activist Syed Miqdad Naqvi, and CEO of Sudhaar Rana Nadeem Iqbal held a press conference at the Lahore Press Club to highlight child labor across various sectors, including domestic work, brick kilns, factories, and agriculture.
Executive Director WISE Bushra Khaliq said that six million children between the ages of five and seventeen are currently engaged in child labor in Punjab. According to the Punjab Child Labour Survey, these numbers show that 3.3 million children work in agriculture, 8 lacs in manufacturing, while Sahiwal division has the highest number of child laborers at 7.5 lacs, and Rawalpindi division reports more than 2.5 lacs involved in labor.
Executive Director WISE Bushra Khaliq added that, according to WISE, a total of 208 cases have been reported across different sectors, including 51 deaths, 157 injuries, 33 cases of rape, and 175 cases of violence.
Speakers at the event emphasized that child labor in domestic work is illegal, yet it continues with impunity.
According to the Punjab Bureau of Statistics, there are approximately 9.12 lacs domestic workers in the province, and many children are subjected to exploitation, abuse, and slavery-like conditions.
The speakers demanded urgent government action to eliminate child labor across all sectors, especially in domestic work, brick kilns, and factories.
Reported By: Staff Reporter I Lahore
