A book newly acquired by the Thammasat University Library should interest TU students of sociology, history, economics, development studies, Asian studies, and related areas.

Silent Voices, Untold Stories: Women Domestic Workers in Pakistan and their Struggle for Empowerment was generously donated to the TU Libraries by the Embassy of Pakistan in the Kingdom of Thailand, coordinated by Khun Imran Shauket, Goodwill Ambassador of the Alhamra. The TU Library also owns a number of other books about labor law and domestic workers. 

Silent Voices, Untold Stories is shelved in the Pakistan Corner of the Pridi Banomyong Library, Tha Prachan campus.

Its author is Dr. Ayesha Shahid, an Assistant Professor at the School of Law, Coventry University, the United Kingdom, and an Associate of the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University.

Dr. Shahid’s teaching and research interests are in the areas of international human rights law, Islamic family law, gender and the law and public international law.

Among subjects on which she has recently authored or coauthored research studies include Filiation and the Protection of Parentless Children: Towards a Social Definition of the Family in Muslim Jurisdictions; “Trafficking of Women in the UAE: A Critical Assessment of the UAE’s Obligations under International, Regional and Domestic Legal Frameworks”; An Exploration of the ‘Global’ History of International Law: Some Perspectives from within the Islamic Legal Traditions; Post-Divorce Maintenance Rights for Muslim Women in Pakistan and Iran: Making the Case for Law Reform; Parental Care and the Best Interests of the Child in Muslim Countries; and Migrant Filipino domestic workers in Pakistan; Agency, rights and the limits of the law.

In her doctoral dissertation, submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Law, University of Warwick, upon which Silent Voices, Untold Stories was based, Dr. Shahid offered the following summary:

This is a socio-legal study about law, empowerment and access to justice for women domestic workers in Pakistan. There are no official statistics available on the number of women working in this informal employment sector, neither are there any in-depth research studies carried out on the subject of women in domestic service in Pakistan. Therefore this exploratory study attempts to fill the gap in existing literature by providing information about the profile, nature, working and living conditions of women domestic workers. It provides a starting point towards an understanding of the situation of women in domestic service by listening to their voices and lived experiences. By using feminist legal perspectives, Islamic perspectives on women’s work and legal pluralism, the present study questions the efficacy of law as a tool for empowering women domestic workers in their struggle against exploitative treatment in the workplace. Grounded theory methodology is followed to collect empirical data about domestic service in Pakistan. Semi-structured group and individual interviews have been carried out at four sites in Karachi and Peshawar, Pakistan. A few case studies have also been included to substantiate some of the major themes arising during fieldwork. Listening to voices of women in domestic service has provided an opportunity to uncover the hidden lives of women domestic workers who work in the privacy of homes. The present study also explores the nature of domestic service, dynamics of employer-employee relations and complexities of class, gender and multiple identities impacting on these relationships. The study finally argues that in the presence of plural legal frameworks formal law alone cannot empower women in domestic service. Therefore for an effective implementation of law it is equally pertinent to look into non-legal strategies so that access to justice can be made possible for these women.

Her conclusion, in part:

This study has shown that lives of women domestic workers in Pakistan depict the picture of those trapped in a circle of poverty and deprived of basic facilities of life. Their basic human needs remain unfulfilled due to lack of attention and indifferent attitude of the state, civil society and individual employers. By its nature being an `invisible’ form of work the total number of those working as domestic workers, remains largely unknown in Pakistan. The main recommendation of this study is that as an important initial step towards empowering this category of women a country wide survey be undertaken by the government. Any strategy for improving the situation of women domestic workers is dependent on this information. The study highlights the fact that women domestic workers both in developed as well as developing countries suffer discrimination in terms of low wages, long working hours, harassment in the workplace and double burden of work. Above all as domestic service is performed in the privacy of a home they face numerous difficulties in the absence of any legal protection and support structures. In most of the countries across the North-South divide they are marginalised, remain invisible, not included in labour statistics and labour framework. Due to the lack of any legal coverage they remain at the mercy of their employers. This feeling of constant insecurity adversely affects their living conditions and their capabilities. Despite all hardships and being in a vulnerable situation these women continue struggle hard for themselves and for their families. Though unorganised in the formal sense they resist the oppressive system in their own way. Although such struggle may not appear very sustainable and the process of change could be very slow and arduous, yet it has created some space and tolerance for the work done by women.

Thailand and Women Domestic Workers

In June 2019, the Bangkok Post published an article by Natthanicha Lephilibert, a Safe and Fair (SAF) National Project Coordinator for Thailand, International Labour Organization (ILO) and Boonwara Sumano Chenphuengpawn, PhD, a Research Fellow at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI).

The article stated:

In some respects, Thai legislation has become more closely aligned with the requirements of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No.189 (Domestic Workers Convention). However, domestic workers are not enjoying the same rights as ordinary workers. They are not entitled to working-hour limitations, overtime compensation, maternity leave, and a minimum wage…We do not know how many domestic workers there are in Thailand. The Foreign Worker Administration Office, Ministry of Labour has records of migrant domestic workers, who numbered around 50,000 as of February this year. The majority of them are women from Myanmar. The actual number is, however, expected to be much higher. This is because there are migrant workers who did not go through official channels…

From the ILO website, we learn that in Thailand,

The Foundation for Labour and Employment Promotion (HomeNet Thailand), a nongovernmental organization working with homeworkers and domestic workers in Thailand, estimates that up to 90 per cent of domestic workers are documented or undocumented migrants from neighbouring countries. The Regulation extends some new rights and protections provided under the Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541 (A.D. 1998) to domestic workers, namely the right to a weekly rest day, traditional public holidays, sick leave and payment of unused leave days in case of termination. Further, it provides that the general minimum age for admission to employment set by the Labour Protection Act is applicable to domestic workers. The new Regulation is an important step towards protecting domestic workers just like other workers in the country, although Developments in Law and Practice 2013 Thailand: new Ministerial Regulation offers better protection of domestic workers’ rights.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)