Domestic workers’ voices for a fair working environment

The high levels of unemployment in Uganda have resorted a number of women and girls to opt for domestic work but the industry is not easy. Domestic workers in and out of Uganda are facing a number of challenges.

According to the International Labour Organisation, domestic workers are employees who perform work in or for a private household. They provide care services indirectly and are key members of the care economy. Their work includes tasks such as cleaning the house, cooking, washing and ironing clothes, taking care of children, or elderly or sick members of a family, gardening, guarding the house, driving for the family, and even taking care of household pets. A domestic worker may work on a full-time or part-time basis; may be employed by a single household or through or by a service provider; may be residing in the household of the employer or may be living in his or her own residence. Most victims of domestic work violence are women.

Of the 75.6 million domestic workers worldwide, 76.2 per cent are women, meaning that a quarter of domestic workers are men. According to the international labour organisation, ”the future of work depends on the future of women at work.”

Employers in Uganda say that house helps lack etiquette and are rude and mistreat their families and children, but the maids are equally mistreated.  Currently, in the country, there is a serious issue of children falling victim to violence in domestic labour settings.

Dora Nabisere, a resident of Bulange, Mengo, got employed as a housemaid at the age of 15 as she could not continue with her education due to a lack of funds. During her stay at a residence whose name she did not even know, she was physically and psychologically abused.

Mama Josh, her employer, would always call Dora a failure in life and refer to her as a dog (Mbwagwe). Her boss also mistreated her by giving her living quarters that were no other than a store for a room with no windows or doors. This was unsafe for Dora, as the risk of being attacked by animals and humans was higher.

Elsewhere in Kamwokya, a suburb in Kampala, Isabelle tells a story shared by her sister who passed away in Dubai. She was found dead in the bathroom.

Before she passed, she would call her sister and express how she was always being overworked, underpaid and flogged. Sometimes they locked her in a room for a number of days going without giving her food or water. She had no way of escaping as she did not have a way to identify herself, her passport had been taken by her bosses.

Torturing domestic workers is an abuse of human rights and their peace and security.

One of the most limiting factors to fighting against domestic worker abuse is that a number of survivors are suffering silently, they will not come out to report cases to authorities like the police due to fear do.

The majority of domestic workers do not sign contracts of engagement with these employees that define terms and conditions of engagement. In cases of abuse, there is often no evidence and therefore, there is no way these cases can be pursued as there is no written documentation. It is therefore most likely that a worker’s rights will be infringed on as they are at the mercy of their employer.

Authorities come out to aid domestic workers.

Speaking to Coftu Director legal aid, Penina Tukamwesiga, she says Coftu legal aid promotes access to justice for workers who cannot afford legal fees by practising lawyers. The organisation is dully registered by active lawyers who have the passion and devotion to fight for workers’ lives through continuous representation, legal advice, and arbitration legal research among others. Their main goal is to protect workers’ rights in whatever way possible thus enhancing peace and security.

Furthermore, a number of conferences have earlier been organised to find mechanisms to combat impunity and ensure accountability. The aim of the international conference on national regional under international law was organized in Doha in April 2019 by the national human rights committee. The main goal of the conference was to discuss national, regional and international mechanisms to combat impunity for terrible violations of human rights.

This conference brought together more than 200 governmental organisations and international experts. Here the participants emphasized that it is the duty of every state under international law to respect and secure human rights taking effective measures to compact impurity. The delegates emphasized that in order to contribute to achieving peace and security, accountability and ending impunity must be a priority for the international community.

They noted that in order to chase the impunity gap action should focus on understanding the needs of specific groups such as minorities, women, youth, internally displace displaced persons and refugees. This would promote peace and security among the workers and employers and within countries.

They also called for enhanced political accountability by advocating for an end to arms sales, especially in areas of conflict and ensuring that war crimes investigations remain free from political pressure.

They further said there is a need for the elimination of obstacles in civil claims related to human rights violations and international crimes including with regard to statutes of elimination.

Speaking to Workers Members of Parliament, Honourable Charles Bakkabulindi states that workers are entitled to safe and healthy working conditions and equal opportunity for everyone to be promoted in his/her employment to an appropriate higher level, subject to no consideration other than those in seniority and competence.

Trade Unions in Uganda have developed the Union Code of Ethics which communicates to employees the expected behaviour and professional responsibilities. The significance of the code of conduct is that each employee should behave and perform in a way that preserves the company’s values and commitments.

Bakabulindi states that employers should reveal the various policies of their organisation to their employees and make them aware of the code of conduct and other policies.

The code of ethics talks about; Harassment- the work environment should be free from all kinds of harassment, especially sexual and verbal harassment.

Honesty and integrity- the employer expects the employees to observe honesty and integrity and such conduct should be fair and transparent.

Disclosure of information- the employees should not disclose the company’s information to third parties and other organisations.

Outside employees- Employees should not indulge in any kind of concurrent employment with their knowledge without the prior knowledge of the employer.

Conflict of interest- an employee should not indulge in other professions or services or other interests which might conflict with the interest of the family.

Confidentiality- employees should protect the company’s confidential information.

Uganda is currently experiencing high numbers of young people flocking to the Middle East to seek jobs. A high percentage of these are domestic workers. However many of those who migrate have fallen victim to various forms of abuse notwithstanding the promised anti-exploitative conduct by employment agencies, a sign that peace and security are being ignored and yet it is an important aspect that should be grown in countries.

The government of Uganda has gone ahead to cancel the registration of a number of companies involved in criminal activities like human trafficking.

During an investigation, 50 scrupulous faith-based organisations in Uganda were implicated in human trafficking to the middle east and other destination.

The minister for Gender and Cultural Affairs, Honourable Betty Amongi said “ externalisation of labour is faced with a lot of challenges which include employment of women in unknown destinations, hostile working conditions and many others.”

He said, “ Government is putting up stringent measures at department centres and boards to eliminate trafficking and foster peace and security for Ugandans.

UAERA( Uganda Association of Externalisation and Recruiting Agencies) Chairman, Mr Andrew Kameraho, says, “The measures will eliminate trafficking in persons and bring to an end mistreatment of Ugandan domestic workers in the middle east and other countries.”

He said UAERA member agencies are working together with 17 licensed training centres and have put emphasis on harmonizing pre-departure training as a safety measure for migrant workers seeking employment in foreign countries.

He goes on to say, “ Trafficked labourers are the most abused while working abroad as they fail to receive their pay, work under harsh and pathetic conditions where their travel documents are confiscated.”

“Ugandans seeking for jobs abroad should go through licenced recruitment agencies to avoid racketeers who are involved in human trafficking,” he said.

Heavy penalties by the Ugandan authorities are being suffered by companies that breach the worker’s law. An example is a Ugandan company middle east consultants that were suspended on accusations of forgery and obtaining money by false pretence. This was when a group of disgruntled women that had been recruited for domestic work camped at their premises in Muyenga, a Kampala suburb. These workers had paid money for the domestic jobs that had been advertised but didn’t get them.

The head of the state-house anti-corruption unit lieutenant Edith Nakalema together with the ministry of gender and social development later suspended middle east consultants until they paid back 59%of each of the complainants.

International organisations’ support. The United Nations has decided to take a step forward with critical law reforms passed in Parliament, ending violence against female domestic workers in Uganda. This is to enhance peace and security as a component of sustainable Development goals. The UN Sustainable development aims at achieving full productive employment and decent work for all women, men, young people and persons with disabilities.

With these in place, there will be harmony between workers and employees and this will further extend peace and security within countries and their neighbours too.

This story is part of the African Women in Media (AWiM) Peace and Security Journalism Programme in partnership with UNESCO, through the IPDC framework.