Domestic servitude

Households in many countries impose servitude on domestic workers. They usually do it by degrees, starting with normal arrangements, but gradually tightening control over time.

The household hires the domestic worker, most likely a woman, from an agency on a standard contract, agreeing perhaps to a very small monthly pay to work 10 hours a day, six days a week. This violates the law and human rights.

The head of the household instructs the domestic worker to hand over her passport. There are promises to keep it safe for them. This is against the law, but the domestic worker does not know that.

Isolated

The household might tell the domestic worker not to leave the house. They may say things like: “You’re under our protection. It’s not right for a single woman like you to be out and about alone.” The domestic worker is now isolated.

The household may start deducting wages, ostensibly to cover agency fees paid to bring the domestic worker from their homeland far away. It’s a slippery slope and there’s not much a domestic worker can do about it and they therefore end up trapped and scared.

Complaints from the domestic worker are likely to be met with the threat of punishment, or even a beating. Power lies with the employer, so they can threaten to fire them, sell them to another household, or have them deported.

Sexual abuse

Some men may abuse their position of power in a household to take advantage of the domestic worker sexually. In such a situation, a domestic worker has no way to fight back, there’s no escape.

The household may well find tasks for the domestic worker to perform on what should be their day off, or in the evening when they should have finished their work for the day – maybe working in another house where another part of the family lives. The mistress of the household may well find fault with the domestic’s work and chastise or punish them further.

Vicious circle

This is the slippery slope that leads to domestic servitude. It’s a vicious circle of bullying and abuse. The more the domestic worker is abused, the more their work deteriorates. The worse they perform the more the household feels they don’t deserve to be treated properly.

If anyone challenges the household over the way they’re treating the domestic worker, they may well try to shift the blame for the situation onto the worker – citing their laziness and poor work.

The authorities find it hard to gather evidence that supports a domestic worker’s word against an abusive employer. They need our help to spot and report abuse.