However, the number of girl child labourers are working in dangerous conditions than boys, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) report that has documented the country’s sizeable population of child labourers. The report is going to be released soon.
Nearly 24 per cent of girls nationwide (around 911,000), compared to 17.5 per cent of boys (around 688,000), perform work that qualifies them as labourers, according to the report. "Girls are 50 per cent more likely to be involved in hazardous work -- 373,000 girls, compared to 248,000 boys -- exposing them to 'significant' physical and psychological dangers."
The traditional attitudes favour educating boys as they are seen as a family’s future breadwinners and taken more care than the boys.
The ILO estimates that there are 7.7 million children aged 5-17 in Nepal. The decade-long insurgancy forced rural families to send their children to the safety of urban areas where they subsequently worked to support themselves and in many cases to their families.
Some 1.6 million of them perform work that qualifies them as child labourers by international legal standards - one million fewer than in 1999.
While girls bear the brunt of labour, there has been a marked decline in 'kamlari' that is outlawed in 2006, where parents send their girl child -- especially in the Tharu community -- as indentured workers to pay off a family debt.
Rights groups have tried to discourage the practice by giving poor families grants, and the government has pledged financial assistance.
"Aggravating the problem is the fact that most children do not receive an education beyond primary school, and lax law enforcement allows factories to employ many of them despite a national ban," the ILO said, adding that, however, the Labour Act prohibits the use of children below 16 years in hazardous activities.
According to another report of Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN), there are around 2.6 million child workers in Nepal involved in various activities.
Of them, about 56,000 children are believed to working as domestic helpers. The report shows that about 46,000 children are working as porters, 40,000 bonded labourers, 59,000 working in brick kilns, 72,000 in tea shops, 15,000 in mechanical areas, 2,200 in transportation sector, more than 4,000 are rag pickers. Similalry, of the total rag pickers, 88 per cent are boys.
Child workers are vulnerable to internal and cross-border trafficking too.
The conflict coupled with various domestic problems like large family social disintegration force children to flee home and work under exploitative conditions.
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