Housemaids Impacts on the Society of the UAE - Essay Example

Housemaids Impact on the Society of the UAE Name Institution Date Table of Contents Housemaids Impact on the Society of the UAE 1 HOUSEMAIDS IMPACT ON THE SOCIETY OF THE UAE 12 2 Table of Contents 2 Housemaids Impact on the Society of the UAE 3 Introduction 3 Effects of Housemaids and nannies in the UAE society 4 Establishment 4 Housemaids and nannies have replaced the role of parents in child rearing 5 How housemaids and nannies affect the behaviour of children 5 Establishment of Nanny or Maid Visa 7 Plight of housemaids and nannies in UAE households 7 Conclusion 10 References 11 Housemaids Impact on the Society of the UAE Introduction The discovery of oil in the UAE in the recent years has resulted to tremendous growth and development within the region. It has made UAE undergo enormous changes in different areas of economic development. The traditional life style of women as housekeepers and child bearing has disappeared. This is because the position of Emirati females has become strong. According to Ehrenreich and Arlie (2003) mmodern women go to colleges and have learned and acquired knowledge essential in the attainment of employment in both government and private sectors. As a consequence, the need for nannies and housemaids has increased in the UAE society as women no longer stay at home to take care of children and perform other household chores. Regardless of the fact that nannies and housemaids assist UAE’s women in upbringing children and performing other house duties, it has led to several problems and challenges for the family, children and the society as a whole. Whilst it is impractical for parents to spend all time with their kids, it is vital for them to understand that when they leave these children with housemaids and nannies for so long, they are co-parenting with these helpers. Even when parents are present at home, overworking usually make them have limited attention, energy and time for their children. This is viewed as a form of child neglect which has turned out to be pandemic in the UAE society. The presence of nannies and housemaids in the UAE has necessitated the government to establish a nanny or maid visa to enable them reside in the Emirati (Roumani, 2005). Effects of Housemaids and nannies in the UAE society Establishment Housemaid and nannies have led to establishment agencies and recruit childcare givers and nannies. The majestic nannies is a Middle East based agency that offers online services direct from its offices in Abu Dhabi and its novel 2011 London office. Majestic nannies agency specializes in recruitment of highly experience and qualified childcare professionals. The services of this agency are unique as it has dual offices which enable it to help both nannies and families in superior ways. Whilst utilizing modern technology in the recruitment processes, the agency is able to maintain personal touch and ensure every placement id tailored to the needs of the family. As a professional company, Majestic Nannies is committed to safety of children and follows the federation of recruitment and employment services’ code of practice. Majestic Nannies (2010) observe that the recruitment is through and each candidate is interviewed and references verifies. There is also an inclusion of the criminal background check to ensure that the recruited nannies are of good conduct (Pearce, 2003). Another organization involved in the recruitment of housemaids and nannies is the Nannies Dubai. This organization is an authorized domestic department of Gulf human resource solutions FZE that provides specialized HR services to both companies and individuals throughout the United Arab Emirates. Dubai Nannies focuses on the recruitment of English speaking live-in nannies, caregiver nurses and governesses in the household of expat s working and living in UAE. Dubai Nannies team is devoted to offering families with quality candidates who they will be capable to incorporate into their homes. According to Pearce (2003), Dubai Nannies agency provides a huge selection of foreign professionals who have undergone careful screening to make sure that they meet the needs of the client. The agency’s professional consultant speaks with the clients so as to understand their personal needs and to tailor the agency’s approach to assisting clients find a high calibre nanny. The agency views the selection procedure a vital step in solving the domestic service needs of the clients. Housemaids and nannies have replaced the role of parents in child rearing Children in the modern UAE society are being raised by total strangers such as daycares providers, home nannies and neighbourhood bedsitters. A recent survey conducted by the knowledge and human development authority (KHDA) revealed that 94% of the Emirati families assessed in Dubai keep housemaids or nannies to assist in child rearing and other household chores. In addition, Dubai women’s establishment survey of 1,186 working females’ within Dubai government departments established that 62% of kids under the age of four years are taken care of by housemaids, 32% by extended families and 5% by the private nurseries. The survey also established that out of the 144, 630 Dubai immigrant families, 90% send their kids to private nurseries whilst 5% keep nannies. How housemaids and nannies affect the behaviour of children Children who are raised by housemaids and nannies display unruly behaviour due to lack of adequate parental care. Whilst it is impractical for parents to spend all time with their kids, it is vital for them to understand that when they leave these children with housemaids and nannies for so long, they are co-parenting with these helpers. Even when parents are present at home, overwork usually make them to have limited attention, energy and time for their children. This is viewed as a form of child neglect which has turned out to be an endemic in the UAE society. The failure of parents to spend enough time with their children results to severe negative impacts on the children, both in home and school. Parenting deficit leads to variety problems amongst the children and youth, such as mental problems, poor performance at school, teen suicide and alcohol and drug abuse. The early years of development are vital for the development of the brain in the spheres of language, cognitive, and socio-emotional development. The early developmental years also forms the foundation stage of education, and also mental and physical health and adult wellbeing and parents should therefore neglect these. The prevalent activity of outsourcing children to housemaids and nannies has to a greater degree promoted child neglect by parents. This has made parents unable to pass traditions and morals to the children and is neglecting them through leaving them in the hands of nannies. Parents offer a greater level of responsibility to total strangers through letting them undertake tasks and roles they are supposed to be doing. Such children are denied the opportunity to learn appropriate boundaries and behaviour from the parents. For instance, a nanny who has been instructed to give food to a little child will do anything to make the child finish the food. These early power battles with food can make the child to have anorexia in the late stages of development. On the contrary, a parent is prone to teach the kid where, when, and how to eat, in addition to the fundamental law. Likewise, children who grow up under the care of nannies have delays in language development because the nannies hardly talk to the children, not like parents who maintain constant dialogues with their children. Apart from sourcing nannies from home nations, parents also obtain and hire nannies from local agencies. For instance, Majestic Nannies which is a branch of United Kingdom based agency gives out approximately ten nannies each month. This agency source nannies from local pool or bring them from foreign countries ILO (International Labour Organization, 2004). Establishment of Nanny or Maid Visa Except for UAE nationals and GCC citizens, other individuals are required to get a residence visa in order to be able to legally reside in UAE. For majority of immigrants, the organization that employs them sponsors them for UAE residency, together with work permit or labour card. When a nanny or maid gets employment in UAE, they get a legitimate entry for thirty days, a time by which a labour card or work permit and residence card should be obtained. Brannen and Moss (2003) advices that the nanny or housemaid should visit immigration department and government hospital for application of medical tests and health card. The employer and nanny or maid should provide original passport with entry permits into the UAE to the immigration department. Plight of housemaids and nannies in UAE households Due to individualized working atmosphere of domestic labour, women domestic servants are the most susceptible group to abuse in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Domestic employees are usually not granted freedom of movement and they are locked inside or prohibited from leaving the house without permission from their employer. Maids and nannies are usually abused either physically or psychologically. Violence against nannies includes physical assaults ranging from slapping to rape. Physical assault is normally carried out by the madam of the house. Other types of violence are overworking, entailing forcibly doing work in more than a single home and refusal of off days, reduced salary and non payment of salaries. Housemaids also experience poor conditions of living like lack of privacy and food. Majority of maid workers report suffering from multiple forms of violence during their employment and majority of them are very traumatize by this experience to the extent of negatively affecting their capability to reincorporate into the society when they return home (Brannen & Moss, 2003). Foreign domestic workers have few options of dealing with assault by their employers. When escaped nannies report their cases and file complaints against employers, they accused of telling lies or detained for escaping. Government operated shelters for runaway maids are an ordinary destination for immigrant females in Saudi Arabia and UAE. Nevertheless, this supposed aid is only offered until the case of the runaway domestic workers are settled by returning them to their sponsors or through deportation. Because employers keep the passport of the migrant maids, changing the job is almost an impossible task. Therefore, due to fear of termination of employment, housemaids and nannies usually endure persistent mistreatment and exploitation rather than filling complaints and consequent deportment (Ehrenreich & Arlie, 2003). In the GCC countries particularly UAE the kafala sponsorship scheme places numerous overseas household workers, mostly women, in indentured conditions, where sponsor keeps their papers and passports, secures work with numerous employers and charges immigrants for sponsorship services. In UAE, household work sector isn’t covered by the labour law, and this implies that the working situations of migrant maids are considered under the laws linked with security and migration control, majorly focused upon illegality of immigrants other than the unlawful acts of middlemen and employers. Roumani (2005) argues that when these conditions exist, labour mediation thrives at clandestine level. When recruiters or agencies sign contractors with the sponsors that itemize the liability of the employer towards the immigrant maid, it mostly protects the business and legal interests of the agency, with minute or no monitoring on treatment of migrants. In UAE, nanny recruiting agencies might be licensed by local government, with lack of closer monitoring of their operations. As a consequence, several migrant maids do not have work contract. As a result of the apparently deliberate nature of immigrant labour, it is a fateful actuality that majority of maids efficiently enchain themselves overseas with the hope of promoting their economic condition at home. This is not a suggestion that immigrant maids are to censure for their plights in the UAE society because majority of these domestic servants are not aware of what they are getting themselves into. Maids usually expect to be paid high salaries but this is not always the case. Since majority of these immigrant maids incur considerable debts to leave UAE, they normally go back to Gulf after termination of their contracts, therefore continuing contract slavery and exploitations sequence. Recruiting agencies that send domestic workers to Persian Gulf are very much aware of exploitations these maids face, as well as labour sending nations themselves. In spite of this knowledge, nations like Philippines, with economic instability and growing populations, goes on to send women domestic servants overseas since the financial gain of remittances cannot be taken for granted. For these poor nations, sending of workers to Persian Gulf and Middle East lessens the figure of unemployed individuals, and reduces the risk of social dissatisfaction (Ehrenreich & Arlie, 2003). When compared to other types of slavery, the deliberate servitude of immigrant maids is hard to eliminate since it is highly ingrained in global markets of labour sending and receiving nations. Maids who move into Saudi Arabia and UAE do so deliberately, and offer themselves to the sponsors with the expectation of bettering themselves as well as their families. Conclusion The recent economic development in UAE has enabled women to get educate and join workforce which has necessitated the need for housemaids and nannies to help working mothers in looking after the children. Even though housemaids and nannies are helping working mothers, they are greatly influencing children and the entire UAE society. Children who are raised by nannies show unruly behaviour as a result of lack of sufficient parental care. The failure of parents to spend time with their children is seen as neglect by the society. Housemaids and nannies are exploited by their employers due to individualized working environment of domestic labour. Nannies and maids are usually prohibited from leaving the house, are always physically attacked or forced to work for several households without pay. References ILO (International Labour Organization) (2004). Gender and migration in Arab States: the case of domestic workers, ILO Regional Office for Arab States, Beirut. Pearce, N., (2003). Migrant workers’ rights; The passport issue. London: Kalayaan. International Labor Organization (2004). Migrant women in the United Arab Emirates: The case of female domestic workers. In series on women and migration: International Labor Office. Geneva: International Labor Office. Ehrenreich, B, & Arlie, H., (2003). Global woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex workers in the new economy. New York: metropolitan Books. Shah, M, (2004). Gender and labour migration to the Gulf countries. Feminist Review 77(1): 183-185. Roumani, H., (2005). Maids in Arabia: The impact of maids as careers on children’s social and emotional development. Journal of Early Childhood research, 3(2): 149-167. Brannen, J. & Moss, P. (2003). Rethinking Children's Care. Philadelphia: Open University Press. Majestic Nannies, (2010). Majestic nannies recruitment agency. Retrieved on November 25, 2011 from www.majesticnannies.com/faq.html Read More