Reports of a bruised and mentally scarred young girl being rescued from a house somewhere in the capital jolts our collective conscious several times every year.
In some extreme cases, the unfortunate victims, unable to endure barbaric treatment, resort to extreme measures to escape, often losing their lives in the process.
About a year ago, a young girl fell to her death from a high rise while attempting to leave her workplace. The common factor, which connects most underage domestic helps, is a savage work environment, where basic rights are denied.
In a knew jerk reaction, when the news comes, we are outraged, the perpetrators are sometime sent to jail, the victim provided medical treatment plus financial support and,that's the end of it.
Regrettably, this formulaic response hardly addresses the core reasons for the social scourge of domestic help mistreatment.
In the latest case, where a 24 year old young woman called Ador was arrested for inflicting grievous bodily wounds on her domestic support,Kalpona, we are faced with three, not one social aberrations.
The first is the employment of an underage person, the second is the prolonged despicable treatment and, third is the dissipated lifestyle of the person accused.
Understandably, in a country like Bangladesh, the age factor of a domestic help is still a grey area because many rural parents, faced with economic hardship, willingly send their children to work with the expectation of proper treatment and a monthly wage.
This is done with the hope that while the son/daughter would earn a living, s/he would also get better food and improved living conditions.
Unfortunately, a large number of underage workers face a wide range of mistreatment including beatings, scalding, withholding of food and confinement.
Probe the past of the perpetrator: The recent case brought to the open the plight of a minor, who sustained terrible wounds over a prolonged period by a young woman, leading, what reporters found to be a glamourous life.
As mentioned earlier, although the perpetrator is behind bars, to understand the phenomenon of domestic help abuse, it's imperative that she undergoes a thorough psychological assessment.
With the reports in the papers detailing the extent of the torture, Ador, the woman who kept the underage girlhas been termed a psychopath.
Whether she has a psychological disorder or not, a thorough probe into her background is essential.
Usually, girls who grow up seeing their mothers mistreat domestic helps, develop the habit later in life through what may be called social osmosis.
To understand this abhorrent trait, a sociological study of the evolution of the culture of domestic support in Bangladesh along with transforming social conditions.
In the mid 70s, following a natural calamity and crop failure, shortage of food led to famine, triggering a mass exodus towards the capital. Thousands of young woman and girls flocked to Dhaka and other major towns in search of work that would provide three meals a day.
To survive, countless women became domestic helps; in that precarious scenario, where the worker only got food and a place to sleep, exploitation and abuse became rife.
Young women and girls often faced sexual molestation from male members of a family while the mistress of the home freely usedexpletives to verbally abuse the workers in case errors.
Beatings and slaps were deemed part of the work, which in severe cases, included scalding with hot cooking spatula. Even the slightest mistakes were met with corporal punishment.
Workers kept silent as their options to survive were limited, allowing this egregious practice to fester.
Luckily, the scene changed as soon as the garment factories opened, allowing women a structured working environment without the fear of physical violence and, more importantly, overt sexual abuse.
However, while women above 18 went to work at factories, girls as young as 8 or 10 could only find work at homes.
Ward based vigilance: This culture of taking in minors to support domestic chores still survives, although a proper, transparent monitoring system to ensure their safety is absent.
The case of Kalpona has underlined the need for a ward based police monitored operation, aimed solely at ensuring the well-being of domestic below 18.
Naturally, for this to be successful, the police stations need a separate cell, featuring a psychiatrist plus a specially trained women force of two to three persons.
A law making it mandatory to register all underage workers, both male and female, at the police station is essential.
Media can play a valuable part: Kalpona's predicament came into light, thanks to the proactive action of a TV reporter, who, after coming to know of the girl's plight, took the initiative to rescue her with the help of the local police.
While media usually acts fast when given the information, sometimes, getting the information across to the right person becomes a difficulty. If all TV channels in association with the social welfare ministry run short help seeking adverts, others like Kalponawon't have to put up with unacceptable behaviour.
To elaborate on the role of the media, once Kalponawas taken to safety, a probe into the life of Ador revealed a sordid past riddled with amorality.
Adoris found to be living in the city without any known source of income although her lifestyle is no less than opulent.
Don't' get me wrong, any woman has the right to lead her life the way she wants to although in this case the matter raises questions because Ador reportedly financially exploited several men to ensure a comfortable life.
The revelation compels us to accept a disturbing dimension of urban culture where women are seen to adopt anunashamedly mercenary and depraved social outlook.
Understandable, when a society becomes globalised, several unsavoury elements have to be accommodated although we should be wary about what we accept.
The life of Ador, her alleged principles, not matter how contentious, ought to be openly discussed for us to understand an almost silent change in the mind-set of a large number of young people.
A very decadent dogma has insidiously affected a youth segment, driven by the allure of the 'bling' life.
To constructively address abuse of domestic help, a coordinated approach is needed plus an in depth analysis of the mindset of current day employers. Many may be portraying themselves as humane, compassionate and considerate people on social media but can be a totally different person in real life.
It's time we took off the veneer of civility to look beneath the 'impeccable' social media profiles.
Pradosh Mitra is a social observer!
