Staff Correspondent

Government and non-governmental representatives expressed concern on Tuesday, stating that despite policies enacted by previous governments, these measures have failed to adequately protect children engaged as domestic workers.

They stressed the urgent need for enacting a Domestic Workers Protection Act and recommended categorizing domestic work as hazardous child labour.

The observations were made during a research report launch event held at the CIRDAP auditorium, organized by Action for Social Development (ASD). The report aimed to shed light on the actual conditions faced by child domestic workers in Dhaka.

According to the findings, nearly 50% of children employed in domestic work in the capital are subjected to various forms of abuse. Of these, 18.47% suffered physical injuries, 8.23% were beaten, 20.74% were verbally abused, and 1.7% experienced sexual abuse. Additionally, 31.45% of child domestic workers are overworked, the report revealed.

The event, presided over by Dr Altaf Hossain, President of the ASD Executive Committee, addressed, among others, by Md Tariqul Alam, Director General of the Department of Labour, M. Rabiul Islam, Deputy Director of the National Human Rights Commission and Secretary of the Child Rights Committee, Dr Biswajit Roy, Assistant Inspector General of the Directorate of Inspection of Factories and Establishments, and Salma Akhter, Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.

The research findings were presented by ASD project manager UKM Farhana Sultana. Speaking at the event, Tariqul Alam reiterated the government’s commitment to preventing child abuse in domestic work. "While child labour exploitation has long been an issue, violence against child domestic workers has significantly decreased compared to previous years. However, we aim to eradicate it completely," he said, adding that domestic work will be included among the 43 occupations identified as hazardous to children.

M. Rabiul Islam from the Human Rights Commission emphasized the ongoing efforts to protect child domestic workers. He noted that cooperation with the government and relevant authorities continues, and legislation to safeguard these children is in the final stages of development.