by Ms. Edelweiss Silan Coordinator, Child Workers in Asia
Today, I was asked to assist the group in defining emerging perspectives on child domestic work, and discuss in particular the various dimensions of discrimination with regard to child domestic work.

What is discrimination?

Discrimination is about power relations and social status.

It is about the unjust treatment of those who have lower status and less power by those who have more power and higher status in society. It is about the rich exploiting the poor. It is about curtailment or denial of rights of persons on the ground of their social status or race or origin.

Discrimination is felt by children in their hearts. Many times, they are not even able to articulate and define this concept but they know it. They know they are treated and loved and cared for differently from the rest, less than the rest. Discrimination is practiced by society knowingly and unknowingly in overt and latent ways.

I would like to share a definition presented by Human Rights Committee of the UN. They say that discrimination is

"Any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference which is based on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political, or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status and which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by all persons, on an equal footing, of all rights and freedoms."

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child focuses the definition to children in Article 2 - the principle of non-discrimination.

1. State Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parents' or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic, or social origin, property, disability, or other status.
2. State Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child's parents, legal guardians, or family members.

This means that governments are accountable to ensure that all rights in the Convention are enjoyed by all children within their jurisdiction.

Not all children are discriminated against. There are groups of children who experience more discrimination - the disabled, the tribal children, children in conflict with the law, children from lower casts or scheduled tribes, refugee children, migrant children, and others. The discussion on discrimination could be very, very broad as you could see from the definition and therefore, I would like to us to focus just on the situation of child domestic workers for now.

When we talk of discrimination and child domestic work, what immediately comes to our mind is gender discrimination. Discrimination against girls. Girl children by virtue of their lower status are often kept at homes to take care of their sibling while their parents try their best to send their sons to school. Being illiterate, girls would not be able to find other jobs except domestic work.

Yes, gender discrimination is at the root of child domestic work. But it also goes beyond.

As we move on this brief presentation, let us keep in mind the diversity of the cultures in our region. Let us remember that our understanding of discrimination has to be clearly rooted in our understanding of our own people's culture both in the past and in the present, on how we define higher status and lower status, and how we in our societies express respect and disrespect. We also recognize that as there are manifestations of discrimination against child domestic workers, there are also many situations where people's inherent caring attitude towards children prevails, as manifested by your presence here in this consultation, and the truly loving relationships developed among a few children and their employers.

Why is there discrimination against domestic workers and child domestic workers? Where does the stigma come from?

1. Low status of domestic work from the very beginning, linking domestic work with slavery

   Long, long time ago, the powerful and rich people in most of Asian societies normally kept slaves. Slaves were lesser people. They were placed by society totally under the power and mercy of their owners. They were expected to obey every command of their masters, keep the palace or the homes clean, prepare their meals, wash their clothes, and take care of the masters' flock. In the Philippines, prior to colonization, there were slaves in societies categorized into several groups. One of these groups are the "alipin namamahay" or slaves who stay in the home. These were the slaves who are expected to be the domestic workers and are of course paid nothing except being provided shelter and food by their masters. The aliping namamahay were the lowest among the ranks of the olden slaves. Slaves were looked down upon by society.

   Our societies have evolved through time into the present modern day world. Our present world no longer officially approve of slavery. But vestiges of the practice of enslaving people remain and vestiges of the low regard for people doing household work for others are still with us.

2. Origins of the people who now become domestic workers

   Many of our present domestic workers, both adults and children, come from groups who are from the scheduled casts, or lower casts in South Asia, or nationalities or ethnic groups whom the employers consider inferior to theirs. For example, these days, most of the domestic workers in Thailand come from Burma, Cambodia, or Laos. Or simply coming from poorer families or more vulnerable situations in life such as the orphans.

3. Low status of children in our societies

   In many countries in Asia, children are still regarded as persons with less right for respect. Even as we recognize that we have tremendously improved policies, establishment of programs, and changed social attitudes, we have not still reached a large sectors of society who still do not give children the respect and attention they deserve.

4. Low status of girls in many societies

   The campaign against discrimination towards girls has moved forward but is yet to influence real lives of thousands, if not millions of girls in our region. Girl children are not just more vulnerable to being domestic workers. When they become domestic workers, they are also subjected to more difficult work, and are more hidden compared to boys.

5. Vulnerable life situations

   Many children who become child domestic workers are already in vulnerable life conditions. For example, disabled children, children of tribal communities, stateless children, orphans, children from broken families, children of poor single mothers, children of refugees or displaced families. They already carry the status borne out of their birth status or family situation and these become "rationalizations" by their employers for placing them in less favourable and even exploitative living conditions, for using speaking to them in very degrading terms, and ill-treating them.

   I believe that there are more reasons why there is discrimination against child domestic workers in your own cultural contexts which you yourselves could identify.

   Child domestic workers experience discrimination in various degrees, in various circumstances, in various forms, but in general.

When does discrimination against child domestic workers occur?

Discrimination is there in the situation of recruitment. In present days, not all poor people become exploited domestic workers. In many instances, there are sectors already marked to be recruited as domestic workers in exploitative conditions. There are children more vulnerable to be recruited as child domestic workers for exploitation. Some employers, recruiters, and traffickers are fully aware of who these people are. And we have to be aware, too, if we are to look at more preventive approaches. We also have to be aware of emerging groups who become vulnerable. Emerging groups are refugees and illegal migrants, internally displaced people, orphans.

They experience discrimination while at work, at home and outside the home. Child domestic workers are given less nutritious food, are allowed less sleep, are not allowed time to play. They are deprived of all rights of children by virtue of their work and status. They experience discrimination outside the home. It is not easy for child domestic workers to become friends of other children in the neighbourhood, or play in the parks for villages. In some countries, child domestic workers are prone to be viewed as potential thefts and are therefore looked at with caution by homeowners.

All Asian governments have signed and ratified the UNCRC. Non-discrimination is one of the four fundamental principles of the Convention. But many governments consciously or unconsciously discriminate against some sectors of children, including child domestic work. Even as many governments know they exist, they are not provided the attention they deserve because they are "private" affairs. Worse, we will hear, expressions using poverty and need for alternative family care being as lame excuses for not addressing the situation. If they are as important as other children, the concerns of child domestic workers deserve as much time and resources accorded by government to other children's sectors.

Child domestic workers carry the effects of their experiences of discrimination even after the period of serving as child domestic workers. When will they overcome low self-esteem, the trauma, or even anti-social behaviors for some that were borne out of their experiences of physical and emotional abuse? In some circumstances they experience worse discrimination because of experiences they had while being domestic workers. Such as in the case of children who were raped.

Who discriminates?

Identifying who discriminates against child domestic workers would help us understand this phenomenon more fully. When we say employers, we do not normally mean just the head of the household- we also mean the father, the mother, the children. When we look at the community, it includes the teachers in schools, the police, the doctors and nurses, the storekeepers. It is important to see how each of us and each of the significant people in the lives of child domestic workers look at them and treat them and see how discrimination is expressed consciously and unconsciously. I would like to call our attention to discrimination against the child domestic workers by other children. Are our children able to relate with child domestic workers in the same way as they would relate with other children? Or do our children become "little masters" and inflict more hurt and even anger in the hearts of the other children who happen to be their servants?

There are many more people who discriminate against children who are domestic workers or who were domestic workers or are domestic workers. This could be their parents who look at girl children or children in general as commodities or as burdens. Or their relatives and neighbours.

By being more sensitive to discriminatory practices, roots of discrimination, who discriminates against child domestic workers, and impact of discrimination we can gain deeper insights on the shape of our programs, on the kinds of advocacy we must undertake, and on our relationships with the child domestic workers and the significant people in their lives.