Child domestic workers in Dhaka: A geographical study of discourses, work, and education.
Open Access
- Author:
- Jensen, Kari Bolstad
- Graduate Program:
- Geography
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 18, 2007
- Committee Members:
- Lakshman S Yapa, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Chris Benner, Committee Member
Lorraine Dowler, Committee Member
Amy Glasmeier, Committee Member
David Post, Committee Member - Keywords:
- child domestic work
- Abstract:
- ABSTRACT It is estimated that 300,000 children work as domestics in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 75% of whom are girls. Coming from poor households, and having little formal education, children work as domestics because of a need to sustain themselves and their families. Child domestics are often compelled to work under oppressive conditions. Domestic work is not a solution to the economic problems of poor children. However, in the short term we must recognize child domestics as workers, increase their social status, and fulfill their rights. Child domestics’ rights can be protected by mobilizing agency in all sectors and scales of Bangladeshi and international society, such as implementing laws, work contracts, monitoring, and activities organized by NGOs and the government focusing on education and awareness. Access to education is important because of the potential of making these children visible to society. Laws protecting working children do not reach secluded spaces of private homes where the labor and bodies of child domestics are available to employers around the clock. In non-domestic spaces, children can meet people who may help them if there are problems with the employers. Access to semi-public spaces such as the rooftops of apartment buildings is critical to child domestics as spaces of networking and socialization. Some NGOs are using rooftops as access points for educational programs. The material conditions affecting the children are set in discourses of ‘childhood’ and ‘child labor’. I examine discourses and workspaces with a view to improve the quality of life of these children. By combining discourse analysis and critical ethnography, I analyze three main discourses that shape the space-time frameworks and everyday lives of child domestic workers: 1) A human rights discourse which conceives of childhood as a universal category where education and social participation should be a part of a child’s life; 2) An employers’ discourse which constructs a dichotomy between their biological children and their child domestics, and finally; 3) A child domestics’ discourse which centers on work as a necessary duty, and where the notion of childhood ties to their identity as servants, feelings of inferiority and a desire for respect.