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United Nations Economic and Social Council
Commission on Human Rights
Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and protection of
Minorities
Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery
23rd Session
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Geneva, May 1998
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Presentation by the Visayan Forum Foundation
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Child domestic workers in the Philippines
and approaches by the Visayan Forum Foundation to end their exploitation
For so a long time, our child domestic workers have been silent...neglected
by society. Their scatteredness and invisibility make interventions
difficult. The social inequality and economic inequity in which the
child domestic workers find themselves in and the lack of political
will especially governments to put children first in their social
agenda, reflect how society nurtures its future generation.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for giving me this chance to speak
before you and make the issue child domestic workers be finally heard.
I must admit though that a ten-minute presentation may be too short
to depict the historical neglect of these children, a great number
of whom are girls.
My presentation will focus on two themes. First I will give a brief
overview of the problems facing these children, and show how domestic
work hinders their development and how it violates their rights as
children. Second I will share with you existing strategies of our
work in the Philippines.
Let me start by telling you a story of one child domestic worker in
the Philippines.
Case Study: Rosie, 14 years old.
Rosie became a domestic worker at the house of their neighbour in
the province at the age of 10 years. After 3 years of service, she
was brought to Manila to work in the household of a relative of her
previous employer. Rosie had to do all the housework as well as take
care of her employer's 14 breeding dogs. "The dogs were so big she
said some were bigger than me, I was so afraid to go near them. Everyday
I prepared many kilos of dog food, washed their pens and took care
of the mother dogs with new born puppies. Sometimes, I could not sleep
for three nights or the puppies might die. All dogs are made in heaven
my employer said, but I lived in hell. My employer gave me little
food. They did not allow me to have any of the leftover food from
their table. I was always hungry one day. I could not tighten my belt
anymore, so I ate the food of the dogs and they fired me for I was
not good to their dogs."
NATURE AND EXTENT
The long-standing historical practices and perceptions, which give
social acceptance to child domestic work, contribute to the ever-increasing
number of these child workers. Employment arrangements are generally
informal which make these workers grossly underreported. The fact
that they are employed in separate private households makes them scattered,
invisible, separated from their families and difficult to reach. To
reach them in their workplaces could be considered an intrusion into
a private area
In Manila, Philippines, typical domestic workers are single females
aged 14 years old arid above. They are migrants coming from poor agricultural
or fishing communities in the provinces. They are mainly recruited
by relatives, town-mates, friends or illegal recruiters. Many have
previous work experiences in the provinces since the age of eight
years. Parents prefer to place their children in domestic service
for they see it as a lighter and less arduous task than other employment
opportunities available to children in their communities. Domestic
work requires no formal training and schooling. To work in the city
increases family status in the community and contributes to family
income. The employers on the other hand see themselves as benefactors
rather than exploiters of children. They prefer children over adults
because the former are easier to manage, more submissive, hard-working
less complaining, cheaper, and do not require social security benefits.
The child workers also serve as companions for the employer's children.
There are no formal contracts' of employment between the employers
and the child domestic workers, making the latter vulnerable to indiscriminate
termination from work.
Domestic work is perceived as a lowly job, and the child domestic
workers are among the lowest-paid of workers Their wages are usually
delayed and when received, are greatly reduced due to the deductions
made by the employers in payment of the cash advances of parents and
recruiters. The workers receive a monthly wage ranging from P800-PI,OOO.OO
which is equivalent to about $20.00. Many, as an obligation, remit
their money to their parents to support the schooling of a brother
or a sister. Parents usually ask a daughter to give way to her brother.
Boys first because it will be easier for them to find a job early
on, the girls are being tacitly told that they have lesser chances
for development than the boys.
Visayan Forum Foundation believe that the interplay of many factors
both macro and micro contribute to the phenomenon that is the child
domestic worker. Poverty and underdevelopment in the rural areas worsened
by economic development programs favouring globalization. The expectation
o f helping parent and of sending oneself to school are factors that
trap a Filipino domestic girl-worker in this situation.
Child domestic workers have difficulties in developing into productive
adults. many are net allowed to venture beyond the house gates. Aside
from being abused physically, they are usually subjected to verbal
intimidation such as name-calling insults. constant threats, fault-finding
shouting and screaming by their employers. Their work conditions worsen
their plight. They work at an average of 15 hours a day and are on
call 24 hours a day whenever their employers want them to do something.
Very few of the child domestic workers do socialised activities. Most
of them are not expressive. They have very low self-esteem. Their
deafening silence, vigilant hesitation and mistrust of other people
indicate no self-confidence. They have a very strong fatalistic attitude
as their natural survival mechanism. Whatever abuses they encounter
at work could be accepted as part of the job. The attitude of unquestioning
acceptance pacifies them arid is frequently used as a justification
for not taking legal action. If conflicts arise, the parents usually
settle the case out of court because of the employer's superior financial
standing. "The case will never prosper in court anyway, "they say.
An identity crisis confronts these child domestic workers because
of conflicting roles as workers and children. They are forced to adapt
to different personalities under the different whims of employers.
Basic child's right to education is sacrificed in many instances.
Many of the child workers who left their homes probably did so filled
with aspirations to earn and save for their education, or hope that
they chance on a benevolent employer who will send them to school.
In reality, this very seldom happens what usually happens is that
many of these child domestic workers are tasked to accompany their
employer's children to school help them with their assignments, and
prepare their school snacks while their own dreams for an education
vanish before their own eyes.
STRATEGIES
Despite a strong legal framework on child protection, the problem
of child domestic workers continues to rise while this issue has captured
the interest of many organisations during the last few years our experience
shows that the child domestic workers are one of the most difficult
sectors to protect. Existing programs and services attack the problem
of child domestic workers at different levels and employ a variety
of approaches which complement each other.
Let me summarise some of the strategies which we have developed.
I. Emotional and Material Support
These components are very important. especially to those children
who suffer from abuse and violence. Emotional and material support
include the following:
1. Provision of counselling,
2. Emergency shelter
3. Medical care
4. Clothing and nutritional assistance
5. Recreation activities
6. Livelihood and co-operative formation.
Visayan Forum Foundation employs four forms of basic counselling,
namely.
1. Direct counselling in the park, a favourite strolling place of
domestic workers and thus a strategic point to reach out to them.
2. Telephone counselling for those who can not leave their workplace.
This is usually done when the employer is out or already asleep.
3. Letter counselling.
4. Peer counselling
These intentions ensure contact with the domestic workers and give
them an alternative option and proper support system in case of abuse.
In emergency cases we provide a halfway house and legal assistance
for those who are removed or pulled-out from their exploitative employers.
Those who require long-term treatments for trauma are usually referred
to specialised groups that handle long-term healing
II. Organising Work
Organising is one of the most difficult but promising components of
the program which we are conducting in Manila and in the three provinces
which we had identified as the sources of the migrant child domestic
workers. With the realities I have described earlier the traditional
organising approach is not suitable for this sector. We have developed
innovative and flexible ways to meet and talk with the domestic workers.
1. Outreach Program at the Park.
Every Sunday we organise activities such as orientations; field training,
recreation, and counselling in the main parks where the domestic workers
gather and meet their friends and town-mates.
2. Implementation of Flexible Schedule
Child domestic workers have a limited day off from work. Some can
go out on Sundays only when allowed by their employers, they usually
stay for 3-4 hours only. We conduct staggered training on child rights
laws, leadership and self-improvement any moment we can. We employ
participatory, visual-based and drama techniques to get our message
across.
3. Involvement of Domestic Workers Themselves
Domestic workers can easily relate with their fellow workers. They
speak the same language and share the same experience. They are interested
in the cases of their neighbours and relatives. After undergoing an
in-depth orientation, we train the older workers to become core leaders/counsellors.
They are very effective in helping us implement our programs. They
facilitate peer counselling, orientation sessions and data collection.
Learning and working together, the domestic workers feel that they
have a community that provides them a strong support system.
In this way, we were able to form SUMAPI, the first ever organisation
of domestic workers in the Philippines. The SUMAPI, or Association
and Linkages of the Household Workers in the Philippines now have
4,000 members all over the country. It has its own newsletter that
reports the activities of the organisation
. III. Education and Training
We established a stand-by scholarship fund for the education of the
child domestic workers. We negotiated and co-ordinated with the local
school administrations to provide Sunday arid night schools for the
workers. We provide them with alternative skills training in preparation
for co-operative formation; empowerment training on theatre for self-expression
and development of social security service. And paralegal training.
Legal Assistance
We provide legal assistance to the child domestic workers when they
are abused and when there is a violation of the labour laws pertaining
to children This is done in co-ordination with legal rights groups
V. Social Policy Advocacy
Ultimately, government policy-making bodies, social organisations,
private employers and society, as a whole must address the issue of
child domestic workers. We. in the Visayan Forum Foundation, consider
information dissemination in the root communities and throughout the
country a vital component of our advocacy work. We organise forums
and debates in order to forge consensus on the issue. At the Asian
level we established a task force on child domestic workers.
In closing, 1 believe that employing a child domestic worker is a
concrete violation of the fundamental rights of the child as defined
in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Child domestic workers
face economic exploitation in terms of employment and conditions of
work. Since a great number of the child domestic workers are girls,
this is also a gender issue that should especially concern, the working
women in the developing countries. Because of the work being done
by these girl-child domestic workers, many women have time to work
and become economically productive. Their economic contribution of
freeing working women is openly unrecognised. For so long, these child
workers have been neglected by society. Please listen to their anguished
cry. They pray for our care, compassion, understanding and recognition.
They need our love. We should not forget them.
Cecil Flares-Oebanda
Visayan Forum Foundation
2873 Lamayan Street
Sta. Ana Manila
Philippines
Telephone/Fax: 5634514
e-mail: visforum @.skynet. net |
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