FOSTER CHILD, HOUSE HELP OR DOMESTIC SERVITUDE

Growing up in the seventies, our home was always crowded with relatives coming and going almost on a weekly basis. Although my parents had only 6 children, several other children, siblings, nieces and nephews of my mum and dad resided with us at various times to gain an education or to search for jobs. Many Nigerians can identify with this experience and it is still a common practise today. What is the status of the children in the home of their relatives? Legally they have not been adopted. Traditionally we may assume that these children are foster children in their new homes. But the Law assumes differently because in the absence of a formal legal adoption of a child who is removed from parental custody, there may be a presumption of child labour, and child trafficking.  

Are you harbouring a child or any person who is below 18years in your home as a house help, or permanently resident relative?  What exactly is the child’s role and the legal status of that child in your house?  Be informed.

The International Labour Organisation’s Convention 189 requires member states of the ILO to fix a minimum age for domestic labour. And although Nigeria is yet to enact a domestic labour bill that would regulate that industry, the Child Rights Act 2003 defines a child as any person below the age of 18years, and prohibits engagement of children as domestic house helps.

Did you know?

Under the Child Rights Act the engaging children in any of the following ways is a criminal offence because it amounts to forced exploitative or hazardous child labour:-

•          Engaging Children as Domestic house helps living outside their own home or family environment

•          Children hawking or begging for alms

•          Children Lifting or moving heavy objects; or

•          Children  Working  in industries

And if the Child Rights Act or its equivalent state laws does not apply in the state where you reside, you need to take a look at the NAPTIP Law which is a Federal law. That law prohibits trafficking in person’s including children.

Child trafficking is the act of either Recruitment; Transportation; Transfer; Harbouring; or Receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation. A third person or group may have organized these acts for exploitative purposes. Exploitation is not only in clear instances like involving children in forced labour, slavery, prostitution or illicit drug trade. Exploitation takes many forms and exists wherever the child is engaged in:

Ø  dirty, dangerous work

Ø  for little or no pay,

Ø  with inadequate rest time,

Ø  no safety nets like health insurance or social assistance, and

Ø  Often with a degree of force or violence.

 

 And as the definition above implies, everyone involved either as agent, or as harbourer or employer of the child is guilty of the offence of trafficking in persons. Furthermore where a child is trafficked, his/her consent to the transfer, recruitment or harbouring etc for exploitative purposes is irrelevant and does not matter.

The following acts amount to child trafficking, and are criminal offences:

•          Buying, selling or hiring children for any unlawful purposes such as Hawking, begging alms, prostitution, domestic or sexual labour

•          Abduction, unlawful removal and transfer of a child from lawful custody

Does this describe the situation of any child in your house, whether a relative or not? If it does, you are engaged in child labour and possibly child trafficking. And you may not know this but NAPTIP officials have powers to arrest and prosecute offenders.

Child traffickers and child labour offenders are guilty or liable on 1 or more of 4 grounds:

1.      Violating Children’s Rights;

2.      Committing a Criminal act or offence;

3.      Committing Labour, Migration and Exploitation offences as well as,

4.      Perpetrating the Worst forms of child labour.

 

See the Child Rights Act, 2003; States Child Rights Laws; Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration Act 2003 as amended in 2005.

THE RIGHT TO BE INFORMED: IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NOT AN EXCUSE.

A well known maxim among lawyers as well as non-lawyers is that “Ignorance of the law is not an excuse”.  It is often cited in reference to persons who commit offences in violation of the provisions of a law which they were totally ignorant of. That you did not know that a law exists, does not exonerate you from penalty for violating the law. Therefore it is in the best interest of everyone to be informed about every law that is relevant to and applies to him/her.

But while it is ‘good practise’ for the legislature to inform and openly consult the public as part of the process of drafting a new law, failure to hold such public consultation does not negate a new law.
Equally also the legislature is not bound to publicise the new law after it is drafted beyond the official gazetting of the law. Besides, the proceedings and all that takes place in the legislative houses are open to the public already. And so once the new law is published in the gazette the duty to publicise is fulfilled and it is left to the media to publicise the content of the law if it interests them.
Incidentally, majority of Nigerians seem to be neither here nor there as far as the need to observe this good practise is concerned even though it has tremendous value. The value of Public consultation/hearings lies in the fact that it creates awareness about the content of the proposed law and also presents an opportunity for citizen’s participation in the legislative process.  In line with another maxim which states that, “two heads are better than one”, public hearings/ consultations with relevant stakeholders who are likely to be affected by a proposed law broadens the scope of person’s involved in vetting the final draft of the law and ensures publicity and subsequent public compliance with the content of that law when it is passed. Besides not every Nigerian has access to the gazettes neither can they engage in a voyage of finding out all the laws [old and new], that are relevant to the individual man or woman. But everyone who gets involved in the process of consultation becomes familiar with the basic provisions of the law and is protected.
A case in point is the Child Rights Act 2003 which applies in the FCT and with slight variations in those states that have a Child Rights Law. Enacted 10 years ago, majority of the public as well as lawyers, judges and law enforcement personnel are totally unaware of the major changes that the law introduces in child justice administration and child welfare in Nigeria. In future posts on this blog page, we shall be examining some of these changes in the Act as well as other laws, of which Nigerians are generally ignorant of, and some false assumptions and presumptions about the law.

Stay posted on this page. It may just be your saving grace in the nearest future. Does a citizen’s right to freedom of information extend beyond placing the laws within his/her reach in the public sphere? I think not. The obligation is that of every citizen to whom a law applies to access the content of the law, and be duly informed because ignorance of the law is indeed not an excuse.
Tara......

WHEN AGE IS JUST A NUMBER

 

We can achieve our dreams at any age particularly in the era of technology. So at 60 a woman can aspire to start a new career or take a new turn in business, pick a new course and acquire knowledge in an entire new area. Yes we can. Nothing seems impossible anymore to the young, the aged, and male, female, black. For us women in particular who have had to keep career in check so as to raise a family. When it’s all said and done and the children are all gone off to live fulfilling lives of their own the woman is free to explore new frontiers of knowledge, skills and perhaps just interests.

If you are so lucky as to be free of financial pressures, then the sky is your limit. With no more worries about school fees, rent, pampers or children’s clothes how do you engage with your time, talent, money and other resources? But even where finances are a bit tight because perhaps you still have some unemployed graduates, it’s time to make out some ‘me’ time. I have some suggestions:-

1.      Pick and complete an interesting online course. It may or may not add monetary value to your family purse but just do it because you are curious or interested in the subject. Some sites offer free courses, like iversity.org and MOOCs4U which offers free academic subjects from professors abroad sometimes with certification. Do a google search to explore free courses even in non-academic areas of interest like cooking, fashion, or health.

2.      Teach a skill from the comfort of your home. Women in the neighbourhood or from church will be interested in learning from a pro, how to make speciality edikan ikong, kunu, moimoi with leave, poultry, or fish farming. You can actually start an entrepreneurship or skills mentoring program and who knows where or how far this may take you to.

3.      Mobilise the women, or youths/children in the community to form a club for the advancement of knowledge or to solve a community problem like waste disposal, water sanitation, or high rates of childhood diseases and mortality. In other words we need to bring our knowledge and skills to bear in favour of the communities where we live.

4.      Set up a library in a corner of your home and promote an after school reading club in your community. You can arrange to teach the children singing or art with the aid of some interested young mothers in the area.

5.      Join a political party and make a difference. At the ward level you do not need to seek patronage of any godfather. Expectedly you should be welcomed as a respected elder in the community who has much to offer in helping to transform the community.

 but I do wonder, are there age specific dreams or should a 70, 80 year old aspire to lead the country at a time like this?