Sexual harassment, torture, abductions: Pakistan Human Rights Commission exposes rampant exploitation of brick kiln workers

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 27 (ANI): Pakistan's National Commission for Human Rights has exposed systematic exploitation, human rights abuses, and gender-based violence in the country's brick kilns, Dawn reported on Wednesday.
According to the report by Dawn, the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) launched a study on Tuesday, exposing human rights abuses against brick kiln workers in the country.
The study, which is titled "Unveiling exploitation and abuse in the brick kilns of Punjab", documented extreme abuses ranging from verbal and physical harassment to cases of abduction and even murder.
Dawn reported citing the study that women workers remained especially vulnerable, subjected to rampant sexual harassment, coercion, and forced marriages. Workers continued to work in unsafe, unhygienic, and exploitative conditions under extreme weather, and were receiving wages way below the legal minimum and had no access to social security.
The study reflected how abject poverty had forced people into the kilns. Dawn, citing the report, highlighted that 97 per cent of workers entered kilns because of urgent loans, 90 per cent had no written contracts, leaving them invisible to labour protection efforts, and over 70 per cent of the families lived in a single cramped room. It also said that 92 per cent of workers reported verbal abuse, many described beatings, torture and even abductions.
According to Dawn, the investigation highlighted systemic exploitation, gender-based violence, debt bondage, and widespread denial of basic labour rights to brick kiln workers.
The report was based on field research in Faisalabad and Kasur- two of Pakistan Punjab's brick kiln hubs.
Earlier, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) had expressed significant concern regarding the 2025-26 federal budget's impact on the economic and social rights of the nation's most vulnerable populations.
The HRCP highlighted that the budget provides minimal support for low-income groups who are already coping with the ongoing inflation crisis that began in 2022 and extended through 2024. (ANI)