The Big Read: To stop abuse of foreign domestic workers, stop the power imbalance

SINGAPORE: Each time her employer will get offended with Ruby (not her actual title) for supposedly not following her directions, she would threaten to hit the home employee.

“She will say: ‘I will slap you since you can’t understand, so you can wake up,’” mentioned the 41-year-old Philippine nationwide.

“I’m thinking (to myself): ‘Try to slap, I’ll report to MOM (Ministry of Manpower).’”

For 4 years now, Ruby has been the only helper caring for a household of six in a three-storey landed property. She cleans air-conditioning pipes month-to-month, does gardening and hand washes the household’s garments, couch covers and bedsheets as a result of she will not be allowed to make use of the washer.

She typically spends her nights on the kitchen flooring as a result of her designated room is a storage room with little area and air flow.

Ruby will not be allowed to make use of any area within the fridge, residing on rice, noodles, eggs and tuna, that are meals gadgets that her employer permits.

Regardless of realizing that she will be able to lodge a report towards her employer to MOM, Ruby has by no means made one.

“I’m scared that (if I do so), the decision will be to send me home. Also sometimes, (my employer) becomes nice – she will talk to me and laugh. But I don’t understand her kindness. Today she can be very nice, tomorrow she will be very angry so I don’t know what to do,” mentioned Ruby.

READ: IN FOCUS: The challenges in uncovering abuse of overseas home staff

Ruby, who's a single mom of three school-going youngsters aged 22, 19 and 14, is just given entry to her telephone on weekends. She had initially agreed to this association considering that her employer would ultimately “ease the rules”, however that has not been the case.

“I need my phone to know what is going on with my children. Once, one of them got dengue on Tuesday and I only found out about it on Saturday. They ended up having to take a loan with high interest because they couldn’t reach me,” she mentioned.

Regardless of these challenges, she continued working for a similar employer when her first employment contract ended as a result of her home within the Philippines burnt down in 2018, and Ruby took a complicated cost of S$3,500.

Nonetheless, as soon as she had completed paying that quantity again, she requested for a switch.

“I am scared. She doesn’t want me to transfer ... She said she will just send me back,” mentioned Ruby, who continues to be in limbo. Whereas her newest contract ends in July, her employer continues to be threatening to ship her again to the Philippines if she needs to switch to a different family.

“I cannot go back. I have my children who go to school, I have things to pay ... If I go back I have no work,” mentioned Ruby, including {that a} hurricane which swept by way of the Philippines final yr had affected her newly constructed house.

READ: Commentary: As an alternative of robots or commodities, why not deal with overseas home staff like fellow human beings?

For Ummairoh, a home helper from Indonesia, one in all her first employers in Singapore again in 1999 have been a pair with a child.

She needed to clear two houses, getting solely three hours of sleep each day in the lounge.

“From 4am to 8am I would be cleaning the house with my eyes closing because I was too sleepy, too tired. They will watch me cleaning and whenever I’m falling asleep, they will just bang my head to wake me up. By 8am, I will go to the grandmother’s house,” mentioned Ms Ummairoh, now 43.

“Once I was so hungry I took a few spoons of the baby’s milk powder. They found out and made me clean the toilet. I had to stand on a ladder and clean all the tiles on the top,” she recalled.

Ms Ummairoh then began having very dangerous rashes on her fingers from an allergic response till she couldn't even increase her fingers because of the ache and itchiness.

“They didn’t even bring me to the doctor. They just sent me back to the agency. When I went back to agency, the punishment was to stand in the corner on one leg. It was so traumatic. But I’m glad they sent me back or else I don’t know what would have happened to me,” she mentioned.

READ: IN FOCUS: Will rising prices and lowered availability change Singapore's relationship with maids?

Similar to Ruby, Ms Ummairoh had stored her distress to herself. Their reticence – and that of a number of different home helpers interviewed – is prompted by numerous elements, comparable to the sensation that they've nobody to show to, concern of being despatched again house and the dearth of proof of their employers’ wrongdoings.

Such silence within the face of employers from hell can result in tragedy – as seen within the spate of abuse circumstances involving home helpers in Singapore which have hogged the headlines not too long ago.

One significantly disturbing case entails a 24-year-old helper from Myanmar, Ms Piang Ngaih Don, who died after being overwhelmed, burned and starved till her weight was lowered to 24kg by her employer, Gaiyathiri Murugayan. 

READ: Commentary: Myanmar home employee's demise and the issue with the bystander impact

The prosecution is in search of life imprisonment however Gaiyathiri’s attorneys have requested for the culpable murder cost to be lowered.

Solely this week, a closely pregnant girl was additionally jailed for eight weeks for abusing her home helper by hitting and slapping her, in addition to forcing her to eat soiled cotton wool and hair off the bathroom flooring.

The abuse circumstances present that rather more must be accomplished to guard the a whole bunch of 1000's of home helpers right here. The typical inhabitants of home helpers who labored in Singapore from 2017 to 2020 was about 250,000 per yr, mentioned Mr Shamsul Kamar, the manager director of the Centre for Home Staff (CDE), citing MOM official statistics. The centre was arrange by the Nationwide Trades Union Congress to assist distressed staff. 

In accordance with MOM figures, there was a median of 270 reported bodily abuse circumstances towards home helpers over the identical interval.

In a bid to step up its monitoring of the well-being of overseas home staff, MOM introduced final month that it has begun conducting random home visits to verify on their working and residing environments. The ministry intends to hold out 200 random home visits per thirty days.

READ: Maids to get house visits from MOM officers to verify on their residing situations

Employers might be notified about one week prematurely of such visits, and in the event that they refuse, MOM would require the employers to accompany their overseas home staff to the ministry’s workplace for an interview as an alternative.

The ministry can even be resuming in-person interviews of first-time overseas home staff this month, and these periods might be expanded to incorporate all first-time overseas home staff by the top of the yr. Presently, first-time staff are randomly chosen for such interviews.

CDE has been conducting the interviews on MOM’s behalf since 2017 to learn how these staff are adjusting to working in Singapore.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, CDE started conducting the interviews by way of video final yr. The interviews sometimes happen inside three to 6 months after a first-time overseas home employee has began employment.

Take heed to activists concerned in overseas home staff' affairs talk about the challenges in drawing a line on what FDWs can and can't do on CNA's Coronary heart of the Matter podcast:

 

A LONGSTANDING PROBLEM

Whereas the current spate of abuse circumstances has raised eyebrows throughout – with Legislation and Dwelling Affairs Minister Okay Shanmugam saying “the bestiality of the conduct was shocking” in reference to Ms Piang Ngaih Don’s case – the difficulty has lengthy dogged the nation since home helpers change into a well-known sight in lots of a Singaporean family.

READ: Commentary: Pluralistic ignorance and why overcoming it will probably forestall abuse of home staff

Philippine Embassy minister and consul-general Adrian Bernie Candolada mentioned that between January and Apr 30, the embassy obtained notifications from the police of 23 circumstances of Filipino home staff complaining of abuse – verbal or bodily – by their employers.

He added that the embassy has not obtained any complaints instantly from home helpers.

In the entire of final yr, it obtained fewer than 20 circumstances of complaints filed by Filipino home staff.

“We surmise that due to restrictions in the movement of people and the circuit breaker, some cases were not reported to the police,” he mentioned, referring to the curbs imposed to halt the unfold of COVID-19.

Over on the Indonesian Embassy, from January to April, they'd 182 home staff sheltered on the embassy on account of numerous causes, from disharmony circumstances with employers, in addition to labour and police circumstances.

Of that quantity, round 10 per cent of the circumstances have been alleged home employee abuse, mentioned a spokesperson, including that the quantity varies once in a while.

Makes an attempt have been made to succeed in out to the Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Excessive Fee of India in Singapore and the Excessive Fee of Sri Lanka in Singapore however replies weren't obtained.

To sort out the longstanding downside, Singapore society must “scrutinise our attitudes towards domestic work, and domestic workers”, mentioned Ms Jaya Anil Kumar, a case supervisor at Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) devoted to supporting and empowering migrant staff who are suffering abuse and exploitation.

She added: “The devaluation that societies have towards domestic work perpetuates abusive behaviour towards those that carry out such work.”

READ: Commentary: How ought to maid abusers be punished?

Ms Jaya welcomed MOM’s newest initiatives and harassed that it's not overseas home staff in Singapore for the primary time who may endure abuse. 

Checks ought to be accomplished on all home staff, and all through the course of their employment, she reiterated. “Employment agencies can play a part in this – with resources, guidelines and protocols provided by the authorities. Ultimately, better prevention, detection and support for domestic workers who seek help is key,” she mentioned.

Ms Okay Jayaprema, president of the Affiliation of Employment Companies (Singapore), or AEAS, mentioned that she has been asking MOM to mandate that employment companies can go to the houses of the home helpers whom they place.

“It is about access and communication. If not, there’s no other way of drawing it out of the girl. She needs to be able to trust this person who brought her in. It’s about familiarity,” she mentioned.

“(The existing) one-day Settling-In Programme course is not going to solve it. MOM visiting 200 homes a month is not going to solve it. There are 250,000 domestic workers. I have a whole employment agency workforce out here to help.”

Mr John Gee, former president of Transient Staff Rely Too (TWC2), an NGO which promotes equitable remedy for migrant staff in Singapore, mentioned that with these house visits, the presumption can be that an abused employee would seize the possibility to talk up, and the data that this might occur may discourage at the very least some potential abusers.

“My view is that any interview with a domestic worker should take place in privacy, out of the earshot of any of the employer’s family. Even so, fear can still prevent a worker from speaking freely,” he mentioned.

READ: Myanmar maid's demise: MOM reviewing how docs report potential abuse

Home helper Wulan Niartik, 35, mentioned that when she had her interview with CDE after becoming a member of in January final yr, she was compelled to lie that issues have been wonderful as her employers have been sitting beside her.

“The visits and interviews should be unannounced. The moment the employers know the authorities are watching, they will try to make everything look okay then we cannot do anything,” mentioned the Indonesian.

IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT NETWORKS

Home staff who're remoted – particularly those that shouldn't have entry to telephones and relaxation days, thus having no contact with the skin world – are those who're most susceptible to abuse, in response to many of the NGOs and employment companies spoken to.

Different contributory elements embody a restricted command of the English language and the shortcoming to barter contracts for higher working situations with their employers or brokers, or as a result of the employees are merely unaware of their rights.

READ: Asking overseas home staff to do further work places them in troublesome place, not all lodge formal complaints with MOM: NGOs

“While we may see patterns that suggest that domestic workers who are new, or from certain countries, are more vulnerable to abuse, the issue goes deeper than that of nationality, or time spent here,” mentioned Ms Jaya.

Mr Gee famous that Filipino and Indonesian girls are inclined to get extra assist from their embassies and residential international locations. An lively civil society again house additionally gives them with better consciousness of their fundamental rights.

Mr David Bensadon, chief govt officer of employment company We Are Caring, mentioned that helpers from Myanmar, India and Sri Lanka are extra susceptible to abuse on account of restricted assist from their nationwide establishments.

Ms Nawlukha, 36, who like a lot of her compatriots goes by one title, mentioned that home helpers from Myanmar are “scared to talk back” and plenty of “don’t know how to speak English”.

She is aware of of one other home employee from Myanmar who needed to put up with the fixed slapping and pinching from her employers’ baby.

“I advise her, if you cannot take it then you should tell your employer. But at the same time, you need to realise just like how we get tired and angry after a long day of work, our employers are the same. We also need to understand our employer,” she mentioned.

“Some employers will just send you straight to the airport. They will threaten to send you back but because we have to earn money, we just need to tahan (bear with it).”

READ: Home staff should be given sufficient to eat when employers are away: MOM, NGOs

Ms Nawlukha mentioned that many home helpers from Myanmar are additionally afraid that calling MOM for assistance will trigger a “big problem”, and many don't wish to danger being despatched house. Others hold their issues to themselves in order to not burden their pals or household.

“At the end of the day, employers got more power than us. Some agents also see money first. Some employers got money so the agent will help the employer,” mentioned Ms Nawlukha.

When requested what her endurance restrict is, she mentioned she will be able to stand being pushed and overwhelmed on her fingers or arms, however attracts the road at getting slapped or being sexually assaulted.

READ: The Massive Learn – As maids change into a necessity for a lot of households, festering societal points may come to the fore

Whereas Ms Nawlukha tries to assist her pals by providing a listening ear, Ms Ummairoh, having skilled abuse when she was a newcomer, went a step additional to create a assist system by forming the Indonesian Household Community with 17 different home helpers in 2006.

“I think such groups are very important ... Even if you don’t have a problem, you need someone from the same background to talk to,” she mentioned.

There are additionally different assist teams, comparable to Suara Kita for Indonesian home staff and the Filipino Household Community. Nonetheless, there doesn't appear to be any for the Indian, Sri Lankan and Myanmar communities.

Ms Rohimah, 38, one of many 4 counsellors beneath the Indonesian Household Community, mentioned that she receives about 4 calls per week from helpers. She has been working in Singapore for greater than 14 years.

“They’re all strangers but sometimes they just need to chit-chat ... You need to know no matter what it is, you have someone, you are not alone,” she mentioned.

Two months in the past, Ms Rohimah obtained a name from a helper who was being bodily abused comparable to being ceaselessly hit on her head by her employer. However she was afraid to report the matter due to a scarcity of proof.

“There are no marks, no bruises, no scars. So that’s why some employers think they can get away with it and the helpers think no one will believe them,” mentioned Ms Rohimah.

READ: Commentary: Maids’ extra time pay is lengthy overdue

In circumstances like this, Ms Rohimah will advise the home staff to maintain a report of every part that occurs through the day – from the time they get up to the time they fall asleep, and when the incidents happen and what causes them.

“I will also be with them all the way to check in on them to make sure they are okay.” 

ODDS STACKED AGAINST HELPERS

International home staff are susceptible to abuse as a result of they're powerless – they endure from isolation by way of no days off, restricted communication with the world exterior their employer’s house, and work allow situations that tie them for 2 years at a time to an employer who can terminate their contract and ship them house at will, TWC2’s Mr Gee mentioned.

“This gives the employer a powerful weapon with which to force a worker to conform to their every whim,” he mentioned.

READ: Ought to I fear if my helper is doing exterior work?

HOME’s Ms Jaya agreed that as employers are capable of unilaterally terminate and repatriate their home staff, many helpers select to not report their abuse for concern of shedding their employment, thus shedding their supply of revenue that helps their households and being doubtlessly saddled with excellent – and at instances crippling – recruitment prices.

Ms Daisy Lopez, 49, who has been working employment company WorkHome Personnel at Far East Buying Centre for 15 years, reiterated that such unilateral selections trigger home helpers to be in extended abusive environments.

“MOM does not require the helpers to sign any form or acknowledgement that they will be renewing the contract. Previously, they had a form when they got the renewal notice requiring the signatures of both the employer and employee,” she mentioned.

“Sometimes they don’t know they have been renewed, or they’ve been wanting to leave and then they just find out one day their contract has already been renewed.”

Home staff are additionally required to get their employer’s consent earlier than they'll switch.

“A lot of the times they want to transfer once they’ve finished their contracts but the employer is threatening to send them back if they don’t renew ... Helpers of course don’t want to lose their jobs, so they just renew,” mentioned Ms Lopez.

BIGGER ROLE FOR EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES?

Ms Seira Ong, a senior govt from International Home Employee Affiliation for Social Help and Coaching’s (FAST) befrienders and volunteer administration arm, mentioned that there should be recourse for home helpers to report their grievances and share their facet of the story earlier than untimely termination.

FAST, a charity supported by MOM, proposes that an employment company ought to countersign earlier than its home helper is terminated by her employers.

“As a business entity responsible for receiving revenue from the placement of domestic helpers, employment agencies must also be responsible to ensure that the domestic helper is not unreasonably repatriated. More so if the termination is to cover up an abuse,” Ms Ong mentioned.

READ: Myanmar maid's demise: Employment agent spoke to helper on 2 events however didn't decide up any points, says MOM

READ: Maid jailed for negligence that led to baby having toothbrush caught down throat

Ms Jayaprema from AEAS agreed that employment companies ought to be concerned in all the selections that an employer makes.

“Being part of the renewal process, the employment agency will also be able to make sure that her renewal terms have been negotiated fairly, she’s happy, comfortable and she does want to renew,” she mentioned.

Ms Jayaprema additionally questioned why MOM requires the renewal discover to be signed solely by the employer. “They have removed such an important feature of the worker signing the renewal notice,” she mentioned. Queries have been despatched to MOM.

In accordance with the ministry’s International Home Employee Allow Renewal Kind, employers of overseas staff are required to acquire written consent for continued employment, however this consent will not be required to be filed as part of the method. Solely the names of the helper and employer, the helper’s FIN, the employers’ NRIC or FIN and the employer’s signature and date are required.

The MOM web site states: “If the foreigner objects to a work pass application being submitted on their behalf, they may approach MOM. We will ask the employer for the written consent and may take action if it cannot be produced.”

CDE’s Mr Shamsul mentioned that in the case of transfers, a more practical long-term coverage can be for the consent letter – which must be signed by an employer – to be scrapped for home helpers who've accomplished their contracts.

“Domestic helpers should be like any worker – free to explore employment opportunities that may come their way at the end of their contract period,” he mentioned.

He added that home helpers, who're victims of abuse and unfair employment practices, ought to routinely be allowed to hunt new employment with out having to get consent from their present employers who're being investigated by the authorities.

That is to stop these home helpers from being “punished twice” by the system when their employers forcefully repatriate them throughout an investigation or when one has been initiated, Mr Shamsul mentioned.

READ: Commentary: It shouldn't be this tough to rent a overseas home employee

TWC2’s Mr Gee added: “If anyone wants to leave a current employer and go to a new one, it should be made simple and inexpensive. A worker should be able to agree to a new contract before returning home for a break, and then return to begin working with a new employer without paying recruitment fees.”

Nonetheless, Ms Jayaprema mentioned that stress-free the necessities for a switch might be a double-edged sword.

“We have to be careful about it because we don’t want to create a situation where the domestic helpers come in and have the mindset of ‘I don’t like it, I will keep moving’,” she mentioned.

Mr Charles Chan, the supervisor of Ready Best Employment Company, added that if no consent is required for transfers, a number of helpers will “start to be choosy” about their employers.

CAN EARLY INTERVENTION HELP?

In the case of mediating disputes between employers and their home staff, employment companies and NGOs need to tread rigorously since there's a danger of escalating an sad state of affairs.

“When a helper informs us that her employer is verbally abusive, we reach out to the employer to get the full story. If we feel that no improvement is expected, we suggest to allow the helper to transfer,” mentioned Mr Bensadon of We Are Caring.

“It does not always work. Sometimes the employer will send their domestic worker back home,” he added.

HOME’s Ms Jaya added that intervention, within the type of mediation, is useful and will work in some conditions. Nonetheless, intervening in conditions of verbal abuse, for instance, is difficult as a result of it may additionally trigger employers to change into even angrier on the employee, placing the latter at better danger of abuse.

Over on the Philippine Embassy, home helpers are supplied with help on the embassy's Migrant Staff Useful resource Centre.

“We coordinate closely with the police for the early resolution of their complaints. There are also instances where we request the police to issue a no-objection letter for these workers to find new employment opportunities during the pendency of their cases. We monitor their cases closely until these are resolved,” mentioned consul-general Candolada.

READ: Commentary: Can younger working dad and mom survive with out a maid?

WHAT MAKES SOME EMPLOYERS ABUSIVE

Employers who abuse their home helpers are sometimes pushed by the “fundamental human need for power”, psychologists and psychiatrists mentioned.

“Power gives us the ability to control our environment and self. The more we feel disempowered, the more we want to exert control and power. This can lead to a subconscious misuse of our power and dominance over domestic helpers,” mentioned Dr Joel Yang, a scientific psychologist at Thoughts What Issues.

Mr Praveen Nair, a psychologist at Raven Counselling and Consultancy, mentioned that the abuser might be somebody who's insecure and can also endure from low vanity.

Or, she or he has anger administration points, and should have some maladaptive persona traits comparable to narcissism or self-entitlement, anti-social or violent traits, mentioned Dr Adrian Wang, a psychiatrist from Gleneagles Medical Centre.

Those that price increased in narcissism have additionally been identified to rank decrease in empathy, famous Mr Nair.

READ: Borrowing, brokering, lending: Contained in the tangled net of maids and moneylenders

Home helpers are a simple goal for these people to revive their sense of energy due to the “stereotypical mindset that they are a class below us”, primarily based on nationality, distinction in revenue and different elements, mentioned Dr Yang.

Dr Wang mentioned that there could also be a build-up of different elements, comparable to nervousness and stress, melancholy, tiredness, work or household issues, that decrease the individual’s threshold of anger earlier than his or her abusive behaviour is triggered.

“While they (abusers) may not be able to take out their frustrations on the original source such as their own bosses or family members, they end up taking out their frustrations on a convenient and surrogate source – their domestic helper,” mentioned Mr Nair.

Dr Yang prompt that employers ought to take the time to get to know their helpers to stop such untoward situations. They need to additionally keep away from taking out their stress on their helpers.

“Rather than focus on what she doesn’t do well, fixate on all the things she does well and sometimes that can extend to the intangibles as well. For example, her bubbly personality that brings a laugh to your kids,” he mentioned.

READ: When cell phone utilization comes between employers and home staff

As for home staff, Ms Rohimah mentioned: “For those who are really scared, I hope they will put a limit to how much they can stand. They should at least tell their friends or family members so if anything unbearable happens, there is someone able to stand as a witness.”

For others who could be in additional remoted conditions, she urged them to hunt consideration when an incident occurs.

“Scream as much as you can or just shout for help. Try to get out of the house and seek attention from the public and ask the taxi driver to send you to the embassy,” she mentioned.

READ: Demand for skilled caregiving assist for the aged on the rise

Certainly, within the case of 1 Myanmar helper, her plight would stay undiscovered had it not been for her neighbour’s Filipina home helper who needed to be identified solely as Bing, 37.

Whereas she will not be being bodily abused, her employers and their two youngsters aged between 5 and 9 “always call her stupid”, Bing mentioned. She can be solely allowed to eat prompt noodles and has been forbidden from even consuming the bread purchased at house.

Bing is watching out for her and in addition helps her to purchase meals. She added that she has suggested the Myanmar maid to talk to her employer and name MOM however she has refused out of concern.

“Every time I see her she is losing weight. The only time I can see her is when both our kids are playing in front of the house then only she can come out. Or sometimes I meet her in the basement where we throw rubbish,” Bing mentioned.

“When she sees me she will always cry and hug me because she said I am the only person she can trust. She tells me she feels better if she can open up and I am the only person she has. She told me: ‘If I don’t have you, maybe I die already.’”