Bang Bang Galore!
A Filmmaker’s BLOGELLA
Written by Steve Rosenberg
Blog 36 Child Helpline
Today, I visited the office of the Child Helpline, a vital service to assist bonded children who want to be rescued. Based on the premises of APSA, this office has been successful in rescuing thousands and thousands of children over the years. Sheila, a delightful middle- aged woman who has been doing this work for more than twenty years is very anxious to talk about the servitude of young girls doing domestic work.
Last year, the centre received a call from a six- year old girl, complaining her employer burned her feet with an iron. I am not certain of the child’s infractions, but I am appalled by the punishment meted out. The young girl called the child helpline from the home of the doctor to report the abuse and a rescue squad was dispatched. How could a doctor, a healer, burn a little girl with an iron? I would have loved to interview this doctor to ask her to defend herself. The media also loved this story, but a trial was somehow averted.
Domestic child labour is an embarrasement in this country. Young mothers arrive at their employers homes with toddlers and instead of toys, the young girls are handed brooms. Last night, I had coffee with Amisha, a reporter who covers lifestyle stories for The Deccan Herald. In past, she has written several stories about children’s events detailing the plight of the poor. Amisha tells me how much she hates films about child labour. Child labour is old news. “We’ve already seen hundreds of dramas about domestic slavery. It’s an old story already.” Who is going to feed these children?” “Do you think it is right to employ young girls? I ask. “Yes!” she says emphatically. “Will you say this on camera?” “Yes!” When I called Amisha a few days later, it seems that she will be out of town for some time.
Since housework is not considered a legitimate form of labour, it is often disguised as an adoption, in which a poor child gains the priveledge of living with a rich family. There are millions upon millions of young children in this country who are being robbed of a proper upbringing and most people here feel rather powerless to stop this hidden form of female slavery. There is public outcry by only by a marginally small group of activists, but domestic slavery is India’s dark secret, because it is hard to see young girls working in public settings. Gowri, Laksmi and Gaytree all suffered in silence.
I am glad there are so many agencies such as APSA
and Born Free which are specifically addressing this issue.
