Will the establishment of a legal body to regulate the work of housemaids spell an end to the years of neglect they have suffered at the hands of the Government? Egypt recently created a union to represent the country's housemaids, the first legal body to regulate female domestic workers, in a bid to bring informal workers into the regulated economy. Many women work as housemaids in Egypt, as a lot of housewives have to depend on them. Such work attracts both poorly and well-educated girls, but there are no rules governing the relationship between the maid and her employer. Many of them have been abused and couldn't claim their rights, because they didn't have an official union. The new union, which has been registered at the Ministry of Labour, has an initial 300 members. The union was inspired by the Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement (EACPE), according to Abdel-Moneim Mansour, the EACPE Director. “The union will draw up rules for regulating the working relationship between maids and their employers. Egypt's Labour Code doesn't offer domestic service workers any legal protection, leaving them vulnerable to abuse," explains Mansour. Many maids face different kinds of abuse, whether psychological or physical. They find themselves forced to accept this reality; if they don't, they'll lose their jobs. For 15-year-old Fatma Mohamed, working as a maid for LE200 a month was the only way she could help her mother, despite the ill treatment she suffered from the family whose home she cleaned. “Most families don't treat maids as humans. They don't have the right to wear decent clothes, eat well or live in dignity," Fatma added. The situation for Maha Abdel-Wahab, whose husband, a junkie, divorced her, was different. Maha had to work as a maid in the home of another drug addict. The second junkie abused her and, in her desperation, she committed suicide. Children are often exploited in this business, something that breaks the rules on children's rights. Roqaya Salem, aged only 12, worked in the luxury home of a rich family. Her family are poor and, for them, her monthly earnings of LE2,000 were a lot of money, but Roqaya had to endure all kinds of suffering in the course of her work. According to a recent survey conducted by Al-Dalil Centre for Consultancy and Training, 90 per cent of housemaids are females and children. Poverty and illiteracy are the main reason why so many women work as maids, even if they get treated inhumanely. “Poverty, illiteracy and underage children working as housemaids are all closely linked," says Amal Farag, the head of Al-Dalil Centre, adding that no-one knows precisely how many maids there are in Egypt, as they rarely sign a contract. “The survey shows that most maids work more than eight hours a day and sometimes don't have any holidays, while their rights aren't guaranteed," she explains. Another study, conducted by the Immigration and Refugee Study Centre in the AUC, concluded that poor Egyptian families, desperate for money, often exploit their young daughters by making them work in this profession. Another problem is that the offices for recruiting housemaids are not supervised; there are about 300 of these offices, few of which are licensed. According to a UN-supported study conducted by the Egyptian Authority for Economic and Social Rights, only 2.6 per cent of maids get jobs through these offices, while 44 per cent of home owners depend on the recommendation of a relative when looking for a maid. Most Egyptian families don't trust recruitment offices because they get a commission from the home owners, who employ their daughters.
