Faisalabad: The Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP) organised an event on the United Nation’s theme ‘Inspire Inclusion’, with domestic workers on the occasion of International Women’s Day in Faisalabad to combat the challenges of ensuring ‘inclusive societies’.
The event was conducted at Vision Hall Faisalabad to raise the issues of target groups. “HRFP highlighted the hardships of domestic workers that can only be addressed with solutions, through empowering women, investing in women, equality of women and participation of women,” the HRPF said in a statement.
Women’s inclusion could only be a smoother way towards a safer, healthier, and equal world in all aspects, achieving the 17 SDGs and Agenda 2030, HRFP added. Naveed Walter, president of Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP), said, that domestic workers, particularly housemaids, are the easier targets of physical, sexual, psychological, and verbal abuse in Pakistan.
“The housemaids abuse stories with different names and faces but with the same facts that come through daily. The minor maids are the easiest targets of abuse, as seen in a recent incident of Rizwana aged 14 who has been working at a civil judge’s house in Islamabad and has revealed in hundreds of other cases with the same patterns,” he said.
Naveed Walter said the ILO’s recent report is enough to understand the situation of minor girl abuse: one in every four households employs a child in domestic work; predominantly girls aged 10 to 14 years, he added.
A resource person for HRFP’s event, James Lal, said the domestic workers and housemaids belonging to the Christian community who work as housemaids to support their families face multiple violations as minor girls and Christians.
According to the statement, housemaids belonging to lower income backgrounds, when faced with grave violations at workplaces, stay silent and cannot even imagine how the fundamental human rights and child labour laws have been breached.
“James Lal conducted different exercises, questioning-answering, learning-sharing, making sure the next generations of housemaids will do studies, learn skills as well to make a break from the same jobs their mother and grandmother have been doing,” he added.
Nida Naeem from HRFP said that the collective efforts could only make a change in society and a more inclusive world, leaving no one behind, including domestic workers, to achieve the 17 SDGs targeting Agenda 2030.
Naeem further thanked them as they celebrated and participated in the women’s day event, showing their commitment to joint efforts to women’s rights.
Shadman John (HRFP), Hamdosh Samuel (HRFP) with John Victor (Educationist /Author)), Nusrat Samuel (Social Workers), Sonika Bibi, Parveen Akhtar and domestic workers also addressed; demanding women’s economic empowerment, supporting them in leadership, decision-making, business, health, and STEM, involving them in sustainable agriculture and food security, providing them access to quality education and trainings for achievements in sport, promoting their creative and artistic talent, and addressing further areas supporting the advancement of women and girls, the speakers added.
Lastly, the HRFP shared that is someone becomes a victim of this, they can call through HRFP’s REAT Helpline at the HRFP office for immediate assistance.
