KUALA LUMPUR - Concerns have been raised that foreign domestic workers who suffer mistreatment, including sexual abuse, at the hands of their employers are reluctant to lodge complaints due to a lack of relevant laws in Malaysia.
Tenaganita counsellor Fajar Santoadi told The Vibes that Malaysian employment laws that are relevant for domestic workers only cover matters like salary payment and do not accord due protection against abuse.
“There is only a guideline for employers by the Ministry of Human Resources over how employers should treat their domestic workers, and this guideline is not a law,” she said.
Malaysian Maid Employers Association (MAMA) president Engku Ahmad Fauzi said cases of abuse on maids are rampant due to ignorance by both domestic workers and employers. He said there is a need for legislation on this problem.
“Both parties (are ignorant). We really encourage a law. There should be legislation to protect the foreign domestic workers and the employers,” Engku said.
Speaking to The Vibes on condition of anonymity, foreign domestic workers mentioned horrific tales of abuse by employers but admitted to not making reports or complaints.
One such worker who was molested by her employer's father said that she held back from complaining about the matter as someone in the family suffers from breast cancer.
She said that she did not want to aggravate problems in her employer’s home.
Another told a similar story, where her employer's father and a friend made sexually suggestive remarks on her.
The Filipina single mother, however, refused to complain because she was a foreigner and was afraid of losing her source of income.
“Although we are working here in Malaysia as domestic workers, some of us are college graduates,” she said.
“Due to the lack of job opportunities in our country and very low wages we need to leave our comfort zones and struggle to work here as domestic workers.”
“No matter how decent we are, if we are domestic workers others will look down on us and they think they can do or speak in whatever way they want to us.
“But for me being a domestic worker isn’t bad because we earn clean money from it," she said.
Others tried complaining to their respective agents only to find that the agencies tend to favour employers when handling such matters.
According to the Malaysian Association of Employment Agencies president Datuk Foo Yong Hooi, channels are available for affected maids to seek help.
He said while some sexual harassment cases are genuine, he has come across others that are not. He said these involved relationships becoming sour.
“Something happens between the employer and the maid and then things turn sour. Then the (maid) lodges a sexual harassment complaint,” he said.
"If we find out that there's a real case of sexual harassment, we will stand up for our domestic workers because they are some of the most vulnerable people in Malaysia.
"There are avenues for the maids to complain, they can call the agency, embassy or neighbour. Those maids who came in through the legal way will be briefed by the agencies on their rights," Datuk Foo said when contacted. - The Vibes, November 3, 2020
