Household horrors!
Domestic workers union hopes to see silence broken on traumatic tales of sexual harassment in the workplace
The Jamaica Household Workers’ Union (JHWU) is anticipating that the Sexual Harassment (Protection and Prevention) Act, 2021, which takes effect on July 3, will have a ripple effect of breaking the silence of domestic workers who have been enduring hostile work environments, prompting them to gain the courage to report instances of sexual harassment.
The law, which deals with issues of sexual harassment that arise in relationships between landlords and tenants, in institutions, or in the workplace, define sexual harassment as any unwelcome sexual advancement or request, whether verbal or physical, towards a person by another person.
With the March 2020 onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Jamaica, which lasted nearly three years, there was the revelation of hundreds of instances of sexual abuse, harassment and maltreatment in the workplace – the home of the employer for domestic workers.
In an interview with The Gleaner last week at the union’s headquarters in Kingston, President Elaine Duncan stated that, through several JHWU workshops, which were held coming out of the pandemic, the workers shared their horror stories.
Duncan stated that there was one instance where a female worker expressed that her employer had pornographic content playing on the television and instructed her to stop cooking and join him in watching the content displayed, while also communicating that he desired for them both to engage in similar activity.
In another instance, a live-in worker who was asleep woke up to the sight of her employer masturbating over her, resulting in him ejaculating on her once she realised what was occurring, Duncan detailed.
Since the easing of the pandemic, the situation has changed, she stated, noting that the union has not received any recent complaints. This, she said, however, was not an indication that harassment within the workplace was no longer occurring.
Over the years, the 32-year-old union, which represents a total of 7,200 members of a sector of more than 100,000 domestic workers, has been battling with the issue of workers being afraid to make formal complaints against their employers. This, she said, was due to their fear of losing their jobs.
Duncan said there were some instances where complaints were in the nature of a sexual assault, such as attempted rape, rape, fondling or unwanted sexual touch, and even forcing the worker to perform sexual acts. She explained that other forms of harassment came in the form of bullying and disrespectful or abusive language being directed at the worker.
The JHWU president noted that live-in workers were the ones most affected by harassment of all kinds and that most of the domestic workers were women.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), in Jamaica, men comprise 20.4 per cent of domestic workers with women representing 79.6 per cent and, of the 75.6 million domestic workers worldwide, 76.2 per cent are women.
Imani Duncan-Price, Caribbean coordinator of the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF), who was also present, referred to the forms of harassment affecting the workers as a “silent epidemic”, noting that the JHWU was therefore looking forward to the act being enforced so that workers’ cases could be heard properly by the Sexual Harassment Tribunal.
Apart from counselling sessions, Duncan explained that instances of harassment were typically dealt with using mediation sessions or resolved through settlements such as compensation or an agreement to acknowledge that the action was wrong and that it would be corrected going forward. She noted, however, that they were never reported to the police because of fear or because it was believed that law enforcement would not take the matter seriously.
...JHWU wary of employers failing to comply with sexual harassment law
While they, along with members of the Jamaica Household Workers’ Union (JHWU), did not have any grievances with the Sexual Harassment (Protection and Prevention) Act, 2021, both JHWU President Elaine Duncan and Imani Duncan-Price, Caribbean coordinator of the International Domestic Workers Federation, admitted to being concerned about whether the law would be enforced when it takes effect next week.
During an interview with The Gleaner, further concerns were raised about whether employers would comply with the law which states that an anti-sexual harassment framework must be developed.
“Domestic work is work and so everybody is supposed to have a contract with the domestic worker and in the [employment] contract now, given what’s coming with the new law, [employers] can include a line to say ‘zero tolerance of any form of harassment in the workplace’, which is a part of what is required now in the business workplace,” Duncan-Price said.
She further argued that the Government would have to make this a requirement by law in relation to domestic workers, otherwise employers would not abide by it, even if the union recommends it.
On October 11, 2016, Jamaica joined the list of countries that ratified the ILO convention 189: decent work for household workers.
Currently, there are 36 countries ratified with Spain’s status being the only one ‘not in force’. This is an agreement to protect the rights of male and female household workers across the world. Governments that sign the C189 agree to change local laws and take other actions to protect the rights of workers.
The JHWU, on June 16, commemorated its 32nd anniversary which coincided with International Domestic Workers Day. The union celebrated under the theme ‘Jamaica’s road to Convention 190: Ratification and implementation to address sexual harassment in the workplace for domestic workers once and for all!’
The union is continuing its fight for the enforcement of the laws which underpin C189 which, for example, outlines clear terms and conditions of employment, workers’ rights, ensuring social security benefits and maternity leave through the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), among other issues.
The JHWU continues to call for the Government to ratify the ILO Convention 190 (C190). It is the first international treaty to recognise the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment.
To date, 31 countries have ratified C190, with Belgium and Germany being the latest additions. Uruguay was the first country in the world to ratify the convention.
Th JHWU has also encouraged the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to act swiftly in enacting the Occupational Safety and Health bill, which was tabled in Parliament in 2017 and aims to protect workers and other persons from harm to their safety, health and welfare through the elimination or minimisation of hazards, serious injury, or risks arising out of or in connection with activities at workplaces.
“So, it deals with general harassment issues, it allows the inspectors to come into the household and inspect the conditions. There’s no law right now allowing anybody to come in,” Duncan-Price said.
Duncan-Price stated that workers lamented that their reports to the ministry in the past yielded no results as they were not getting anyone within the ministry to speak with and so, despite having a strong case, they often didn’t get anything in return.
The Jamaica Household Workers’ Union can be contacted at 876-397-9664 or 876-906-2849 or via email at union_jhwa@yahoo.com
Physical harassment – unwanted pinching, patting, touching, kissing, groping, and hugging which has clear sexual undertones.
Verbal harassment – unwelcomed comments on appearance/physical attributes, private/personal life, sexually suggestive or explicit jokes, insults and ‘put-downs’ based on a person’s sex. It is important to note that oftentimes, harassers hide behind the argument that comments are “compliments”. This does not mean that the behaviour is acceptable.
Non-verbal/Gestural harassment – sexually suggestive gestures, e.g. winks, licking of lips, gestures with hands, fingers, legs.
Psychological/Emotional Harassment – consists of persistent proposals and unwelcome requests, unwanted invitations to go out on dates, insults, taunts or innuendos of a sexual nature.
Written/graphic/visual/audio harassment – via internet communication (including electronic messages and attachments), letters, landline telephone, cellular telephones, distribution and display of pornographic materials (visual and audio), obscene and sexually explicit language.
Quid Pro Quo: This form of sexual harassment is recognised where harassers use a position of power and authority to negotiate job benefits (employment, re-employment, continued employment, individual favourable compensation, terms, conditions, promotions, privileges). This also applies to public goods (social services, security, social benefits, natural resources), socially and economically valued goods (housing, school admission, scholarships, security) which are conditional on an exchange of sex or physical contact, and refusal leads to failure to access any of the above.
Stalking/Cyber Stalking – Obsessively following, besetting, contacting and watching a person, either in person or using the internet, telephone, mail, and other media, which is motivated by what the perpetrator believes are feelings of desire and love, constitute sexual harassment.
Voyeurism (‘Peeping Tom’ ) – The act of watching, taping, recording, photographing a person without their knowledge, in a clandestine manner or otherwise, while the person uses or inhabits a space where they have an expectation of privacy such as their domicile, a public bathroom, changing room etc., is a sexually harassing act.
Intimidation/Bully/Retaliation – Persons often use non-sexual behaviour to accommodate sexual harassment. Therefore, any act of intimidation meant to prevent someone from reporting sexually harassing behaviour or to punish someone for reporting sexually harassing behaviour must be considered as a type of sexual harassment.