Visibility and access
Taken from the report Making it Work: How to protect child domestic workers from exploitation and abuse
Making registration of young domestic workers mandatory ensures their immediate visibility, easier access to state benefits, and protection from abuse. For young domestic workers, greater visibility ensures that their situation can be monitored more easily, and that local service providers can reach and contact them more simply.
Notification to the appropriate local authority should be the responsibility of the householder who is required to notify where children other than those born to the immediate family are resident in a household,
It has been found that when making contact with young domestic workers outside the household, the best person to undertake the task is another young domestic worker or a former child domestic worker as they appear less threatening.
Examples:
In the Philippines, local ordinances (regulations developed and enacted at local level) have proved to be very effective in making domestic workers of all ages more visible and better protected. The benefits to domestic workers of registering have been found to be immediate and long lasting. By gaining a work permit and identity card, they become entitled to register for state health care and social security entitlements. Ordinances and other forms of local regulations have the advantage of being quicker to adopt than national legislation, and are often seen as more locally relevant.
In India, the National Domestic Workers’ Movement promote the registration of young domestic workers. They also issue young domestic workers with an identity card.
In Tanzania, leaders at the lowest structure of the local government - the ‘ward executive officers’ and ‘street leaders’ are used to access households. The advantage of working through street-level functionaries is that these have right of access to people’s homes – no special permit is necessary. Since they know all the local households, they know where young domestic workers are employed, and whether there is conflict in the household. They are trusted by both employers and domestic workers.
Making contact with CDWs
Parks are often a suitable environment in which to make contact with domestics. As are other places of leisure such as tea shops, cafes and discos.
Bus stations or ports/docks: destinations of long-distance transport, where children may arrive in the company of recruiters.
Church services are often attended by child domestic workers, as are temples, mosques and anywhere where people go to practise religion. Contact is possible through asking around within congregations, or by sensitizing priests, sheikhs and imams.
Another alternative is markets, shops or itinerant vendors to which child domestic workers are sent on a regular basis. This may include, for example, bakeries and places where fresh milk is sold, such as milk points.
As some young domestic workers go to school, familiarizing teachers and those running after-school or non-formal education programmes to be on the look-out for young domestic workers is another good possibility. Arrangements can then be made for special visits and rapport with students can gradually be developed. Women who are ex-domestic workers are good at making contacts on their networks, and at promoting programmes to their intended beneficiaries.
Enlisting adult employers and their children on the side of the programme in a positive and friendly manner helps young domestic workers gain access to the support they need.
Examples:
A national association of domestic workers in the Philippines, comb the parks regularly for potential new members. Since domestic workers tend to come from particular parts of the country, members can easily spot them. They introduce themselves in their own language and start up a conversation then follow up in the coming days. Newly-contacted recruits are also given a group familiarization in the park using special visual aids.
In Togo, a local organisation has developed a methodology for door-to-door contact to identify households with child and adolescent domestic workers. The first visit by social workers simply involves giving out information on child trafficking, child labour and child rights. Discussion is informal, and includes questions concerning the composition of the household. If it is clear that children are employed, they are invited to come to the centre. If the child worker is under age, a follow-up visit with official inspectors is conducted to persuade the employer to release the child.
In India ‘child-to-child’ methods are used in Chennai and Mumbai with school children who are asked to consider the situation of children working in their households.
In Uganda and Morocco sensitization programmes have been implemented in schools. Former child domestic workers are considered to be the best people to identify their peers, and also at withdrawing them and sensitizing them.
Empowering young domestic workers:
When young domestic workers are informed about their rights, as children, as women, and as workers positive personal growth and empowerment can take place.
Trade unions can protect young domestic workers and trade union members can be involved in monitoring efforts. A number of trade unions have adopted policies to prevent under-age recruitment and end the exploitation of young domestic workers.
A starting point for the development of young domestic workers’ associations is the provision of space for them to relax and develop friendships. Ensuring a balance between guidance, encouragement, and standing back allows young domestic workers to go at their own pace and to gradually extend the activities of their association beyond social activities and entertainment.
Young domestic workers can take part in general associations of child workers or of children’s groups.
Examples:
In Cambodia, trade unions have joined together to form an Inter-Union Committee for Child Labour. A confederation-wide policy on child domestic labour was developed to raise awareness of the issue among trade union members and to indicate its commitment to tackling abuses. Included in the 10-point policy are commitments to: not employ child domestic workers younger than 15 years, and to create healthy and safe working conditions for older children; assist child domestic workers under-15 years to go to school, and over-15’s into vocational training; report abuses against child domestic workers to the relevant authorities and to local service providers, and; help monitor the policy’s effective implementation.
In Peru a training methodology on rights has been developed for use in schools that uses interactive role-play techniques which has proved successful with domestic workers. Young domestic workers can also receive counselling on job-related issues at a local centre for domestic workers and follow-up on violations of rights is offered.
In Uganda an emphasis is placed on the importance of involving young domestic workers in activities such as awareness seminars, media campaigns, dance, music and drama, and the formation of child clubs. The children and young people are also invited to express their views on the kind of activities that will make them self-reliant, and have become instrumental in the mobilisation and identification of their peers.
In Kenya child rights clubs have been established in 11 districts, to report cases of child exploitation and abuse. This work begins with dramas and cultural events to build awareness of child domestic workers’ plight.
In Nepal, a network of 270 Child Rights Forums exist with 50,000 child members, which includes a special forum of workers and survivors of abuse and exploitation, including child domestic workers.
In 2004, a solidarity organisation of child domestic workers living in Jakarta, Indonesia was set up that was inspired by neighbouring Philippines-based national movement of domestic workers. Each member of the organisation receives a membership card, and has to contribute a small sum each week to ‘solidarity funds’, which support members in times of hardship with medical costs and death-in-the family expenses. Members and their elected officials meet three times a month for discussions about their rights. They also publish a quarterly newsletter to which members contribute – acting as a tool for communication and empowerment.
