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Assignment Essay - Final Paper Due

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Narmata Gurung
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Assignment Essay - Final Paper Due

Uploaded by

Narmata Gurung
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Narmata Gurung
ENGL-2010-SW3
Charles Hollenbeck
03.07.2022
Final Paper Due
Are Migrants’ domestic helpers safe?

A servant employed to do domestic tasks in a private household in a country of


which they are not a national thus referred to as a migrant domestic helper.
Domestic helpers provide a range of menial tasks such as cleaning, cooking,
washing, and ironing clothes, taking care of children and the elderly, gardening,
guarding, driving, and even taking care of household pets which is essential for that
keeping households working. Domestic workers comprise a significant part of the
global workforce in informal employment and have exponentially multiplied within
the past couple of decades.
Tens of millions of women and girls and men enter domestic work due to many
factors such as poor households, disadvantaged communities, few employments
opportunity in their country, etcetera. Among them, one of the most critical factors
in the rapid growth of domestic labor is the increasing demand for domestic
services worldwide due to the increase in women working outside the home, the
aging population and the growing need for long-term care, and the loss of extended
family support.
According to the WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and
Organizing), as of 2022, there are 76 million domestic workers globally and more
than 11.5 million migrant domestic workers worldwide based in 155 countries and
territories, including 145 countries in the ILOSTST Database. The overwhelming
majority of domestic workers are in developing and emerging countries, while the
number in developed countries is a substantial 13.4 million. Every year, thousands
of domestic workers are brought to the U.S. by diplomats and other foreign
officials. As per the OAK Foundation, there are nearly 2.2 million domestic workers
across the United States, and 91.5 percent of domestic workers are mostly
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immigrants and women of color. Migrant domestic workers often live in employers'
homes, facing personal and economic dependency challenges. While they vary per
region, additional challenges workers face includes abuses in the recruitment
system.
Despite their essential role in sustaining the economics of the recipient nations and
the nation they belong to and keeping families healthy and productive, they are
among the world's most exploited and abused workers. According to the
International Domestic Workers' Federation, some domestic workers face multiple
forms of violence: physical abuse, intimidation, threats, bullying, sexual assault,
harassment, being provided poor-quality food, and a lack of privacy. Severe
instances of violence, including murder, have been documented. Trafficked
domestic workers experience near-bondage conditions.
Employed in private homes to perform household tasks that historically have
assigned a diminished value, domestic workers frequently face exploitation and
abuse, a problem further exacerbated by their association with groups who suffer
multiple forms of discrimination. Migrant domestic workers experience a wide
range of grave abuses and labor exploitation ranging from verbal abuse, non-
payment of wages, denial of food and health care, forced confinement, excessive
working hours, no rest days, and economic exploitation to physical and sexual
assault and forced servitude.
Mistreatment of foreign domestic workers is not uncommon. Estimating the
prevalence of abuse is complicated, given the lack of reporting mechanisms and
legal protections. However, many indications and cases indicate that abuses are a
widespread global phenomenon but are much more prominent in the Middle East
and Asia.
According to the interviews conducted by HRW (Human Rights Watch), many cases
involve severe abuse. It is likely that many others did not come to our attention
because workers in the most abusive labor relationships, by definition, cannot leave
their employers' premises alone, if at all, and are, therefore, inaccessible. Per their
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interviews with migrant domestic helpers in the U.S., in the case of Malika Jamisola,
her passport was confiscated, her long hours with low wages, lack of health
insurance, limited freedom of movement, and employer threats of deportation. In
the case of Anita Ortega, the employer had severely restricted her freedom of
movement so that she rarely left the premises and was sexually assaulted and
harassed by her employer. The case of Fariba Ahmed, who suffered abusive
employment conditions combined with being trapped and unable to leave their
employers or cease laboring, constituting servitude and forced labor. It is force,
fraud, and coercion to maintain control over the worker. These are just a few cases
amongst thousands of others that go unnoticed. Furthermore, these domestic
helper abuses are happening in the U.S. and worldwide.
In February 2018, Indonesian maid Adelina Lisao died in Penang, Malaysia, after
facing numerous abuses, including having to sleep outdoors with the household's
dog. On 29 Dec 2021, a domestic helper was killed by her employers at a Kota
Kinabalu apartment. In Singapore, at least 147 domestic workers died from
hazardous workplace conditions or suicide.
One survey by the Hong Kong Free Press has revealed that reports of sexual abuse
and harassment suffered by foreign domestic workers at their workplace tripled in
2020, while another found that 40,000 such workers in Hong Kong were given zero
rest days during the pandemic.
Unlike other professions with unions, domestic workers are scattered and unable to
organize legally. Employers have all the power over their employees, and many
whose passports get confiscated have no choice but to cope. They accept slave-like
conditions and substandard compensation because they lack information.
The United Nations bodies, such as the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), the ILO, the
International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Global Commission on
International Migration (GCIM), and the U.N. Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM), have begun to address the issue. The U.S. government has addressed the
problem over the years by instituting a mandatory work contract and a know-your-
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rights pamphlet for workers; it also granted domestic workers filing lawsuits against
their employers the ability to live and work legally in the United States.
Exploitation and abuse suffered by domestic workers, much more international
commitment, and concerted effort are required to end these abuses. Is it enough to
protect domestic helpers despite increasing recognition by the international
community? Is it enough for the abusers to stop or for domestic helpers to get the
respect they deserve? Is it enough to prevent it? Any monitoring mechanism to
ensure employers follow employment contracts and minimum wage requirements?
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Work Cited

Domestic Workers_
- By WIEGO Organization

Domestic Workers in the World: A Statistical Profile_


- By Florence Bonnet, Francoise Carre, Joann Vanek_ WIEGO Organizations_
April 2022

Behind Closed Doors: The Traumas of Domestic Work in the U.S.


By Eva Lopez, Leila Rafei_ ACLU Organization_ March 15, 2022

Sri Yatun’s Escape_


By Noy Thrupkaew_ Washington Post_ October 6, 2021

Hong Kong domestic workers faced a wave of sex attacks and physical abuse
during the pandemic ‘lockdown’_
- By Selina Cheng_ Hong Kong Free Press_ July 2, 2021

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