Its high time we ensure the rights of domestic help

Many young children in Bangladesh labour as domestic help in exchange for minimum food and salary and a “hope” for a better tomorrow. Photo: BRAC.

Hawa, a 12 years old girl, came to Banasree, Dhaka, from Kishoreganj to work as a  domestic help. The house she started working at was of a human rights activist. Initially, they offered Hawa a salary of Tk5,000 per month. 

But the salary did not come regularly, while Hawa was beaten up on a regular basis. Often she had to face inhumane torture for little mistakes. Her employers did not feed her properly either. The daily torture took a severe toll on Hawa's health, and she became very sick. 

Nadia could not survive like Hawa. In March 2023, Nadia, a 10 year old domestic help died in Dhaka's Shantibag area. The police discovered evidence indicating that Nadia had succumbed to injuries inflicted through torture. 

Nadia's father came to Dhaka from a remote area in search of her daughter and found her dead body with the help of the police.  After that, the 69 year old employer of Nadia was arrested.

A few days ago another eight year old girl was found dead in Central Road in Dhaka and the lady of the house escaped the police. 

These three stories of children aged 12, 10 and nine offer a mere glimpse into a wider, distressing trend in Bangladesh. These incidents underscore a troubling reality faced by young girls, hinting at a larger, more pervasive issue. 

When a young girl is supposed to go to school and get some education to improve their lives, she is forced to work at an apartment in the city – fulfilling orders from the "masters" of the house. 

It may seem these young girls are getting food and shelter by working as domestic help, but in reality, the future of these young girls are being destroyed. They lead a life similar to slaves.

Someone can be identified as living under the conditions of slavery if they lack basic freedom, survive in poor living conditions, work excessively long hours, do not get paid, or are underpaid, and face verbal or physical abuse. None of these elements are missing from the lives of the domestic help of Bangladesh. Hence, we can affirm, those who work as full time domestic workers have become slaves without even knowing it. 

Domestic workers in Bangladesh are often denied their basic rights as workers, including the right to a standard wage, the right to rest and take breaks and the right to safe and healthy working conditions. 

Most of the domestic workers are bound to start work before the members of the household wake up. They can only stop working once everyone else goes to sleep. Domestic help rarely receive adequate compensation for their labour and are often subjected to verbal or physical abuse. 

To make the situation worse, they do not have any scope to bargain or talk about their rights. So, their employers often take this opportunity to exploit them. 

The law prohibits such slavery, but we cannot expect a poor child or their illiterate parents to read the constitution and fight for their rights. Bangladesh's human rights experts do not seem to care for these poor and exploited people either. 

Article 34 of the Constitution of Bangladesh explicitly prohibits all forms of forced labour, stating that "all forms of forced labour are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offense punishable in accordance with law." This includes slavery, bonded labour and other forms of forced or compulsory labour. 

Article 15 of the Constitution of Bangladesh states that it is the responsibility of the state to secure employment at a reasonable wage. With that, the citizens are entitled to reasonable rest, recreation and leisure. 

But almost every domestic worker is deprived of these basic necessities and their fundamental rights are being violated every day.  

To address this issue, we need legal and policy reforms that protect the rights of domestic workers. The government must strengthen labour laws and regulations to ensure that domestic workers get the same rights and protections as other workers in the country. 

This includes establishing minimum wage, payment for overtime, standards working hours, off-days and establishing mechanisms for an easy complaint procedure and adequate compensation, besides criminal charges against the employers, if necessary.

Public awareness advertising can be a great way to reduce violence against domestic servants, which are mostly young females. The effectiveness of public awareness advertising besides creating a legal framework has been proven many times in Bangladesh. 

For example, to reduce acid attacks on women, Acid Control Act 2002 was enacted and awareness campaigns were run on television about the consequences of selling acid and committing any acid violence. Before enacting this law, 496 acid attacks took place in 2002. After the enactment of the law, the number kept decreasing every year, and in 2018, total number of acid attacks came down to 18. 

The idea to keep a full time servant is indecent, especially when standard wage is not ensured. Since the domestic help does not get any education to escape poverty or cannot save any money for the future, a certain class is exploiting them. 

These young children labour in exchange for minimum food and salary and a "hope" for a better tomorrow. For all these reasons, keeping domestic help should be banned, to stop such forms of slavery. 

Besides, the government should develop a data bank of such workers, ensure their safety and invest in their future. 

To stop the exploitation of domestic help in Bangladesh, the government must ensure that fair labour standards, including minimum wage and safety regulations, are enforced. By implementing legal and policy reforms, promoting education and awareness, we can build a society that stands against all forms of exploitation. 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.