The Lived Experiences of Female Child Beggars during the Covid 19 Pandemic in Islamabad

Abstract

The study was conducted in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan to investigate the experiences, situation, and impacts of pandemic on the female child beggars during the Coivd 19. The females were under the age of 16 and most of the girl’s interviewed were under the age of 12. A total of 15 female beggars were interviewed from different areas of Islamabad. The analysis of the findings revealed that the covid-19 affects the lives of low-income generating families greatly. Some of the family of respondents was orphaned (fatherless) and some of them were rickshaw drivers and some live on engaging in different kinds of activities day to day. Some of the girls experience physical abuse by their father for not fulfilling his request. Majority of the female beggars were resistant to give the interviews as they thought the researcher would put the information on the internet. Yet those who interviewed were very confident about their answers, they actively participated in conducting the interviews and also volunteered to find other female child beggars to be interviewed. They all do not like to beg and have a strong desire to withdraw from begging. Nonetheless, they live in a humiliating and unfair social environment; one of the unhealthiest ways of life and defective admittance to essential services the metropolitan life requests. The study uses the qualitative approach, cross-sectional design. The data was collected through in-depth interview; observation and having qualitative nature were examined through content analysis. A non-random sampling technique was used in order to find the target population and made the flexibility of research easier. The information was collected through recording the interview in a cell phone recorder and also note down the important points and observations. The study was conducted with principles of ethical concerns in mind. Keywords: Female child beggars, Poverty, Covid-19, Islamabad city.