Phoebe Mwangi
The sun is shining brightly over the leafy suburbs of Kileleshwa estate in Nairobi, one Wednesday morning. For you and me, it is just a usual morning - the children are just excitedly leaving for school while the estate guards are opening gates for the adults to go to work. See, it is business as usual for everyone; everyone but Mercy Mwake. For Mercy, the agony and hurt never stops. Today, she is nursing cuts and tears around her neck and scalp. Wounds she sustained last night after her employer attacked her with those talons she calls ’nails’. This is just the latest addition to the mistreatment that has been part of Mercy’s life ever since she went to that house. Mercy has for a long time wanted to quit, to leave her job as a house help and go back to the village, for this is no way to live. Last week, having spent a night hungry after being denied food, Mercy threw in the towel, packed her belongings, and walked towards the gates desperate to end her misery once and for all. Mission impossible! The guards at the exit had clear instructions not to allow her leave. They even had a photo of her at the gate just in case she tried to escape. She had no choice but to return to that hell of a house, her spirit crushed, heartbroken and in despair.
Mercy’s story of physical abuse hit Kenyan media in the month of March 2018.
The story caused an uproar in the same way it sparked an assortment of reactions and emotions on digital media, and for many reasons. For some, it was a wonder that in the 21st century, black people continue to enslave their own. For others, it beat logic how such unsung heroes of the domestic sector continued to be subjected to such cruelty despite playing such a vital role in spaces as intimate as our homes. For most however, the reaction was indifferent, barely surprised. After all, why was it a wonder?
Wasn’t this typical of most households in the country? It is this last group that properly highlights the issue at hand. More than we choose to admit, they represent the attitude of a significant percentage of the demographic. This is exactly where the problem lies. This exact complacency and lack of agitation while such a crucial, sensitive, and indispensable percentage of our citizenry continuously endure such gross human rights violations, is the reason the domestic sector in this country still remains neglected and ignored.
The Crux of the Matter.
It is no secret that domestic workers are perhaps the most abused labourers in this country. In May 2019, BBC Africa Eye published a documentary on the’ The hidden lives of ‘house girls’ in Kenya’. The documentary investigates the mistreatment and abuse that has for a long time stained the domestic workers’ sector. Real life stories of women and girls that feature on the documentary highlight a long list of human rights abuse including but not limited to: under-age employment, long-working hours, physical abuse, confinement and curtailed freedom (as is the case with Mercy Mwake), very low salaries or wages, and denial of food.
An analytical study conducted by Central Organisations of Trade Unions (COTU) Kenya in 2017 showed that 83% of domestic workers are paid below the minimum wage (ksh.10,954 per month). Even worse is that about 50% of these workers earn as low as ksh.3500 per month. The study adds that in addition, most workers face gender-based discrimination at work and lack access to basic healthcare and social security services.
The above statistics bring to light the reality that there is a serious problem. There are such complex dynamics to employer-employee relationships that persist behind closed doors and in very secretive spaces. Such relationships are very hard to control especially with a weak national labour system.
The lack of unprofessionalism in the institution of domestic work is the main reason it lags as compared to other labour institutions. Given how vital the role of domestic work is globally, it is pertinent that it is accorded a proportionate degree of attention. It is my opinion that the process of solving the inadequacy of the domestic sphere would begin by initiation of relevant policies aiming at the liberation of these heroes of such essential service.
The Rain That is Beating the Sector.
At a time when the world has become very progressive in terms of labour rights, one may then wonder why exactly the system is failing domestic workers especially since it is so clear where the problems are. I insist that the existing mess is a failure of the system especially because the government has shown a deliberate refusal to adopt and implement critical necessities that could jump start the revamp of the sector.
For starters, The International Labour Organization Convention 189 (Domestic Worker’s Convention,2011) lays down specific rights and principles whose aim is to eventually achieve decent work for domestic workers worldwide. At the every least this convention stipulates that domestic workers must be afforded the same basic labour rights as all other workers, including reasonable hours of work and respect for fundamental principles and human rights at work. Moreover, the convention is supplemented by the Domestic Workers Recommendation 2011 (R201) which gives practical measures on how best to implement the convention. The most disheartening part of all this is that nine years down the line Kenya has not yet ratified nor shown any interest in ratifying this convention. Despite numerous efforts by domestic workers to urge parliament to ratify ILO C189, the status quo remains.
On the 21st of February, 2018 the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotel, Educational Institutions ,Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA) together with hundreds of domestic workers rallied in front of parliament buildings advocating for the ratification of C189 by legislators. They expressed the plight of the millions of domestic workers facing abuse mainly because they work in a heavily unregulated sector. The union’s efforts were geared towards securing additional standards and rights for Kenyan domestic workers as well as improving wages and general conditions for decent work.
Unfortunately, Kenya through the legislators in this country is one among the list of countries that have failed to ratify this convention. It could be that the matter has not been prioritized because of the already existing domestic provisions on domestic work through the Employment Act 2007. However, domestic law has proven ineffective so far especially because of the lack of policies to augment the Act by providing practical measures to unpack the details of the existing dynamics, and to ensure the already existing legal protection is actually enforced.
How can we cross the Rubicon?
If C189 were ratified, we would have a better shot at actual legal protection for domestic workers because of Recommendation 2011 that has more potential for impact. Countries that have ratified C189 have made significant steps in rectifying labour exploitation for its domestic workers. Countries such as Uruguay, Brazil the Philippines, Colombia and Jamaica have since passed this ground-breaking convention and the progress has been impressive.
These advancements have been characterized by new legislation that highlight the principles of the conventions, standard labour protections such as eight-hour workdays and establishment of strong domestic-workers unions. For these countries, the impact has been even bigger than these changes. The labour minister in Argentina described the passing of an Act granting domestic workers standard labour protections as ‘a corrective for entrenched social imbalance,’ “This act, therefore, comes to compensate a fifty-year debt with a social sector, a group which lacked the rights everyone else had,” said Carlos Tomada.
In a sector that is heavily dominated by the female population, who are such a vulnerable demographic ,regulations against labour exploitation would greatly buttress the global movement that is women empowerment, as well as advance the efforts to dismantle gender imbalance and inequality. This is also a great move towards the realization of SDG 5, Gender Equality. There is great hope and potential for the domestic sector in Kenya that I believe will be kick started by the ratification of ILO 189. There is incredible mileage that can be covered upon this ratification, the situation will change for the better, permanently. Kenya cannot afford to lag during such a historical reform!
As we celebrate the International Domestic Workers’ Day on June the 6th, how can you join forces with domestic workers to advocate for a more decent working environment at an individual level?
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