Regulation and Resistance: Strategies of Migrant Domestic Workers in Canada and Internationally

While the Canadian program for migrant domestic workers offers among the best conditions internationally, it shares two features in common with worldwide policies and treatment of foreign household workers. These are: 1) the inherent asymmetry in citizenship statuses and rights of employers and their domestic employees; and 2) the expectation that employees will ‘live in’ their employers' homes. Enforcement of rights of foreign domestics is also complicated by shared, yet ambiguous jurisdiction over foreign domestics of the federal and provincial governments. These conditions render foreign domestic workers vulnerable to all forms of abuse. They have not been eliminated despite impressive organizing and advocacy among these migrant workers and their allies. The challenges of finding adequate protection against abuse by domestic workers in Canada and elsewhere are explored by examining the policies of labor sending and labor receiving countries, and international conventions. A significant development in domestic workers organizations is the linking of campaigns for migrant worker rights to global efforts to address the causes of unemployment and migration.

Download Full-text

THE ENDURING VULNERABILITY OF MIGRANT DOMESTIC WORKERS IN EUROPE

International and Comparative Law Quarterly ◽

10.1017/s0020589313000195 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 62 (3) ◽

pp. 599-627 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Clíodhna Murphy

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

Migrant Workers ◽

Domestic Workers ◽

Employment Law ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Regulatory Frameworks ◽

Labour Standards ◽

And Migration ◽

Migration Law ◽

Migrant Domestic Workers

AbstractWhile the rights of domestic workers are expanding in international law, including through the adoption of the ILO Domestic Workers Convention in 2011, migrant domestic workers remain particularly vulnerable to employment-related abuse and exploitation. This article explores the intersection of the employment law and migration law regimes applicable to migrant domestic workers in the United Kingdom, France and Ireland. The article suggests that the precarious immigration status of many migrant domestic workers renders employment protections, such as they exist in each jurisdiction, largely illusory in practice for this group of workers. The labour standards contained in the Domestic Workers Convention, together with the recommendations of the UN Committee on Migrant Workers on the features of an appropriate immigration regime for migrant domestic workers, are identified as providing an alternative normative model for national regulatory frameworks.

Download Full-text

Translating People and Policy: The Role of Maid Agents in Brokering between Employers and Migrant Domestic Workers in Singapore’s Migration Industry

International Migration Review ◽

10.1177/0197918319897570 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 54 (4) ◽

pp. 992-1015

Author(s):

Kellynn Wee ◽

Charmian Goh ◽

Brenda S.A. Yeoh

Keyword(s):

Migrant Workers ◽

Migrant Worker ◽

Domestic Workers ◽

Labor Migrants ◽

Labor Market Intermediaries ◽

International Labor ◽

Language Brokers ◽

Working And Living Conditions ◽

Migrant Domestic Workers

There has been a surge of recent interest in the migration industries that facilitate the movement of migrants, particularly that of low-waged laborers engaged in temporary contracts abroad. This article extends this research to include migration brokers working in destination contexts, thus drawing analytical attention to the arrival infrastructures that incorporate migrants into host societies. Based on ethnographic research involving the employment agents who recruit women migrating from Indonesia to work as migrant domestic workers in Singapore, we use the concept of “translation” as a broad theoretical metaphor to understand how brokers actively fashion knowledge between various actors, scales, interfaces, and entities. First, we argue that through the interpretation of language, brokers continually modulate meaning in the encounters between potential employers and employees at the agency shopfront, reproducing particular dynamics of power between employers and workers while coperforming the hirability of the migrant worker. Second, we show how brokers operate within the discretionary space between multiple sets of regulations in order to selectively inscribe the text of policy into migrant workers’ lives. By interrogating the process of translation and clarifying the latitude migration brokers have in shaping the working and living conditions of international labor migrants, the article contributes to the growing conceptual literature on how labor-market intermediaries contour migration markets.

Download Full-text

Work Condition, Gender Relation And Violence Against Women Migrant Domestic Workers

MIMBAR Jurnal Sosial dan Pembangunan ◽

10.29313/mimbar.v34i1.2985 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 43-50

Author(s):

Keppi Sukesi

Keyword(s):

Migrant Workers ◽

Migrant Worker ◽

Domestic Workers ◽

Destination Country ◽

Migrant Families ◽

Analysis Technique ◽

The Social ◽

Depth Study ◽

The Village ◽

Migrant Domestic Workers

The research aims to analyze the social conditions of working women migrant domestic workers, gender relations in their home and workplace, and to describe the violence experienced by women migrant domestic workers. The research method used is case study in two villages, namely village of Majangtengah Malang Regency and village of Junjung Tulungagung Regency as sender of migrant worker. The research informants are migrant workers who have returned to their home villages and migrant families who are working overseas. This study uses a qualitative approach through in-depth study of 32 migrant workers. Data analysis technique is descriptive qualitative. Research results show that women migrant workers are encouraged to work away from the village and families by socioeconomic factors. They have different working conditions in the destination country. The employer factors are crucial to urge the success of the migrant workers. They contribute economically to households and surrounding communities, but this work is very at risk of violence. Violence can occur from departure to destination country. Therefore, protection of women migrant workers is very important.

Download Full-text

Indonesian Migrant Domestic Workers and Sustainable Development Goals: Feasible Policy and Practices

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/20187309017 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 73 ◽

pp. 09017

Author(s):

Utami Dewi Anggia ◽

Rezasyah Teuku

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Migrant Workers ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Social Protection ◽

Migrant Worker ◽

Domestic Workers ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Development Goals ◽

The Government ◽

Migrant Domestic Workers

The issue of Indonesian migrant domestic workers is still a homework that need to be prioritized by the government. The problematic management, include the lack of legal-based protection, have resulted in many unfortunate cases and conditions of migrant workers. Many of them are prone to unequal treatments, mental and physical abuse, even human trafficking. The Indonesian government currently addresses a policy of zero migrant worker roadmap, which has brought up many critics mentioning how the policy is discriminatory and violates the rights to economy of the workers. By using a qualitative approach of method, this paper aims to discuss the possibility of solutions that will generate an inclusive framework of to eradicate inequalities posed by Indonesian migrant domestic workers, by briefly highlighting the case of Sumba Barat Daya as the second largest migrant workers sender in Nusa Tenggara Timur. Under the Sustainable Development Goals framework, from policy approach, this paper suggests the government of Indonesia to focus more on the skill and capacity building of migrant workers, by also imposing the social protection approach towards them.

Download Full-text

Better a Friend Nearby Than a Brother Far Away? The Health Implications of Foreign Domestic Workers’ Family and Friendship Networks

American Behavioral Scientist ◽

10.1177/0002764220910220 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 64 (6) ◽

pp. 765-783

Author(s):

Jing Ye ◽

Feinian Chen

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Local Community ◽

Domestic Workers ◽

Protective Effects ◽

Personal Network ◽

Potential Health ◽

Daily Contact ◽

Foreign Domestic Workers ◽

Reported Health ◽

Migrant Domestic Workers

Migrant domestic workers provide essential services to the families they live with, but they are not considered a part of the family. As a group, they are not well-integrated into the society and often suffer from social isolation. In this article, we explore the potential health buffering effects of their personal network, in terms of family and friendship ties in both the local community and their home country. Existing literature provides inconsistent evidence on who and what matters more, with regard to the nature, strength, and geographic locations of individual personal networks. Using data from the Survey of Migrant domestic Workers in Hong Kong (2017), we find that family ties are extremely important. The presence of family members in Hong Kong as well as daily contact with family, regardless of location, are associated with better self-reported health. Only daily contact with friends in Hong Kong, not with friends in other countries, promotes better health. We also find evidence that the protective effects of family and friends networks depend on each other. Those foreign domestic workers with families in Hong Kong but also maintain daily contact with friends have the best self-reported health among all.

Download Full-text

PERLINDUNGAN HUKUM PEKERJA MIGRAN PENATA LAKSANA RUMAH TANGGA (PLRT) DI LUAR NEGERI OLEH NEGARA DITINJAU DARI KONSEP TANGGUNG JAWAB NEGARA

Yustisia Jurnal Hukum ◽

10.20961/yustisia.v4i2.8642 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Koesrianti

Keyword(s):

Migrant Workers ◽

Domestic Work ◽

Legal Protection ◽

Domestic Workers ◽

State Responsibility ◽

Vulnerable Group ◽

Unfair Treatment ◽

National Jurisdiction ◽

The Government ◽

Migrant Domestic Workers

AbstractThis research discusses the legal protection of migrant workers, especially, women migrant domestic workers. Due to the nature and characteristic of domestic work, the migrant domestic workers are subject to violence, abuses, discrimination and unfair treatment when they are in destination countries. The most vulnerable group among migrant workers is women migrant domestic workers because they are women. Accordingly, the government and the stakeholders should give protection to the women migrant domestic workers regardless their status (legal or illegal) as they are stay beyond national jurisdiction of sending state.Keywords: legal protection, Migrant workers, domestic, state responsibility.AbstrakPenelitian ini mengkaji bentuk-bentuk perlindungan hukum yang diberikan kepada pekerja migran PLRT di luar negeri. Pekerja migran PLRT karena karakteristiknya merupakan kelompok yang sangat rentan terhadap perlakuan abuse, diskriminatif, dan ketidak-adilan ketika bekerja di luar negeri. Kelompok paling rentan diantara pekerja migrant adalah TKW PLRT karena keperempuannya. Konsep tanggung jawab Negara mengharuskan pemerintah memberikan perlindungan kepada TKI terlepas dari status mereka, baik legal atau illegal karena mereka berada diluar yurisdiksi Negara pengirimKata Kunci: Perlindungan hukum, TKI, PLRT, Tanggung Jawab Negara.

Download Full-text

Facebook, Polymedia, Social Capital, and a Digital Family of Indonesian Migrant Domestic Workers: A Case Study of The Voice of Singapore’s Invisible Hands

Migration Mobility & Displacement ◽

10.18357/mmd41201918971 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 65-83

Author(s):

Adriana Rahajeng Mintarsih

Keyword(s):

Social Capital ◽

Migrant Workers ◽

Data Gathering ◽

Transnational Migration ◽

Domestic Workers ◽

Literary Work ◽

Dominant Negative ◽

Learning Space ◽

The Voice ◽

Migrant Domestic Workers

Rarely do female migrant domestic workers (MDWs) get a chance to narrate their own migration experience. Voice of Singapore’s Invisible Hands (or The Voice), which started as a literary community on Facebook, aims to reshape the dominant—negative—discourse on migrant workers, especially Indonesian MDWs, by providing access to their literary work. In a transnational migration setting, Facebook has been used as a tool to maintain people’s relations with their families and friends back home, as well as for making new friends. Connections gained between individuals become a form of social capital where people build social networks and establish norms of reciprocity and a sense of trustworthiness. In the early establishment of The Voice, Facebook helped its initiator gain social capital. Ultimately, this social capital benefts the community and its members. Over the course of The Voice’s development, other social media platforms, namely WhatsApp, Skype, and email, have been used in addition to Facebook because they offer a different set of features and affordances of privacy and frequency. This practice of switching from one media to another is an illustration of polymedia, in which all media operate as an integrated structure and each is defned in relation to other media. This study, which focused on the relation of Facebook, polymedia, and social capital in the context of The Voice, used integrated online and offine qualitative data-gathering methodologies. The study found that Facebook initially helped both the community, which began as a learning space for Indonesian MDWs who wanted to narrate their stories about their home and family, and its members in their efforts to reshape the negative dominant discourse on migrant workers. It was the affordances of polymedia, however, that paved the way for the formation later on of a digital family in which the members provide emotional support for each other, similar to what family and close friends do.

Download Full-text