Obun2 drafts a Bill to Criminalise Child Domestic Labour in Sindh

In February 2025, Obun2 submitted a legislative proposal titled The Sindh Criminal Law Amendment (Prohibition of Child Labour in Domestic Work) Bill, 2025 to the Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) for further processing. The proposed bill addresses the widespread yet often invisible issue of child labour in domestic settings across the province of Sindh.

The bill was developed by Obun2 after a series of multi-stakeholder consultations with legal experts,  civil society organisations, labour rights advocates, Solidarity Center and the SHRC. These discussions focused on the persistent legal and implementation gaps that allow children to be engaged in exploitative and unregulated domestic work under the guise of caregiving or household help. The consultations served as the foundation for drafting a rights-based legal response rooted in Pakistan’s international obligations and constitutional guarantees.

The proposed amendment seeks to amend the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, to explicitly criminalise the employment or engagement of children below the age of 18 in domestic work. The bill introduces three new sections—374A, 374B, and 374C—with specific penalties for employers, agents, and even parents or guardians who are complicit in placing children in exploitative household work environments.

• Section 374A proposes that any individual who employs or engages a child below 16 years in domestic work will face imprisonment ranging from three to seven years and a fine not less than Rs. 300,000.
• Section 374B addresses children aged between 16 and 18, allowing only strictly regulated light work, with penalties for violations set at one to three years of imprisonment and a fine not less than Rs. 50,000.
• Section 374C holds parents or guardians accountable for knowingly placing their child in exploitative domestic work, with penalties including up to one year of imprisonment and monetary fines.

The bill is anchored in the principle that child domestic labour not only violates the rights to education and protection but also exposes children to grave psychological and physical abuse, often in isolated and unmonitored environments.