Morocco’s child maids are now refusing to keep quiet. Recruited by “Samsars” (recruiters) from their villages, mainly in rural environments, they are sent to towns as domestic servants, often for middle-class families, and promised an education and a wage. But every year, child maids die after ill-treatment inflicted by their employers. Most are prevented from getting an education. They are sometimes beaten and poorly-fed, and their salary, 55 euros on average (around 5 times lower than the minimum wage), is given only to their parents. But they are now refusing to remain silent.
Child servants – both girls and boys – are common in the country, making up around 30,000 out of the 123,000 working children aged between 5 and 14. Although this is far lower than in 1999, when the figure was 517,000, the gravity of the situation remains all the more extreme given that deaths and abuse could be avoided.
Parents are often unaware of their child’s situation in these families and do not know what their daily life entails. Commonly, parents do not understand their children’s legal rights. With tragedies becoming more frequent, the media is telling the stories of Fatima, Khadija, and Zineb, victims of abuse. Thanks to this information, organisations are rallying against these abuses and are working relentlessly to mobilise public opinion and raise awareness among parents so that they do not accept this situation for their children.
Morocco has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and in 2011 even passed a law protecting children under 15 from domestic labour. However, outside of these laws, a debate on the law’s leniency towards those responsible for the deaths of child maids fully deserves to be held.
On behalf of child domestic servants, let’s spread the word, talk about this problem, and tell your friends about it. Child maids are refusing to remain silent. Let’s listen.
For more information :
http://www.tdh.ch/fr/news/maroc–petites-bonnes-mais-grandes-victimes
http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2012/11/16/au-maroc-l-exploitation-des-petites-bonnes-continue_1791822_3212.html
http://www.rtbf.be/info/emissions/article_histoire-du-monde-petites-bonnes-au-maroc?id=8022334
http://www.slateafrique.com/400616/societe-marocains-exploitation-enfants-petites-bonnes-prtotection
http://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/16266/maroc-petite-bonne-assassinee-employeurs.html
http://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/16266/maroc-petite-bonne-assassinee-employeurs.html
Written by : Manon Moreno Translated by: Garen Gent-Randall Proofread by: Catherine Nicol |
