DEHUMANIZATION OF DOMESTIC HELPS IN NIGERIA

Almost three years ago, a Housewife at the Surulere Axis of Lagos set her thirteen year old house help on fire in broad daylight on Adeniran Ogunsanya Street. She doused the poor girl with Kerosene and set her ablaze for eating a piece of meat from her pot of soup. Unfortunately the young girl died of 3rd degree burns days later at the Gbagada General Hospital.

The issue of Abuse against domestic helps is one of the causes dear to our hearts on this platform. We had hitherto done a post on the maltreatment of Domestic helps in time past. However we feel the need to shed more light on the issue.

In most homes in Nigeria today, people employ one or more domestic help, that is usually the norm. Most women tend to pay for more hands to help within the household with chores and effective running of the house generally.

We all know how tedious the workload can be, especially if the people or family in question have tight schedules or work nine to five, in busy cities like Lagos as an example.

 Also, the burden to do all the work rests solely on one person often times in Nigeria, which is the woman, except in some cases(thankfully some men are beginning to help). Note, that in the Nigerian society, men are hardly hands on, truth be told. Which is why the tasks at home are more often than not left for the woman of the house to handle. They handle the cleaning, cooking, washing, school runs etc. Ours is a patriarchal society and it is almost a taboo to see men clean or perform 'womanly' tasks. (This, we shall discuss on another post).

 All these and more, has left many women with a few choices, so they employ Maids. Shortly after, some of these Madams or Men of the house starts to unleash terror on these helps, who are mostly little kids, the dehumanizing acts never stops until they are caught or the kids return back to their parents or villages. They start by starving them, giving them almost rag-like cloths to wear and the sleeping conditions the helps are subjected to are usually nothing to write home about.

Thankfully  the society is no longer turning a blind eye to this rampaging issue. Cases of such incidence are being reported to the police.  Sadly though, the Abuse does not seem to abate. There are still news reports of inhumane treatments  being meted out on hired Helps. Which boils down to how we treat ourselves in this society. How people denigrate those they feel are lower to them in status.

While it must be added that we have employers who are angels and treat their helps like their own children, it is pertinent to write that, until these abusers starts getting convicted in the courts of Law, and not getting away with these crimes with a slap on the wrist, the Abuse will continue to linger.