DOMESTIC WORKERS ARE A LIVING INDEX

We need to pay attention to the lives of domestic workers. Their lived experience is indicative of so much more than initially meets the eye. Domestic workers are an under-utilised resource that can shed light on many aspects of society. Consider your own life, the different chapters, the twists and turns, the forces out of your control, the decisions that you intentionally made. How did you get here? In this article, I bring the lives of domestic workers to the forefront and consider what can be revealed on a macro scale when we break down the different forces at work in a domestic worker’s life. This blog serves as a conversation starter, as just the beginning of a complex and nuanced discussion.

The term ‘domestic worker’ refers to a person whose main place of work is their employer’s household. Roles that the term encompasses include maids, nannies, drivers, cooks, gatemen and elderly caregivers among others. The need for such work has always been present, although the types of labour have changed over time. The industry is a truly global one, although at Here To Help we are motivated to change the narrative surrounding domestic workers in Nigeria specifically. The jobs that domestic workers are tasked with have changed over time, but have not abated in necessity. Traditionally, their work has been difficult, laborious and the workers are poorly paid. Unfortunately, these traits are echoed across domestic work across the globe. Although they do very essential jobs, the workers are usually undervalued and paid inversely to the necessity of their work. Just as the eternal debate as to why investment bankers, social media managers and footballers are so well paid, in contrast to doctors, firefighters and teachers, we can also include domestic workers into the discussion. (These are ‘shit’ jobs, not ‘bullshit jobs’ - see David Graeber’s 2018 seminal piece, for more on this.) In 2015, the International Labor Organisation (ILO) estimated that there were around 67.1 million domestic workers around the world, although due to the unregulated nature of the industry, the true number is likely to be magnitudes higher.

The history of domestic workers has forever and will forever be intrinsically tied to migration. Migrant workers have historically moved between locations in search of opportunity, usually coupled with the hope or promise work. Thus, migrant workers have traditionally been more willing to work unpleasant or laborious jobs that indigenes turn their backs to. Domestic workers travel both between countries and within countries. Taking the Nigerian scenario into consideration, we find two general categorisations. The first are external migrants who travel from neighbouring and nearby countries such as Cameroon, Chad, Benin and Togo. Secondly, there are internal migrants who move from peripheral rural towns and villages towards big, industrial cities such as Lagos and Abuja. The ILO acknowledges this fact and states that the majority of domestic workers are migrants moving from poorer areas to big cities to be employed by wealthier urban families. Naturally, there are economic forces at play with workers moving in search of economic security. The story of migration to and within Nigeria is a dynamic and ever-changing one and is written into the very existence of the domestic workers in the country.

The ILO estimates that staggering 83% of domestic workers are women. This is pertinent because it incorporates another significant and urgent issue - gender based violence. The work that domestic workers do is in the private sphere, specifically in private homes. Thus, their day to day lives are isolated from the public eye. This renders them at more risk of gender based violence including sexual harassment and rape. Domestic workers often give up much of their own life for the benefit of the employer. Coupled with the informal nature of domestic work in Nigeria, unfortunately, many domestic works are essentially invisible. As many of us have seen on social media and newspapers, Nigeria is in the middle of an awakening to the true extent of gender based violence in Nigeria. This revelation feels fresh and impactful, where the nation has been still enough as a result of the coronavirus to assimilate the message. What we need to realise is that the problem of gender based violence is again written into the very bodies and existence of domestic workers in the nation. These women are at great risk, and so long as their bodies are seen as an extension of their employer’s property, the sexual violence discussions taking place are an unfortunate exercise in futility.

In the lives of domestic workers, we can also detect an indicator towards the impact, and lack thereof, of the law. Although many countries have laws and regulations recognising domestic workers, these laws are often flouted and circumvented. The lives of domestic workers are rarely brought to our attention, and when they are it is often to hear that they are suffering abuse, to the extent that the worlds of modern slavery and domestic work often blur. Article 5 of the Nigerian Domestic Workers Convention states that domestic workers should have protection from abuse, harassment and violence. Here To Help is one of multiple NGOs that exist to step in when (not if) the law fails. This fact is telling, not only of the porous legal system but it also indicates the injustice baked into society that stems from the kinds of employment one is engaged in. This of course is a simplification, wrapped up in social signalling.

As time has gone on, the employment of domestic workers has also signalled much about the employers themselves, in both a positive and negative light. Traditionally, domestic workers have been employed to do the tasks that the employer would trade money for time for.

And simply put, the more domestic workers an employer has, the wealthier they seem and so it signals a social standing. Social signals are also cemented on the part of the domestic worker themselves, which can be very damaging. The current balance has not always been the case, though. This, of course, goes hand in hand with the moral compass of the day. How we treat those around us, particularly those that we employ to offer us a service reflects on no one else, other than the employer. We can look to Ancient Rome, and the client and patron relationship, and the Benin Kingdom with the Oba and his man attendants. In both, the workers were given protection and were morally tied to their ‘employer, positions actually envied by the average person. This is the impact of narrative.

The impact of domestic work is rich and varying. If we take stock and start to connect the dots, we will be able to start to decode what the lived experiences of domestic workers can tell us about the society we all inhabit. We need to pay attention to domestic workers, treat them as a resource and not only pay them attention when something goes wrong. This approach, no matter the scale, can form part of the first steps in changing the way we think about domestic workers, changing the narrative and transforming lives.