Iqbal Masih

Child activist who exposed global child labor practices through personal sacrifice

Iqbal Masih (1983-1995), a Pakistani former child slave, became an international symbol against child labor before his assassination at age 12. Sold into bonded labor at 4 years old for $12, he spent 6 years chained to carpet looms until escaping in 1992.

Despite death threats, Masih campaigned with the Bonded Labor Liberation Front, helping free over 3,000 Pakistani children. His 1994 speech at Harvard University ignited global awareness: "Children should have pens in their hands, not tools."

Masih's activism directly influenced 1996 International Labor Organization conventions against child labor. Posthumously awarded Reebok Human Rights Award, his legacy lives through schools named in his honor and March 16 observed as International Day Against Child Slavery.

Though murdered under suspicious circumstances in 1995, his brief life exposed the $150 billion child labor industry. Modern antislavery organizations like Free the Children credit Masih's martyrdom as catalyst for their founding.