Identifying some forms of violence towards female domestic workers in Ho Chi Minh city nowadays

HỘI THẢO KHOA HỌC “PHÁT TRIỂN XÃ HỘI HỌC CÔNG Ở VIỆT NAM”

IDENTIFYING SOME FORMS OF VIOLENCE TOWARDS FEMALE DOMESTIC
WORKERS IN HO CHI MINH CITY NOWADAYS
Cao Thanh Tam, M.A.
Faculty of Sociology
University of Social sciences and Humanities,
Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City (USSH, VNU-HCMC)
Email:
Abstract: Through International Labour Organization’s indicators of forced labour,
author identifies some forms of violence towards female domestic workers in Ho Chi Minh
City nowadays. There are different types of domestic work, but within the scope of research
paper, the author will focus on two main groups of female domestic workers, i.e. domestic
workers in private households and patient caretakers. They represent two different working
environments, but have one thing in common, which is the higher frequency of contact with
their employers compared to the other groups. The main method used in this study was
qualitative research and the data were collected via semi-structured interviews with a
snowball sample. Nineteen female domestic workers were invited to join in the interview
with their voluntary participation. The results show that there are some differences in the
forms of violence and forced labor between the two groups, especially, the group of patient
caretakers undergoing more experiences of sexual violence and abuse than the other. On the
contrary, the group of domestic workers in private households suffer from discrimination on
the grounds of food, as well as accommodation, economic exploitation and travel
restrictions more regularly. Moreover, a poor working environment and long working hours
which are also becoming more and more common in hospitals in the present have a bad
influence on patient caretakers’ health.
Key words: violence, forced labour, female domestic workers, Ho Chi Minh City
1. Introduction
Undergone rapid industrialization, modernization, and globalization, Vietnam has
embraced many radical changes in terms of economics, politics, and society. One of such
changes is the increase of rural urban migration and emigration. The destination of migrant

flows are usually big cities where it is easier for labour to find jobs, especially unskilled
jobs. One of the most attractive destination nowadays in Vietnam is Ho Chi Minh City
(HCMC). Thanks to its advantageous geographical location and socioeconomic stability,
HCMC is one of the fastest growing economy in the Southern Key Economic Region of
Vietnam and Vietnam itself. Therefore, it is understandable that HCMC has the highest
number of migrants, immigration speed, and migration rate (Cu, 2014). Migrants are mostly
unskilled workers, who have no or little professional training, and consist of both males and
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females. Migration flows have introduced many changes in the division of labour and gender
dynamic in the workforce. In addition, feminism movements has further liberated women
from house chores and let them go out to work. This led to the change of women‟s role in
the house; women are gaining more voice in the house as their contribution to the family's
income is becoming more prominent. With both the husband and wife have to go out to
work, house chores are now transferred to a third party – domestic workers. Hiring a
domestic worker is a good choice if the wife‟s earning is higher than the cost to hire a
domestic worker to do the house chores. In the last two decades, with the growth of
economy and increase of social stability, quality of life has also improved and everyone,
including women, needs more time for entertainment, working, and social works. These
conditions facilitated the demand for and rise of domestic worker jobs. Ratified on June 16,
2011, the very first Domestic Workers Convention has recognized domestic workers as
workers with the same rights as other workers. In Vietnam, some still doubted if domestic
work was a real occupation. However, this doubt ended with the introduction of Decree NO.
27/2014/NĐ-CP that regulates a number of articles of the Labour Code concerning Domestic
Servants. Taking effect on May 25, 2014, the Decree states that domestic workers and their
employers must sign a contract and comply to the rights, obligations, and responsibilities
regulated by Vietnam Labour Code (Lam, 2014).

Domestic work is a job dominated by women with 98.7% of domestic workers are
women. They are often illiterate because the majority of them came from rural areas or grew
up in poverty. Some of them are old women who are unmarried, divorced, or widowed.
Thus, it is hard for them to find a stable job other than domestic work. Furthermore, their
working environments are usually limited in the employers‟ houses, thus, domestic workers
tend to be treated with little respect. Consequently, domestic workers are likely to be
physically or verbally abused, exploited, or sexually harassed. In some cases, they cannot do
anything when the employers refuse or fail to fulfill their contractual obligations about
workload, working time, wage, or other benefits such as social insurance and health
insurance (Oxfam & GFCD, 2013). In 2012, Ba Dinh District People's Court in Hanoi
sentenced an employer to 18 months in prison for severe violence against her domestic
worker (Quyet, 2012). Concerned with such reality, this research is to investigate the
domestic violence towards domestic workers and identify its forms to have a better
understanding of domestic violence towards workers in general, and come up with
suggestions for policy makers to protect human rights better. This research also aims to
broaden current knowledge of domestic workers.
Theoretical Background and Methodology
Many researchers all over the world have addressed violence towards domestic workers in
their research. In Vietnam, the first decree guiding a number of articles of the Code of Labor
in relation to domestic workers has only been issued in 2014. Earlier researches in Vietnam
mainly focused on the aspects of finance, skill training, contract terms and conditions,
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adaptation of domestic workers to social changes, or relationship between the two parties:
the domestic worker and the employer. Regarding violence towards domestic workers in
Vietnam, there have been a few researches conducted by international organization (Oxfam
& GFCD, 2013). In this research, the author will use the indicators of forced labour

introduced by International Labour Organization (ILO) to identify and analyze the forms of
violence towards female domestic workers in order to extend further current knowledge of
violence towards workers in general and domestic workers in particular. From theoretical
and practical experience, ILO has introduced 11 indicators of forced labour which are: (1)
Abuse of vulnerability, (2) Deception, (3) Restriction of movement, (4) Isolation, (5)
Physical and sexual violence, (6) Intimidation and threats, (7) Retention of identity
documents, (8) Withholding of wages, (9) Debt bondage, (10) Abusive working and living
conditions, and (11) Excessive overtime.
In certain situation, a forced labour case may be deduced from the presence of a single
indicator in a given situation. However, more than one indicator may be needed before we
can identify a forced labour case.
This research will use the following termologies: (1) domestic workers, (2) violence, (3)
forced labour. The tem “domestic worker” follows the definition provided in the Decree No.
27/2014/ND-CP promulgated by the Government of Vietnam. According the decree,
domestic workers are workers who regularly carries out domestic work, which is not related
to commercial activities, for one or more than one households. Domestic workers may live
or not live with the employer‟s family and perform regular household tasks which “recur
after a certain period of time (hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly)” (The Government of
Vietnam, 2014), In Vietnamese dictionary, Phe (2003) defined violence as “an act of cruel
abuse” and abuse as “using force to subdue, repress, or overthrow someone.” In its World
report on violence and health, World Health Organization (WHO) defined violence as:
The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself,
another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high
likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or
deprivation. (WHO, 2002).
The term “forced labour” is used by ILO to refer to “all work or service which is
exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has
not offered himself voluntarily” (ILO, 1930).
This paper uses data collected from the research “Violence towards Female Domestic
Workers in Ho Chi Minh City Nowadays” carried out by the author from December 2014

to June 2017 in Ho Chi Minh City. Focusing on two groups of female domestic workers,
housemaids and patient caretakers, and the research was based on the assumption that
frequency and intensity of interaction between the domestic workers and employers may
affect the violence towards the workers. In total, 19 female domestic workers participated in
the study and consented to the interview. This research employs qualitative data collection
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methods. Qualitative data was collected via semi-structured in-depth interviews with
snowball sampling technique. Research ethics and confidentiality of research participants
were prioritized; therefore, all participants had given consent to the interview and known
that they would be recorded. In order to triangulate the data, recording tapes were later sent
to two researchers to investigate independently in the analysis process. Finally, the author
used the criteria and framework of indicators of forced labour proposed by ILO to filter data
and interpret results.
2. Results and Discussion
2.1. Sample Descriptions
In regards to their jobs, the research concentrates on two groups of domestic workers,
housemaids (10 cases) and patient caretakers (9 cases). All 19 cases have been victims of
violence at work but none intends to change jobs; some of the patient caretakers were
waiting for new clients. Their age is quite high, ranging from 36 to 66, with the average age
of 51. Most of them have little to no education. Majority of them dropped out after middle
school except for two participants who have a bachelor degree. About marital status, most of
them had troubles with marriages and were divorced, separated, widowed, or unmarried.
Being single, they did not have to worry about family obligations and could focus on their
jobs. Patient caretakers often have to stay in the hospitals around the clock whereas old
female domestic workers live with the employer‟s family, which helps them save money. As
a key economic region of Southern Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City attracts many migrant

workers from neighboring areas in South-Eastern Region and South-Western Region. Thus,
the number of migrant workers from the two regions in HCMC is higher than from other
regions. Before becoming a domestic worker, most of the participants were farmers or street
vendors. Because of crop failure, low sales, or bankruptcy, they had to turn to domestic work
as a way to earn a living. Domestic workers do not usually have a fixed workplace;
caretakers have to follow the patients. Where caretakers and housemaids live are not the
same. Housemaids usually live with the employer‟s family whereas caretakers have to live
in the hospital to take care of the patients. Between jobs, some caretakers remain in the
hospital to look for new clients while others go home or back to their agency if they work
for one. According to the caretakers, these caretaker agencies are operated by an individual
or group and recruit unemployed women for caregiving jobs. Most agencies house their
employees, usually in company-owned dormitories, and provide basic training on bathing
and washing a patient, identifying symptoms, time to take medication, etc. Most trainee have
to follow trained caretakers to observe for two to three weeks before they can work on their
own. It is a common practice for the agencies to charge caretakers for an agent fee, which
ranges from 700,000 VND (about 30 USD) to 1,500, VND (about 60 USD) per job
depending on the agency. On average, if the worker receives 300,000 VND (about 13.6
USD) a day, she has to give the agency 50,000 VND (about 2.3 USD). It can also be seem
from the sample that the most housemaids found their job via recruitment agencies or
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acquaintance's referral. Average monthly salaries of housemaids is four to five million VND
while caretakers usually receive daily wages of 250 to 400 thousands VND depending on the
medical condition of the patients. In some cases, caretakers are paid weekly or monthly (7.5
to 9 million VND a month).
2.2. Forms of violence towards female domestic workers
The First Form: Abuse of vulnerability

Demand for domestic workers is high and diverse so people from any background can
become a domestic worker. However, it is noticeable that most domestic workers are
migrants with little education. They became domestic workers because they were not
qualified for other jobs and had low income. Aware of the domestic workers‟ vulnerability,
many employers intentionally equivocated about the terms and payment when offering the
job. The participant in the interview number 10 is an example. She became a spinster
because she had to took care of her family her entire youth. The husband of the employer is
one of her distant relatives. She used to be a farmer and carpet weaver in her hometown but
low income forced her to migrant to the city and become a housemaid.
“At first, I thought they were relatives so I did not ask for a contract or
negociate the salary. So they paid me as they pleased – 200 thousand VND a
month. Can you believe that? Not to mention that I am their great-grandaunt.
His great- grandfather was my youngest brother and I am the oldest child.
When I came here, I thought they would pay me the same as the former
housemaids so I let them decide my salary. It took a few years, about 4 or 5
years, for my salary to be increased by 50 thousands VND more” (Interview
10, housemaid)
The Second Form: Deception
Many employers try to retain domestic workers with promises of pay raise, gift, or
monetary bonus. Four among the 19 participant were deceived or even scammed. According
to the housemaids who were hired to take care of newborn babies, employers often promise
them money of gifts as contract completion bonus to keep them working but always fail to
deliver their promises when the contract ends. Since there are no evidence of verbal
promises, the domestic workers cannot do anything. Some domestic workers who found jobs
via agencies were also deceived. Participant 2 was once deceived by a migrant worker
agency that failed to give her the type of work they promised before sending her abroad.
That was a fraud job agency. It is only a private company, not a governmentfunded organization as advertised. They said that after signing the contract,
they would send me oversea to do domestic chores for a family of three or four
people. However, when I arrived, the employer gave me a six-day-old infant. I
had to take care of the infant around-the-clock. I could only sleep two hours a

day. (Interview 02, housemaid).

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When it is hard to find domestic workers who agrees to do certain jobs, the employers
tend to avoid mentioning or give the worker or job agency obscure descriptions of the job. It
is usually too late for the domestic workers to back out when they learn the truth.
The Third Form: Restriction of movement
According to the research, the majority of domestic workers try to avoid leaving the work
place because they do not want to upset the employers. Sometimes caretakers have to stay
with the patients around the clock. If the domestic workers is religious and need to go to the
church or temple, they must ask for the employer‟s permission in advance. For caretakers, if
they have an emergency, they usually arrange a substitute before leaving. In addition, some
domestic workers are not familiar with the area so they stay in the house to avoid getting
lost.
One of the housemaids disclosed that her employer spared no effort to prevent her from
taking public holidays leave or personal leave. Some employers install surveillance cameras
to monitor housemaids or call to landline telephone to check up on the housemaids.
Participant 10 shared:
This is one of the times I was upset. That was when my mother died. She was
not cremated but buried instead. My family phoned me and said that I had to
attend the bone turning ritual. I asked for a few days off but the employer did
not approve. That was so unreasonable. I had a fight with the employer but I
ended up not taking any day off. I was so naive back then. (Interview 10,
housemaid)
The Forth Form: Isolation
Employers may forbid housemaids from interacting with or talking to outsiders such as

neighbors, friends, or even the housemaid‟s relatives because they afraid that the
housemaids may gossip about them. Four out of 19 participants were told to stay away from
strangers and neighbors. Their employers also keep the house key when they are not home,
locking the housemaids inside the house. Participant 14 said:
I am not allowed to leave the house nor interact with anyone. At first that was
boring but I am used to it now. I think they have their reasons. They worry that
I may gossip with others or listen to others and quit the job. (Interview 14,
housemaid)
On the employers‟ side, they admit that they isolate the housemaids from outsiders to
prevent them from associating with bad people and to protect their children.
I am worried when I leave home due my family’s predicament. I have to be at
work most of the time, entrusting the entire house and my children to the
housemaid. I worry that she may meet and associate with bad people and
conspires with them. Therefore, I keep all the housemaids I have ever hired
inside the house. If I am not home, I will lock them inside the house. None of

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the housemaids complained. All of them agree to it. (Interview 04, employer of
a housemaid)
Unlike housemaids, who are often isolated, caretakers can freely interact with other
caretakers, nurses, doctors, and relatives of other patients.
The Fifth Form 5: Physical and sexual violence
It can be deduced from the interviews that caretakers are more vulnerable to physical
violence. Most caretakers have been hit, slapped, thrown at, or have their hair pulled by the
patients before. However, they acknowledged that the violence is not intentional but the
results of the patients‟ medical conditions. Therefore, they understand and sympathize with

the patients.
A patient once hit me out of anger but his son apologized, saying his medical
condition made him irritable. Therefore, I just have to tolerate them. We are
paid to tolerate them. (Interview 04, caretaker).
Some of the domestic workers are victims of physical violence at both their home and
work place. The remaining patriarchy mentality is the reason why some husbands still abuse
their wives. Participant 17 shared:
My ex-husband was an alcoholic. He used to beat me regularly. He beat me
without any mercy. My children asked me to divorce with him. My parents said
so too so I divorced him. That was more than 20 years ago, when I was still
living in the North. Alcoholics and gamblers are the worst. To tell the truth, I
have never had a happy family. (Interview 17, caretaker).
Caretakers are also more vulnerable to sexual violence. Seven out of nine participants had
been sexually harassed (six were harassed in the hospital, one in the patient‟s home), the
other two have witnessed or heard stories about sexual harassment at work. The most
common forms of sexual harassment they have to face are being be groped and touched in
inappropriate ways, being watched in the restroom, receiving requests for sexual favors, or
getting hit out of jealousy. Some patients even expose their private parts to check the
caretakers‟ reaction. Victims are usually threatened or bribed to stay silent. Have been
harassed at least twice, a caretaker recalled:
Because I took care of them, some patients think of me as their wife and want
to keep me for themselves. Some try to have physical contacts with me. Some
had desires and told me about them. One of the patients talked to me non-stop
whenever he saw me. Some are very jealous of me and mad at me for talking
with other men. They thought I belong to them. Recently, a patient pretended
to trip and fall into me to grope me. He groped my breast. I know he faked
that. (Interview 08, caretaker).
Most culprits of sexual harassment towards caretakers are men who have difficulty in
movement due to complications after stroke. However, they are still lucid and still have
sexual desire. The caretakers believe that the limited social life, high frequency of

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interaction, and unrelieved sexual desire are what caused the misbehaviors of these patients.
Other offenders only stay a few days in the hospital to treat certain wounds or injuries so
they are more bold and forceful when harassing the caretakers.
The sixth Form: Intimidation and threats
As mentioned, domestic workers are usually threatened after they are sexually harassed to
prevent them from reporting the harassers to the police. Some harassers even challenge the
victim to report them. In particular, one of the participants was threaten that she would not
receive her wage if she did not comply with the employer‟s requests.
Some client keeps threaten to fire us. A client called her son and told him
withhold my wage until she says otherwise. Then she kept threatening to fire
me and not pay me. Other people who witnessed that also said that I should
not have accepted the job. (Interview 17, caretaker).
Participant 3 shared that she once had to take care of a preterm baby who have a sunken
fontanelle. The employer told her to let the baby drink plenty of water to keep the fontanelle
full. She fed the baby water throughout the day as told but one day, upon seeing the baby‟s
fontanelle drops, the employer yelled in rage and cursed her, determining to make her pay if
anything happened to the child.
That day she saw the fontanelle dropped so she yelled at me and cursed me.
She said that if the child health were affected by my negligence, she would
curse me until the end of my life. At that time, I could only cry. I could not say
a word. I did not know what to say. (Interview 03, housemaid).
One of the 19 participants have worked abroad as a housemaid. She was constantly
threaten that if she tried to run away; she would be captured and beaten. Since she had seen
other housemaid was beaten brutally, she had no choice but staying and finishing her
contract.

The one from Ho Chi Minh City was constantly unfed and abused so she ran
away and went back to Vietnam. She only lasted a few months. The one from
Nam Dinh worked for another house. She phoned me and told me that the
husband in that house is a pervert. He kept asking her to sleep with him and
beat her when she refused. (Interview 02, housemaid).
The Seventh Form: Retention of identity documents
Retention of identity documents (Identity Card) or valuable belongings is also an
indicator of forced labour. Workers without identity documents often have trouble finding
new jobs or accessing essential services, and may be afraid to contact the authorities or nongovernment organizations for help. According to Article 20 in Vietnam‟s 2012 Labour
Code, when signing and implementing employment contracts, employers are not allowed:
To keep the employee’s original identification documents, degrees and
certificates. (Vietnam, 2012).

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Statistically, four out of 19 participants had their identity cards confiscated by their
employer. This happens more frequently to housemaids but they think that the employer‟s
request is reasonable. To explain for their action, the employers said that they only want to
take precaution. They keep the identity cards just in case the housemaid has unethical
behaviors such as stealing, violating the law, or harming any family member. The majority
of employers did not aware that they their action is prohibited in the Labour Code. An
employer said:
I always keep the identity card itself, not a photocopy. Identity cards are
indispensable when apply for a job. Most people are afraid to apply for
replacement of lost identity card since that requires them to deal with the
authorities. Therefore, identity cards are very valuable. (Interview 03,
employer of housemaid)

The Eighth Form: Withholding of wages
According to ILO, workers may be forced to endure an abusive employer whilst “waiting
for the wages that are owed to them” (ILO, 1930). Sometimes, irregular or delayed payment
of wages may occur and does not related to forced labour situation. Only wages that “are
systematically and deliberately withheld as a means to compel the worker to remain, and
deny him or her of the opportunity to change employer” (ILO, 1930) can be considered an
indicator of forced labour.
In this research, most domestic workers believe that their wage is too trivial for the
employer to withhold. Participant 3 said:
No one would withhold our wages. This is already one of the lowest paying
jobs so only the most heartless would withhold our wages. I think no one
would do that. (Interview 03, housemaid)
However, there are two cases where the employers withheld the wage or delay payment to
prevent the housemaids from quitting the job and one case where the employer did not pay
the caretaker.
In the first few years, my wage was withheld. He only gave me my wage after
four or five years. He was afraid that I might quit the job. (Interview 10,
housemaid)
The Eighth Form: Debt bondage
Workers‟ debt can arise from loans or wage advances to cover transport or recruitment
costs or from emergency or daily living expenses. Through manipulation of accounts, some
employer may further compound worker‟s debts, especially when the workers is illiterate.
Debt bondage may also arise when a child have to work to pay for a loan given to his or her
parents or relatives. Some employers can make it even harder for workers to pay off the debt
by inflating interest rates, undervaluing the work performed, or charges the workers for food
and housing. “Debt bondage – or bonded labour – reflects an imbalance in power between

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the worker-debtor and the employer-creditor. It has the effect of binding the worker to the
employer for an unspecified period of time.” (ILO, 1930)
Over the course of their work, some domestic workers may need money for personal and
family expenses such as buying houses, buying furniture, buying vehicles, or house
renovation. In such cases, the employers usually loan them from six months to one year‟s
salary. However, one of the participants has been in debt bondage when a job agency sent
her to work abroad. Her debt arose from the transport and recruitment costs. According to
Participant 2, the agency informed her that the transport and recruitment costs accounted to
40 million VND, the contract lasted 2 years, and her job was cooking and cleaning the
house. Upon arriving, however, she learned that she was deceived when the employer make
her take care of an infant only six days old. Quitting the job meant she would have to pay
compensation for breaching the contract, not to mention that the employer may try to capture
her and beat her. Therefore, she had to stay and work until the contract expired.
I was already there. Going back to Vietnam meant breaching the contract.
They would not let me quit if I could not pay back the loan. If I had not listened
to them and breached the contract, I would have been beaten. I had heard
about the outcomes of other housemaid so I did not dare to quit. No matter
how terrible the work was, I could only endure it. (Interview 02, housemaid)
For caretakers, they also have to tolerate their patients and continue working because their
agency have received the clients‟ deposit or because they do not want to hurt the reputation
of their agency or the one who referred them for the job.
Most people do not deliberately choose this job but because they have no other
choice. However when we work, we have to think for the agency, for those who
referred us. We have to make sure they are not affected. (Interview 17,
caretaker)
The Tenth Form: Abusive working and living conditions
Forced laborers are more likely to endure substandard living and working conditions.
They may have to live in unhealthy and overcrowded conditions and have no privacy.

Victims of forced labour may also be subject to degrading or hazardous working conditions
that are in severe breach of labour law because they have no other choice. “Abusive
conditions should represent an “alert” to the possible existence of coercion that is preventing
the exploited workers from leaving the job.” (ILO, 1930)
Compared to caretakers, housemaids have better working and living condition in general.
Caretakers have higher risk to contract contagious diseases because they work in hospital
and have to interact with many patients. Most caretakers had to sleep near the patient‟s bed
on a sedge mat on the ground or a hired camp bed. Only a few high-class hospitals arrange
extra bed for caretakers. Furthermore, caretakers have less time to rest and sleep compared
to housemaids. Since their job requires them to take care of the patient around the clock,

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most caretakers are sleep deprived. Despite the bad working conditions, the caretakers are all
used to them.
Some patients are nice but some are very irritable. Some of them keep me
awake with overnight for a whole week. After that, I usually fall sick due to
exhaustion. However, no matter how terrible the patients are, I still have to put
up with them. They are in pain so we have to empathize with them. (Interview
19, caretaker)
In regards to meals, housemaids are usually disdained and not allowed to have meal with
employer‟s family whilst the caretakers have to bring their own meals; only a few clients
pay for caregivers‟ meals. A housemaid disclosed:
They do not let me have meals. They only let me eat bland bread. No rice nor
any other food. Only refrigerated bread, nothing else. (Interview 02,
housemaid)
Another housemaid said:

When I was having a dinner, the employer came to the kitchen and took all the
food to the dinner room, leaving me nothing. Once I boiled some vegetables.
After scooping out all the vegetables, I sneaked away a bowl of the water. I
had to hide the bowl my room to prevent the employer from finding out
otherwise I would be scolded. (Interview 03, housemaid)
As stated by Decree No. 27/2014/NĐ-CP, “before hiring a worker, the employer and the
worker shall directly conclude an employment contract” (Vietnam, 2014) and pay for the
worker‟s social insurance and health insurance. In reality, however, 19 out of 19 participants
have no social insurance nor health insurance and most housemaids have not signed any
employment contract. For caretakers who work under agencies, employers only sign the
contracts with the agencies so they are not informed of the type and terms of the contracts.
The domestic workers themselves are also do not want to sign employment contracts in fear
of getting in trouble with the law. Some housemaids do not want to be bound by the contract
in case they want to quit the job unilaterally. On the other hand, the employers do not want
to sign contracts to avoid troublesome paperwork.
Form number 11: Excessive overtime
Employers may exploit workers through underpaid overtime. For some housemaids, not
only do they have to do house chores in the employers‟ house but also in the houses of the
employers‟ relatives.
I do not like to work at the house of the employer’s mother. I had to work there
once a week. I had to do everything. I am only disappointed because I have to
do so much work without getting additional wage. Despite all my hard work,
they still treat me with disdain. I receive their look of disapproval whenever I
take a meal break. After having lunch at two, I have to work restlessly until I

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can have dinner at eight, when everyone else finished their meal. (Interview
15, housemaid)
Another form of overtime is forcing domestic workers to do works not mentioned in their
contract.
Our job is taking care of the patient but they made me do house chores and
run errands. I was only paid for one job but have to do two, three jobs at once.
(Interview 08, caretaker)
3. Conclusion And Recommendations
Domestic workers is a growing work force, contributing more and more to the
development of each country‟s economy, culture, and society. However, these workers are
more vulnerable than ever, partly due to their gender, financial conditions, family issues, and
lack of education. Female domestic workers have to face much hardship and discrimination.
The research results suggested that forced labour and violence, especially sexual violence
and exploitation, are prevalent among female domestic workers. They have been degrading
women's social status and violating human rights. It is our responsibility to give them their
deserved equality in finding jobs, education, and access to health care and social welfare.
The study therefore draws the following recommendations:
 Raise awareness of domestic workers, domestic employers, and relevant parties on
human rights through social campaigns;
 Advocate employment contract between domestic workers and employer so that both
are legally protected;
 Develop programs to improve their social and spiritual life;
 Authorities must set up centers that provide counsel and support for domestic workers,
especially one who fell victim to violence or abuse;
 There are little administration of domestic workers in Vietnam. We should establish an
official database containing information of domestic workers. The database will provide
valuable information for research on this subject, authorities‟ administration, and policy
makers.
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