Maid Abuse in Malaysia
Topic:
Maid Abuse In Malaysia
Thesis Statement:
Maid abuse, which is caused by many factors brings negative effects to the victims, countries involved and communities, thus it must be curbed.
Maid abuse is no longer a new issue in Malaysia. What is maid abuse? It is known as an assault and coercive behaviour, which mainly includes physical, psychological and at times sexual too, by employer or household members of employer against a person hired as a domestic help. Malaysia is one of wealthiest countries in South East Asia and therefore acts as magnet for migrants fleeing here to work. In Malaysia, majority of the domestic workers are full time workers and most of them come from neighbouring poor countries. There are various factors that lead to maid abuse in Malaysia. The unfortunate thing is that maid abuse does not only cause both mental and physical injuries to the maids, but it also jeopardize our international friendship with countries involved. Hence, there is an urgent need to solve this social issue.
One of the major causes of maid abuse over here in Malaysia is the lack of comprehensive national policies for maid protection by our Malaysian Government. As pointed out by D’Cruz (2009), foreign domestic workers here are vulnerable as they lack of legal protection, which subjects them to any kind of working condition an employer sees fit. There is also no specific law in Malaysia on violence against domestic workers (wao.com.my). As stated by Lourdes (2008), maids are stuck in a Catch -22 situation because the second they seek for help from the authorities, their employers or agents will lodge reports against them. The Employment Act provides them the right to redress but the Immigration Acts removes it by making them illegals living here. According to Dass (2008) in Lourdes (2008), the employers will be informed by the agents that maids who misbehave would be given counselling but this counselling turns up to be filled with punishing and abusing. Maids
Maid Abuse In Malaysia
Thesis Statement:
Maid abuse, which is caused by many factors brings negative effects to the victims, countries involved and communities, thus it must be curbed.
Maid abuse is no longer a new issue in Malaysia. What is maid abuse? It is known as an assault and coercive behaviour, which mainly includes physical, psychological and at times sexual too, by employer or household members of employer against a person hired as a domestic help. Malaysia is one of wealthiest countries in South East Asia and therefore acts as magnet for migrants fleeing here to work. In Malaysia, majority of the domestic workers are full time workers and most of them come from neighbouring poor countries. There are various factors that lead to maid abuse in Malaysia. The unfortunate thing is that maid abuse does not only cause both mental and physical injuries to the maids, but it also jeopardize our international friendship with countries involved. Hence, there is an urgent need to solve this social issue.
One of the major causes of maid abuse over here in Malaysia is the lack of comprehensive national policies for maid protection by our Malaysian Government. As pointed out by D’Cruz (2009), foreign domestic workers here are vulnerable as they lack of legal protection, which subjects them to any kind of working condition an employer sees fit. There is also no specific law in Malaysia on violence against domestic workers (wao.com.my). As stated by Lourdes (2008), maids are stuck in a Catch -22 situation because the second they seek for help from the authorities, their employers or agents will lodge reports against them. The Employment Act provides them the right to redress but the Immigration Acts removes it by making them illegals living here. According to Dass (2008) in Lourdes (2008), the employers will be informed by the agents that maids who misbehave would be given counselling but this counselling turns up to be filled with punishing and abusing. Maids
Bibliography: 1. D’Cruz, F. (2009, June 12). MAID ABUSE IN MALAYSIA: Tortured souls in our homes. Retrieved December 13, 2010, from http://blog.changeyourworld.com.my/cyw-blogs/maid-abuse-in-malaysia-tortured-souls-in-our-homes/ 2. Lourdes, M. (2008, September 22). Foreign maids given raw deal. Retrieved from December 13, 2010, from http://malaysianbar.org.my/.../foreign_maids_given_raw_deal.html 3. Azizan, H. (2009, November 22). Helping the help. Retrieved from December 13, 2010, from http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/22/focus/5115239&sec=focus 4. Boo, S.L. (2010, May 26). Maids’ rights vs employers’ rights: A zero-sum game? Retrieved from December 13,2010, from http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/maids-rights-vs-employers-rights-a-zero-sum-game-boo-su-lyn/ 5. Malaysian Digest. (2010, May 20). Indonesian- Malaysian Police Cooperation Helps Solve Maid Abuse Case. Retrieved from December 13, 2010, from http://malaysiandigest.com/.../3806-indonesian-malaysian-police-cooperation-helps-solve-maid-abuse-case.htm 6. Habibu, S., Kong, L. (2009, June 27). Najib: Act fast to check maid abuse. Retrieved from December 13, 2010, from http://martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/.../check-maid-abuse.htm 7. Earth Times. (2009, June 26). Malaysia to suffer huge losses from Indonesia’s maid ban. Retrieved from December 13, 2010, from http://martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/.../check-maid-abuse.htm 8. The Star (2009, June 20). Indonesia threat to cut maid supply. Retrieved from December 13, 2010, from http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/6/20/nation/4162397&sec=nation