EMPLOYING A MINOR AS DOMESTIC HELP

 

It is becoming pretty common to see young couple within our community here in Delhi and other major cities around India raising their children without the help of the traditional pattern of child-rearing –the grandparents. But in most instances, the young couples are bound to employ domestic help, especially the help of young girls.

It’s good to see our younger generation seeing household chores as worth a full-time job, but in doing so, there are certain rules and laws, as well as human rights involved that one must be fully aware of, so that we don’t destroy someone's life in the process.

It is rare to see cases of young children being sexually abused within our community, but financial exploitation like underpaying could be rampant thought it is conveniently swept under the carpet. In order to raise awareness, here are few points to note especially child labour and child abuse.

CHILD LABOUR

What is Child Labour?
Child Labour, in simple term, refers to work performed by children that HARMS them or EXPLOITS them in one or more ways (physically, mentally, morally, or by blocking access to basic rights like freedom, education, etc.).

Not all labour of children constitute child labour, and there is no universally accepted definition of ‘child labour’, however, if the work done by the child is considered to be harmful or exploitative, or that the child feels that he/she is being harmed or exploited, it is considered as child labour.

Who is a child?
Any child yet to attain the age of 14 years [Child Labour (Prevention & Regulation) Act].

However, depending on the kind of work being done by the child, the employer can also be prosecuted for harbouring child labour by employing anyone yet to attain the age of 18.

Punishment for Employing Child Labourer:
Penalty for violators: 3 months – 1 year of imprisonment and/or fine of Rs. 10,000 - Rs.20,000, Penalty for repeat violators: 6 months to 2 years of imprisonment.

A child working as a domestic help is also considered as child labour if the work done by the child in any ways comes to disrupts, hamper or block the child’s basic human rights. The child’s basic rights include the right to survival (food, nutrition, shelter); to develop to the fullest (cognitively, physically and developmentally); to be protected from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life.

Majority of child labourer are in need of care and protection, as such, the Juvenile Justice Act, which define a child as anyone yet to attain the age of 18 years, will be applied. Which means, if the domestic help you employed is younger than 18 years of age and the Child Welfare board think he/she is in need of care and protection, the Juvenile Justice Act will be applied. The Juvenile Justice Court is not a civil court, as such it is pro-child, trials are swifter and punishment are much harsher than under the Child Labour Act.

CHILD ABUSE

What is child abuse?
Child abuse is the INTENTIONAL injury or maltreatment of a child by any significant people in the child’s life which lead to temporary or permanent impairment of the child’s physical, mental or psycho-social development, or disability or death.

‘Significant people’ includes anyone of any age, any sex, related or unrelated to the child, including parents, legal and non-legal guardians, employers, etc.

Who is a child?
Anyone yet to attain the age of 18 years of age [Juvenile Justice (Child in Need of Care & Protection) Act].

What constitute child Abuse?
Abuses are of three major types – physical, emotional & sexual. But financial exploitation is also considered as a form of abuse nowadays.

1. Physical Abuse includes – any act of physical aggression including beating, trashing, slapping, punching, pinching, pulling by hair or clothes, pushing, throwing, biting, burning with hot object, branding, aggressive handling, arm twisting, etc.
2. Emotional Abuse includes – verbal and non-verbal; cursing, humiliating, degrading, frightening, threatening, belittling, name-calling, habitual blaming, constant hostility toward them, etc.
3. Sexual Abuse includes – touching and non-touching behaviours including kissing, fondling, touching private part, rubbing genitals on the child, forcing them to touch your private parts or forcing them to any kind of sexual activities, and inserting body parts and/or objects in into the private part, anus and mouth of the child or attempting to do that. The non-touching behaviour includes undressing, voyeurism, exposing them to pornography or exhibition of private parts to them.
4. Financial Exploitation includes – paying less, not paying or not paying in time, withholding payment for reason or no reason, etc.

Employing anyone below the age of 14, no matter what are the conditions and terms you agreed on, is a crime. In such case, if any other person like the parents of the child agreed to let the child be employed, the parents too could be prosecuted for human trafficking.

Abusing anyone, no matter what type of abuse it is, is a crime, and the crime become graver if the abused person is yet to attain the age of 18. The JJ Act also includes the parents/guardian as possible perpetrators, so it is applicable for the family as well i.e. if you abuse your own children, your children can charge you for abuse.

Concluding Remarks: We the north-eastern are often labelled as westernized, it is true to some extent. However, we still have this traditional tribal mind-set when it comes to laws and legal matter by solving it through traditional channel, or making traditional arrangement to help with domestic chores by providing basic education to the child while helping with the domestic chores, or taking children under guardianship.

It is good that if we are providing education to the less fortunate children of our relatives, and it is good if we could maintain consensus and avoid ugly legal wars by solving serious matter including murder using our traditional channel. But in many instance, societal sanction against certain behaviours is just not enough to deal with the magnitude of the crime and the crimes of the perpetrators. In cases like child sexual abuse, the abusers usually are serial abuser. And there is no denying that there certainly must be some such cases among us.

PS: In cases that come under the Juvenile Justice Act, the child can be made to undergo medical test to determine his/her age even if a proper birth certificate is provided.

Child Helpline : 1098