Female domestic workers are called slaves of this century.  They are among those who have been forced to work for peanut and cope with their poverty alone. June 16th is International Domestic Workers Day and we try to explain the working conditions of female domestic workers in this article.

SARYA DENİZ

News Center - June 16 was declared as International Domestic Workers’ Day in 2011. On June 16, 2011, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted the ILO Convention Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (Domestic Workers Convention -C 189). . This treaty establishes the first global standards for domestic workers. All countries around the world were called to ratify the C 189. The first countries that ratified the convention are Uruguay and the Philippines. However, Turkey preferred to remain silent to this call.

When it comes to domestic works, women are remembered due to social roles. Being domestic workers is hard while all domestic works are invisible. They also have difficulties receiving a recompense for their work. Female domestic workers, who are completely deprived of legal protection and social security, have to wage a serious struggle for their rights. More than 80 percent of domestic workers all around the world are women, according to ILO. This rate is 90 percent in Turkey. There are one million women domestic workers in Turkey, according to some researches. Considering that migrants are not included in these rates, the number of women domestic workers is quite high.

Female domestic workers have faced many problems while working such as bad conditions, lack of social security, psychological and physical violence, and harassment. The domestic work sector is one of the sectors most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of them have become unemployed, and those who have a job, work under slavery conditions. As “slaves” of “modern-day” they are alone with their poverty, which is ignored by everyone. The burden on their shoulders is more with the Covid-19 pandemic. The increase in home care workers’ services and the need for hygiene has further increased the burden of domestic workers.

Their informal labor

Nearly a thousand female workers lost their lives at their workplaces in the last eight years in Turkey. Some of those women were female domestic workers. Dozens of women workers, who work informally, have lost their lives and their names are never mentioned. Hundreds of female domestic workers have been subjected to harassment and rape at the homes where they work. Thousands of them have had an occupational accident. They have been excluded from national labor laws.

Employers use the pandemic for their benefit

The employers have turned the pandemic conditions into an opportunity for themselves. Domestic workers have worked in even more severe conditions. Most of them have to work without social security. Women domestic workers have been subjected to discrimination and they have been deprived of their rights during the quarantine period. Home care workers had to spend days at homes they worked for during the lockdowns. Daily basis domestic workers have become more unemployed during the pandemic.

The conditions of migrant women workers are worse

Migrant women use intermediaries to work in Turkey. However, some migrant women have to give a certain part of their income to intermediaries. Some intermediaries demand a commission from migrant women. This is illegal but women accept this due to poverty.

What do female domestic workers in Turkey demand?

• What do female domestic workers demand? Their demands are as follows
• Domestic workers should be protected by laws.
• Unemployment benefit services should be expanded to include domestic workers.
• Scope of social protection should be expanded to include informal domestic workers.
• Personal protective equipment should be provided for domestic workers to protect themselves from Covid-19.
• The rights of domestic workers should be recognized in Turkey.

Women will come together at 19.00

IMECE Domestic Workers’ Union made a call on their social media accounts and called on domestic workers to join a protest to be held tomorrow at 19.00. Female domestic workers will say, “We demand social security for domestic workers”. The women will come together in front of Süreyya Opera House located in Istanbul’s Kadıköy at 19.00, on June 16.