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Doc. 9136
25 June 2001
Domestic slavery
Opinion
Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee
Rapporteur for opinion: Mrs Irena Belohorská, Slovakia, European Democratic Group
I. Conclusions of the committee
1. The Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee congratulates the rapporteur for the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men on his well-documented report addressing an issue that requires adequate and effective legislation to end abusive practices towards a category of workers that are not shown the dignity that they deserve.
2. The committee fully subscribes to the recommendations listed in the draft report and emphasizes the importance of adapting national and international legislation so as to effectively combat a phenomenon that has already produced too many victims. Cooperation with countries from which domestic workers originate is a necessity in order to address the cultural and economic factors that allow domestic slavery to persist.
3. Addressing the social and humanitarian needs of victims of domestic slavery is a priority. In light of this, national and local authorities must ensure that adequate measures are put in place that encourage domestic workers (particularly those without a legal residence permit) to ask for assistance without fear of losing their livelihood.
4. The strong relationship of dependency between employer and employee that results in the latter being forced to accept violent and degrading treatment must be weakened. Domestic workers should be given the same rights as other categories, thus allowing them to freely choose their employer and place of employment.
II. Explanatory Memorandum
1. Migrant Workers
5. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), there are approximately 1.5 million legal and illegal Asian women working abroad1, the majority in Asian countries. Women constitute the bulk of migrant workers (in Sri Lanka alone they represent 84% of the total).
6. It is important to note that many migrants employed as domestic workers abroad are in possession of secondary education diplomas or higher (36% of Filipino female migrant workers for example2). The fact that these qualifications are not recognised in receiver countries explains why these women are forced to perform tasks that are poorly paid and physically demanding.
7. The migration of workers is often the result of the structural adjustment programmes imposed by the World Bank that have had detrimental effects on the domestic economies of the countries concerned3.
8. Migration is both a supply and demand-driven phenomenon with countries of origin having financial incentives to send workers abroad and receiving countries being able to take advantage of cheap, flexible labour. According to the ILO, this demand is stronger than the interest of sender countries to encourage their citizens to migrate4.
9. Despite the incentives that encourage workers to migrate, many sender countries have adopted legislative measures aimed at restricting this phenomenon. Bangladesh recently banned the emigration of women going abroad to work as domestic maids5, while in Africa, Benin has made the emigration of minors conditional on the issue of an administrative permit6. Le Comité contre l'esclavage moderne (CCEM) would like all sender countries to follow this example7.
2. Protection of migrant workers
10. National, bilateral and multilateral efforts have also been made to protect workers in receiving countries, but the extent of these efforts varies from country to country.
11. International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards address the protection of migrant workers without specifically dealing with the problem of domestic slavery. Several conventions and recommendations have been adopted8 that address the treatment of migrant workers including their entry into the host country, their working conditions, their basic
rights, and the return to their home country. General standards are laid down but no specific attention is given to the physical conditions under which migrants work. Separate ILO measures dealing with women and young workers address this issue.
12. The United Nations Convention on the Protection of Rights of all Migrant Workers and their Families requires 20 ratifications to come into force. As of June 2001, only 5 countries had ratified it while 7 had signed but not ratified it.
3. Cultural factors in countries of origin
13. The persistence of the phenomenon of domestic slavery (and particularly that of children) can be explained by cultural factors within the countries of origin. As long as certain populations consider sending their children to work as servants abroad as acceptable and even beneficial, it will be difficult to eradicate the problem. According to Céline Manceau of CCEM, in certain African countries, subjecting children to domestic labour and the corporal punishment that often goes with it is considered necessary to develop and strengthen a child's character9.
14. This acceptance of child domestic labour hampers attempts to combat the phenomenon, as situations in which children are abused are not brought to the attention of local authorities.
15. Those who employ slave labour often originate from countries in which slavery has not been totally eliminated and they thus export their local practices to the countries that they migrate to. In such cases, slave-like practices are limited to one family or community and do not affect society in general. Others obtain their cheap labour through recruitment agencies10.
4. Domestic workers in Europe
16. In Spain, domestic work is the largest single area of female employment, while in France more than 50% of migrant women are employed in domestic work11. In Italy, there are 1.2 million female domestic workers, of whom only 18% are legally employed12. Approximately half of the total are foreign workers. In 1995, a third of work permits issued were given to domestic workers13. This contrasts with other European countries where work permits for domestic work are often not available14.
17. In Italy, those domestic workers in possession of a work permit are legally obliged to reside in the home of their employer, who decides whether the permit should be renewed or not. This requirement discourages workers from reporting any abuses that they are subject to15.
18. Employers are often not interested in legalising the situation of their domestic workers as this involves paying higher salaries and more tax.
19. The dependency on the employer can result in situations where the domestic worker is forced to give in to sexual demands because a refusal would lead to the worker being dismissed16. Focus should thus be placed on weakening the dependency between employer and employee and ensuring that the domestic worker has an independent legal status.
20. In the United Kingdom, the entry of domestic workers is an informal process separate from official immigration policy. The granting of a residence permit is a concession granted to individual employers17. The Labour government that came to power in 1997 proposed a bond system whereby employers would leave a sum of money with the United Kingdom immigration department as a sort of deposit, that would be returned upon the employer and employee leaving the country18.
21. The adoption of a coherent policy regarding domestic workers is often hampered by different opinions among national government authorities. In the United Kingdom for example, the Foreign Office is not in favour of measures that would restrict wealthy people bringing their domestic workers with them, while the Department for Education and Employment is interested in ensuring that domestic workers do not threaten employment opportunities that could be offered to British citizens19. This conflict of interests has weakened efforts to strengthen the rules governing the entrance of domestic workers.
22. In France, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not require the possession of a work permit to obtain special identity cards reserved for domestic workers employed by diplomats. All that is required is that the employer allow his employee free access to the identity card and sign a declaration stating that he/she will respect the local labour laws. These requirements are not strictly enforced20.
23. The British NGO, Kalayaan has proposed that residence permits for domestic workers be restricted to those who have been with their employers for at least two years and who have done some skilled care work21.
5. Regulating the Problem
24. According to the Respect network, the recognition of domestic work should lead to ensuring full employment rights and social protection (including the right to a minimum wage, to regulated working hours, to a safe working environment, to maternity and sickness pay, pension rights, and to union representation)22.
25. The Italian trade union FILCAMS proposes the establishment of special centres for migrant women that would offer physical and psychological assistance to those suffering from abuse and initiate procedures to extend the residence permits of victims. Furthermore, they propose the creation of a special visa reserved for domestic workers23.
26. It is planned to include a juridical definition of human trafficking for economic and sexual purposes in European Union legislation before the end of 2002. This will facilitate efforts to combat the phenomenon.
27. In 1999, Belgium issued a decree specifying the conditions under which special identity cards are delivered to domestic workers employed by diplomats. Regulating the entry of domestic workers to avoid situations where they risk being abused and mistreated is a priority that all Council of Europe member states should address.
28. The difficulty in defining and legislating against domestic slavery needs to be addressed. In Italy for example, a draft bill on the trafficking of human beings under discussion in the previous parliament states that the crime of slavery that has been applied to cases of human trafficking is only relevant to cases where the victim is a minor, due to the difficulty in proving a condition of slavery where the person involved is an adult and thus presumed to have a degree of independence24.
29. The establishment in Italy of a free telephone number (numero verde) to assist victims of physical and sexual abuse (such as those forced into prostitution) is an example that should be followed by all countries. In the period 26/07/2000 – 15/09/2000, 46. 861 calls were received of which 6. 901 (14.73%) were dealt with25. The remaining calls were interrupted before the details of the caller could be ascertained. The low percentage of callers actually assisted indicates the progress that still needs to be made in encouraging victims to publicly denounce their employers.
30. Regarding the protection of victims, practical experience has indicated that forced repatriation of victims illegally present on a country's territory is counter-productive in that this policy discourages victims from cooperating with police and the judiciary. Other countries should follow the example of Italy and ensure that residence permits issued to victims of slavery and human trafficking are not conditional on cooperation with the authorities. Social and humanitarian concerns should take priority over the arrest and conviction of those responsible.
Proposed Amendments to the draft recommendation in Doc. 9102
Amendment No. 1
In the draft recommendation, paragraph 10, following sub-paragraph ii., add a new sub-paragraph as follows:
"ensure that police officers are adequately trained to deal with victims of slavery and increase the number of women officers;"
Amendment No. 2
In the draft recommendation, paragraph 10, sub-paragraph v.a, after the word "grounds", add the following:
"making them unconditional on cooperation with the police and local authorities;"
Amendment No. 3
In the draft recommendation, paragraph 10, sub-paragraph v., add a new indent after indent a., worded as follows:
"giving consideration to the issuing of a special visa for domestic workers;"
Amendment No. 4
In the draft recommendation, paragraph 10, sub-paragraph v.c, add the following:
"including the creation of centres specially concerned with assisting victims of domestic slavery"
Amendment No. 5
In the draft recommendation, after paragraph 10, sub-paragraph v., add a new sub-paragraph worded as follows:
"avoid gender discrimination in the issuing of work permits to domestic workers;"
Amendment No. 6
In the draft recommendation, after paragraph 10, sub-paragraph v., add a new sub-paragraph worded as follows:
"actively cooperate with sender countries in regulating the supply of domestic workers."
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Reporting committee: Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (Doc. 9102)
Committee for opinion: Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee
Reference to committee: Doc. 8618, and Ref. 2478, 28.1.00
Opinion approved by the committee on 25 June 2001
Secretaries to the committee: Mr Newman, Mrs Meunier and Mrs Karanjac
1 "Asian female migrant workers require protection, says ILO" - C. Raghavan; Third World Resurgence, no. 67 03/96
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 International Organization for Migration (IOM) – Trafficking in Migrants, April 2001
6 "L'Esclavage domestique des mineurs en France" – Céline Manceau, 1998
7 Ibid.
8 C.97 (1949); R.86 (1949); C.143 (1975); R.151 (1975)
9 op. cit.
10 «Quand l'immigration tourne à l'esclavage» - Thierry Parisot, Le Monde diplomatique 06/98
11 "Migrant Domestic Workers in Europe: A case for action" - RESPECT, European Network of Migrant Domestic Workers.
12 "Colf: Audizione Parlamento Europeo", Federazione Italiana Lavoratori Commercio Turismo e Servizi (FILCAMS) – 19/09/2000
13 Ibid.
14 RESPECT, op. cit.
15 Filcams, op. cit.
16 "Domestic Workers in Europe" - Bridget Anderson, European Initiative Conference, London 1998
17 "The Immigration Status of overseas domestic workers in the UK and Kalayaan's Negotiations with the UK government" - Jean Gould, European Initiative Conference, 1998.
18 Ibid.
19 Ibid.
20 Thierry Parisot, op. cit.
21 Ibid.
22 RESPECT, op. cit.
23 Filcams, op. cit.
24 Italian Government, Draft Bill n. 5839, 23/03/99
25 Legal Affairs Committee, Italian Chamber of Deputies, 13/02/2001