MJF concerned over ongoing domestic violence

The Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) has expressed deep concern over the abuse of child domestic workers. They demanded exemplary punishment of the guilty.

The MJF has noticed that Asiya, a 10-year-old domestic worker in Rupnagar area of ​​Dhaka, was not the only victim of such brutal torture happening one after another.

MJF's "Children's Report 2019: From the Newspaper" published this year states that 14 children have been abused while working as domestic workers. Of these, 12 are girls and one is a boy while, in the other case, boy or girl has not been mentioned. This information was obtained from reports published in eight newspapers.

Besides, according to the report published in newspapers, 22 domestic workers were tortured from January to June this year. Among them, 10 were tortured and killed.

Children between the ages of 13 and 18 have been the most abused. Then there are children aged from eight to 12. The torture includes physical abuse, rape, murder after rape, suicide and death after physical abuse. The information has been collected from Ain o Salish Kendra – a legal aid and human rights body.

It is mentionable that the Ministry of Labor and Employment has the Domestic Workers Protection and Welfare Policy 2015. The MJF has been working with the government for a long time to formulate this policy.

The policy clearly states that domestic workers should be treated well, their salaries should be paid properly, they should not be tortured, their physical and mental security should be provided, and they should be given maintenance, leave and incentives and other benefits.

The MJF urgently demanded legislation from this policy.