Focus

Domestic helper abuse is rampant

By Yang Wanli (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-03 10:56

Nannies face sexual harassment and withheld wages at hands of employers, nanny agencies

The housekeeping industry is a big business in Beijing. The Beijing Homemaking Service Association estimates there are almost 400,000 maids in Beijing, providing domestic help to more than a million families.

But many employers treat their nannies poorly. A report from the Migrant Women's Club, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to helping female migrant workers, said that in 2009 about 20 percent of female housekeepers in Beijing had suffered from sexual harassment, 20 percent were not paid on time and 90 percent had no social insurance.

The report was based on the Club's survey of 100 female migrant workers.

"Those housekeepers are having a tough time in the city due to the absence of laws and regulations for their industry," said Han Huimin, director of the Migrant Women's Club.

"Taking sexual harassment as an example, more young housekeepers between the ages of 16 and 25 came to Beijing in the past five years, and most of them have no idea about their rights or how to protect themselves. When they suffered from sexual harassment, few of them even dare to speak about it," said Han.

Fan Xiaohong, a lawyer who has handled cases for housekeepers in the past three years, said that most nannies have little education and are uncertain what to do when they encounter problems.

Domestic helper abuse is rampant

Fan is currently dealing with a case in which a 16-year-old nanny alleges she was raped by her 40-year-old employer. The case is a tough one, not only because there is little evidence, but also because of the associated stigma for the girl.

"There are many victims who have little awareness of using laws to protect themselves. And many of them simply will not talk about their problem, particularly sexual harassment," Fan said.

Finding a good job and getting a fair salary, although perhaps not as serious as sexual harassment, are also big problems for nannies, said Fan.

More than 90 percent of the total cases Fan handles are related to housekeepers' salaries, she said.

Zhang Qiao'e, a maid who worked in Beijing for more than 10 years, said when she quit a small nanny company after the company did not get her a job as promised, the company refused to return her 300 yuan deposit.

Related readings:
Domestic helper abuse is rampant No-maid-in-Beijing problem leaves families stressed

"They promised to find a job for me within 10 days and asked me to pay 300 yuan first. But I didn't get any job after 20 days waiting. I can't get my money back because I didn't sign a contract with them," she said.

"Only about 20 homemaking service companies in Beijing are big. Most are small and middle-sized company, and those tend to be the ones that don't pay or pay lower salaries than promised," said Han. "A few even keep employees' identity cards to keep their nannies from leaving or protesting over problems."

Many housekeepers in the city don't realize they should sign contracts with companies to safeguard their rights.

Zhang also said that, at several companies she's worked for, maids were charged fees if they wanted to stop working with a particular family, even the family harassed the maid.

"We were also not allowed to talk to customers about salaries, so we didn't know how much money they paid the company for our services and, correspondingly, how much the company mangers then kept for themselves," said Zhang.

More than 100 housekeepers turned to the Migrant Women's Club in 2009 for legal aid. "The number of those who looked for help from nongovernmental organizations or the public sectors likely accounts for less than 10 percent of total sufferers," said Fan.

"There has not been any improvement in the past years, because maids are only taught homemaking skills when they get trained. No schools or companies teach them about their rights or the law," Fan said.

A pilot project will be launched in April this year, in which several housekeeping companies in Beijing will be required to sign contracts with their maids. These companies, rather than families, will be legally responsible for paying the nannies' salaries each month and will be required to buy medical and retirement insurance for them as well.

The Migrant Women's Club plans to send representatives to participate in forums held by the International Labor Organization in June this year to help start a discussion in China on creating new regulations and laws in the homemaking industry and refining those that exist.

"The housekeeping industry will gradually get better in the future with assistance from the government," said Han.

Wang Wen contributed to the story.