SEEING THE INVISIBLE

Mahfuza Akhter Happy, age 11, has suddenly become visible for the wrong reasons. She became newsworthy for being the unfortunate victim of a well-known cricket player and his wife. Beaten black and blue with her foot fractured, it was sheer luck that she was able to escape her attackers and get help of the police. Ironically, it is the celebrity status of her employer that made Happy the centre of public attention and it is also why media pressure has ensured that Shahadat Hossain and his wife Jesmine Nahar Nrittya were arrested.

Normally, house-helps like Happy belong to the invisible class – children doing adult chores and at the mercy of employers who belong to the 'respectable' classes of society. They are the silent little helpers who sweep floors, wash clothes, take other children to school, dust furniture, press feet, apply oil on the mistress's hair, feed the master's baby, buy groceries from the corner store, carry heavy shopping bags, cook – basically be on call almost 24-7. All this they do with their employers and their family members barely giving them a second glance. Except when they make mistakes. Nobody remembers that they are children, some as old as or younger than their own. All that is noticed is that the kajer meye (maid) has slipped up – not done her chores properly or forgotten to do it altogether. The punishment for such slip-ups range from a mild scolding to severe verbal abuse or physical torture. 

Take 15-year-old Nazma Begum from Moulvibazar, who ended up in hospital with fractured wrists, severe cuts and bruises. Barely able to bear her pain, Nazma told a journalist how she was routinely tortured with hot water, knives and canes by her employer's daughter whose house she had been sent to.

Who are these sadistic people, in horror we ask ourselves? Frighteningly, in public they are 'normal' and well-respected. Many of them are women who are mothers; all the more appalling that they would inflict such pain on children. In Happy's case, her torturers were both the cricketer and his wife. Sometimes the entire family is involved in these unspeakable acts. 

It is hard to digest the truth that humans are the cruelest species on earth, getting pleasure out of hurting fellow human beings. Domestic workers, especially if they are children, who have no unions and are not even recognised as part of the formal workforce or under the purview of labour laws, are the easiest targets. The Domestic Servants' Registration Ordinance 1961 requires self-registration of domestic workers with local police stations in Dhaka, but does not provide any legal redress against abuse and poor working conditions. Thus, a domestic worker can be paid anything or nothing (often in the case of child domestic workers), work impossible hours and live in subhuman conditions – depending on the whims of the employers. There are laws and legal provisions that can also apply to domestic workers but that too, only when they are severely tortured or worse, killed by their employers. There are no laws that prohibit a domestic worker from being treated like a slave, from being humiliated, given substandard food, slapped around every now and then, and deprived of free time, weekly holidays and a decent wage. There are no unions or associations to help a domestic worker fight for her rights.

The power structure of our society allows for the influential and wealthy to dodge the legal system. So even when an employer pushes her maid off the terrace or burns her with a red hot spatula, she can get away with it by paying the right persons in the right positions or simply offering out-of-court settlements the family may be coerced or persuaded into agreeing to.

The blatant exploitation of domestic workers, especially those who are children, has prompted leading human rights NGOs and trade unions to form the Domestic Workers Rights Network. The Network has in turn led discussions with civil society groups and the government to form what is known as a Draft Domestic Workers Protection and Welfare Policy 2010 (now 2014). The draft policy addresses important points such as fair wages, proper contracts of employment, fixed working hours, leisure and holidays, festival bonuses, maternity leave, healthcare, identity cards, as well as schooling and vocational training. Compensation for accidents and legal action against physical and sexual abuse are also included.

It is not clear why this draft has still not been graduated to a policy that can, if sincerely implemented, ensure the rights of domestic workers. There is no reason why domestic workers should be excluded from the rights stipulated by labour laws and international conventions. It is estimated (according to the draft policy) that there are around 20 lakh domestic workers in the country. Given that these are the people that make life infinitely easier for others and allow them to work and enjoy their leisure time, it is grossly unjust that they should be treated with such disdain and neglect.

It is shameful that a nation that prides itself for its valorous emancipation from racist oppressors should fall victim to a feudal mindset where home workers are looked down upon as lesser human beings. Unless we get rid of our classist views and show respect to all our fellow citizens, especially those who take care of us every day, we will not be able to rid ourselves of this stigma. 

The writer is Deputy Editor, Editorial and Op-ed, The Daily Star.