Domestic Servitude

Domestic servitude and involuntary domestic labor is a global form of labor trafficking and exploitation in which a laborer is forced or coerced to work within a private or home residence. Workers, often called “help,” perform domestic tasks such as: caring for children, washing dishes, laundering clothes, cooking for a family, or cleaning the home. The private setting of a domestic environment increases the risk for exploitation and abuse. Those in domestic servitude or involuntary domestic labor are paid very little to nothing at all, are often forced to work for long hours, and are commonly restricted from leaving the house in which they work. People forced into domestic servitude are commonly separated from their own families, and are subjected to threats and or acts of abuse and violence by people within the family they labor for. In the case of migrant workers, abusers often use laborers’ work status or their legal documents to control them and keep them in fear. Some of the groups at risk of being forced into domestic servitude include: children, migrant workers, and rural communities. Workers are often promised job opportunities by traffickers/intermediaries, leaving their own homes or nations to work for a family. However when the worker arrives at the families’ house, they are then threatened and or coerced into staying and doing domestic work.

We must understand that this work is something that many people have to do, whether that be due to lack of access, language barriers, citizenship status, or a myriad of other reasons. We undertake this research to highlight patterns of discrimination and draw parallels to lived experiences. Especially within the upper-middle class, we have found consistent maltreatment and belittlement that have disproportionately affected immigrant Latina and Black women within domestic service. Often, their immigration status is used as a scare tactic, which forces these women to limit the amount they can advocate for themselves, whether that be for better pay or simply job stability. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, we found that many of these women, who worked as maids, house cleaners, and nannies, were immediately laid off and struggled immensely to find alternative work, often without success.

• The vast majority (91.5%) of domestic workers are women and just over half (52.4%) are Black, Hispanic, or Asian American/Pacific Islander women.

• Though most (64.9%) of domestic workers are U.S.-born, they are more likely than other workers to have been born outside the U.S. and they tend to be older than other workers.

• The typical (median) domestic worker is paid $12.01 per hour, much less than other workers (who are paid a median of $19.97 per hour). Even when compared with demographically similar workers, domestic workers on average are paid just 74 cents for every dollar that their peers make.

• Domestic workers are three times as likely to be living in poverty as other workers, and almost three times as likely to either be in poverty or be above the poverty line but still without sufficient income to make ends meet.

• Fewer than one in 10 domestic workers are covered by an employer-provided retirement plan and just one in five receives health insurance coverage through their job.

https://www.epi.org/publication/domestic-workers-chartbook-a-comprehensive-look-at-the-demographics-wages-benefits-and-poverty-rates-of-the-professionals-who-care-for-our-family-members-and-clean-our-homes/

• While uncommon, there have been more and more cases of diplomatic missions exploiting involuntary domestic labor and domestic servitude associated with labor trafficking across the United States and around the world. 

• Domestic labor trafficking by diplomatic missions almost always involves the exploitation of migrant domestic laborers (foreign nationals working in households on work visas). Workers often are often abused (physically, verbally, mentally, and/or sexually) and overworked.

• Diplomats and their families often inhabit highly privileged status (both in terms of wealth, and in terms of legal immunity by way of diplomatic immunity), where having others do domestic labor is normalized. This status and special relationship with the host nation fuels and enables exploitation of foreign laborers within their host nation. Diplomatic immunity also means that diplomats who have exploited involuntary domestic labor often go unpunished, either being recalled by the government they represent (facing little to no consequences), or staying in the host country where local authorities struggle or fail to prosecute them for labor violations and or labor trafficking. As the United States State Department puts it:

“Domestic workers often face circumstances that leave them extremely vulnerable to exploitation by their diplomat employers. They are usually legally resident in the country in which they are working only by virtue of their employment by the diplomat. Thus, they may remain in exploitative situations because they feel they have no other options. Further, these workers are often isolated from the community beyond the diplomat’s family due to lack of familiarity with the language, institutions, and culture of the country in which they are employed. There is a significant power disparity between a diplomat, who is a government official of some standing, and a domestic worker, who likely has a modest background and may have limited education or language skills. In addition, domestic workers are usually made aware of the special status of diplomats and may believe that rules of accountability do not apply to their employers and that it is hopeless to seek help”

Source: https://2017-2021.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/283789.pdf 

Laws & Policy Against Domestic Servitude & Involuntary Servitude:

Global:

• Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime

  • • This protocol was adopted in 2000 by the UN General Assembly. It defines human trafficking and “ facilitate[s] convergence in national approaches with regard to the establishment of domestic criminal offenses that would support efficient international cooperation in investigating and prosecuting trafficking in persons cases”.

• UN Declaration of Human Rights Article 4

  • • This Article defines slavery and prohibits it in any form it might take. Currently the UN refers to involuntary domestic servitude as “modern slavery”.

US:

• Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA) 

  • • In the US, the FLSA defines the federal minimum wage as $7.25 per hour and sets employment standards for the country.

• Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) 

• 18 U.S.C. § 1581, 1584, 1589, & 1590

  • • Section 1581 prohibits people from holding another person in “debt bondage”, which is closely related to involuntary domestic servitude. Specifically this section of Title 18 criminalizes legal threats or threats and or use of violence and abuse to force someone into working against their will to repay a debt.

    • Section 1584 defines involuntary servitude as slavery or forced labor/services without compensation. It prohibits involuntary servitude, and prohibits forcing someone to work against their will through threats of violence, legal threats, or use of violence (what they call creating “a climate of fear”).

    • Section 1589 prohibits the acquisition of labor through threats or violent means as pertaining to coercion and forced labor.

    • Section 1590 makes it illegal to traffic people for the purpose of involuntary domestic servitude.