Child domestic labour remains deeply normalised and difficult to monitor in Pakistan, with a particularly heavy burden on girls in Islamabad. Child-rights organisations continue to call for stronger enforcement and consistent laws.
Islamabad, Islamabad Capital TerritoryLaunched September 17, 2026
The Story
Child domestic labour remains hidden inside private homes, where exploitation can be difficult to see and even harder to monitor. This campaign calls for stronger enforcement, clearer laws, safer reporting and a future in which a child's place is in education, not invisible labour.
Stronger enforcement, harmonised standards and safer reporting routes for child domestic labour.
Verified Facts
SPARC's executive director said in June 2026 that every fourth household in Islamabad employs a child domestic worker.1
NCRC describes child domestic labour as one of the least visible forms of child labour because it happens inside private homes.2
A 2020 federal ban on child domestic labour (via the Employment of Children Act, 1991) followed the killing of Zohra Shah, an 8-year-old domestic worker beaten to death in Rawalpindi -- but the ban applies only in Islamabad Capital Territory; most provinces have not separately adopted it. Only Punjab has a dedicated law (2019), and even there only 14,717 of a 50,000 registration target had registered as of 2021, with zero formal complaints ever recorded.3
Pakistan's own 1996 Child Labour Survey found domestic work accounted for 19.1% of urban working children overall, rising to 34% among urban working girls specifically.4
Pakistan has not ratified ILO Convention 189 (the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011), and a federal bill to make child domestic labour a non-bailable, non-compoundable offence remained under consultation as of 2024.5
Goals
Stronger enforcement of existing child-labour protections
Harmonised minimum standards published
Clearer public reporting routes established
Evidence & Verification
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Government & Authority Response
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National Commission on the Rights of Child
Awaiting response · 20 days
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