Gender and Rights Research Report on Chinese Female Migrant Domestic Workers...

中国外来家政女工的性别与权益研究报告

Gender and Rights Research Report on

Chinese Female Migrant Domestic Workers

艾美玲家政工行动研究项目负责人

中国社会科学院法学研究所性别与法律研究中心的访问学者

Mei-Ling Ellerman

Director of Action Research Project on Domestic Workers Visiting Scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS),

Gender and Law Research Center

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中国外来家政女工的性别与权益

研究报告

艾美玲家政工行动研究项目

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目录

第一章简介

第一节背景 1

第二节出版 1-2

第三节感谢 2

第四节受访者的基本信息 3-4

第二章对采访问卷的分析

第一节受访者的教育程度 5-6

第二节性别问题 7-16 贫困/工作/经济独立 7

教育 7-8

婚姻 8-9

家庭暴力 10-11

虐待儿童 11-12

自杀 12-14

拐卖妇女 14-16

第三节家政工在工作场所遇到的问题 16-19 工作场所的问题 16-17

性骚扰 17-19

第四节作为一个家政工的经验 20-21 家政工对其职业的思考 20

家政工的待遇和机会的缺乏 21

第五节变化的过程 22-24 家政工关于其流动经历的思考 22-23

返乡：与家乡的融合 23-24

第六节长期打算 24-27

第七节结论 27-29

第三章小组活动

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小组活动一：初到北京的打工者 31-35

第一节参与者的故事 32-33

第二节工作场所问题的动因 33

第三节初到北京的打工者遇到的问题 33-34

第四节需求和对策 34-35

小组活动二：工作场所的问题及相关对策 35-39

第一节工作场所的问题及相关对策 36 工资问题 36

拖欠工资的对策 36

超时工作的对策 36

食宿问题 37

食宿问题的对策 37

待遇问题 37-38

反对不公正的待遇 38

第二节建立一个服务于家政工的组织 38-39

小组活动三：对未来的打算和期望 39-42

第一节工作计划 39-41

第二节家庭计划 41

第三节学习和自我发展 41-42

第四节参与和组织 42

第四章城市组织和公民的进一步参与第一节北京外来家政工的需求和权益 43-45 实际需求 43-44

战略利益 44

关于雇用渠道方面的需要 44-45

第二节公众社会的参与 45-47 北京的公众社会组织（CSOs）服务家政工的案例

45-46

隐性的及未开发的资源 46

社会关系网络、能力与能力建立问题 46-47

第三节家政工的示范中心 47-49

第四节结论 49-50

第一章简介

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第一章简介

第一节背景

2005 年，在富布莱特(Fulbright)基金和戴维博伦(David L.

Boren)基金的赞助下，我以访问学者的身份，在中国社会科学院

法学研究所性别与法律研究中心开始了“家政工行动研究项

目”，研究北京的外来家政工在工作场所的问题。经过两年的研

究，在十几位受过训练的志愿者的帮助下，我于 2007 年完成了

100 个对男女家政工的一对一的采访。我们每周在家政公司教授

英语，并对这些家政工进行采访。我们调查了家政工们在工作场

所遇到的问题及他们的回应——性别意识、歧视、虐待、性骚

扰、与外界接触的机会和自我能力的提高。我一直在寻找机会使

用这些资料提高社会意识，支持家政工作为一个完全参与的、有

价值的社会成员去争取平等的工作和公平的待遇。等待社会改变

性别陈规、重新评价看护和家政工作要走的路还很长；这种工作

虽然是构成健康家庭和社会的基石，但是，历史上和传统上却多

是由女性担任了这样的角色，以后这样的角色应当由男女共同分

担。

第二节出版

这份双语的出版物源于另外一个从性别角度研究女性外来家

政工的权益问题的合作项目。2005 年底，我和“打工妹之家”合

作发起了对 20 个北京家政工的经历的补充性和综合性的研究。

研究过程包括设计结构化的定性调查问卷（包括开放式问题和结

构式问题）以及与非政府组织成员回顾并讨论我们的分析方法和

采访的资料。我设计了问卷；打工妹之家的工作人员承担了大部

分的采访工作，并对这 20 个个案的资料来源负责。问卷按时间

顺序记录了这些妇女对她们在老家和移民到北京后打工生活的描

述。

第一章简介

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根据这项合作研究，我在当地的家政公司开展了三次小组活

动，这些活动的内容与问卷所提出的问题直接相关。通过互动教

学、讲故事、提问和自由讨论的方式，这些参与式活动成为获取

家政工所面临的问题、她们的需要以及如何解决这些问题的直接

信息来源。

这份出版物分析了来自于深度访谈的定性资料以及以呼吁社

会关注家政工面临的重要问题为目的的小组活动资料，内容包

括：她们自身使用什么样的策略以及建议民间组织如何给与合理

的回应。该手册既面向从事移民问题的组织，也供希望能够更多

了解中国移民问题的读者参阅。这些采访探讨并且提供了影响到

城市打工的农村妇女的多种因素的分析背景。有关小组活动的章

节提供了我们与外地打工者参与的集体工作的结果、她们的经历

和应对策略。后一章涉及民间组织在致力于满足家政工提出的

需求中扮演的角色，以及如何通过现有的和潜在的资源、网络与

知识维护家政工的权益。

第三节感谢

首先，我要感谢受访的家政工们，她们出于帮助他人的考

虑，敞开心扉讲述自己的经历，并为当地组织如何帮助这一群体

出谋划策。谨以此文献给她们。

非常感谢两位主要的采访者——方清霞和方凤，感谢她们为

采访付出的辛勤劳动和为整个项目做出的贡献；我的志愿者们和

方清霞一丝不苟地完成了采访的抄录工作；感谢所有参与分析小

组的人员，包括我的志愿者们和“打工妹之家”的合作者；我还

要特别感谢该项目的研究助理洪燕，她连月以来的辛勤工作和奉

献助成了这项出版；感谢新加坡国立大学的姜娜杰出的翻译、艾

美美（Mei-Mei Ellerman）对英文版娴熟的编辑、洪燕对中文版

尽职尽责的校订以及艾·戴瑞克（Derek Ellerman）对封面别致

的设计。联合国教科文组织的 Karin Czermak 对我们的工作的慷

慨支持，令我不知如何表达对她的感激之情。后，我要感谢联

合国教科文组织对外地家政工权益的支持和对该项目的财政资

助。由衷地祝愿它能够在推进中国外来家政工的人权事业中作出

意义重大的贡献。

第一章简介

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第四节受访者的基本信息

年龄组：

19-23 岁：8人

24-30 岁：5 人

30-39 岁（大多 35 岁以上）：6 人

40-49 岁：1人

教育程度：

没有上过学：1 人

小学水平（完成学业的）：1 人

中学水平（包括中途辍学及完成学业的）：14 人

高中水平（包括中途辍学及完成学业的）：2人

中专（完成学业的）：2人

父母的工作背景：

我询问了受访者的父母的职业，以更好地了解她们的背景。

27 人-农民

2 人-铁路工人

1 人-裁缝

1 人-工人

1 人-林矿业工人

1 人-公务员，当地政府供职

1 人-教师

1 人-司机

1 人-家政工

2 人-商贩

2 人-父母生病或亡故

第一章简介

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受访者在北京的家政工作经历在 2 年到 7 年之间。

20 位采访对象的基本信息

序号年龄组教育程度婚姻状态在北京的

家政工作

经历

1 19-23 高一未婚 2 年

2 24-30 初二未婚 7 年

3 24-30 初中毕业已婚 2 年，在北

京 11 年

4 19-23 初中未婚 4 年

5 30-39 未入学已婚 3-4 年，在

北京 11 年

6 40-49 小学毕业已婚 4 年

7 19-23 初二未婚 3 年半

8 24-30 初中已婚 7 年

9 30-39 初中毕业已婚 6 年

10 24-30 3 年职业高

中毕业

已婚 5 年

11 19-23 初中未婚 3 年

12 24-30 职业高中未婚 5 年，在北

京 8 年

13 19-23 初中未婚 5 年

14 19-23 初一未婚 3 年

15 30-39 高中守寡 5 年

16 30-39 初中毕业已婚 2 年

17 19-23 初中毕业未婚 3 年

18 30-39 初中离异 2 年

19 19-23 初一未婚 4 年

20 30-39 初一离异 1-2 年

受访者在来北京做家政工之前在不同的行业工作，她们有的

来自加油站、布料厂、纺织厂、造纸厂、餐馆，有的做过快递、

第一章简介

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裁缝、农民，有的在家抚养孩子，有的开店卖热水器、小吃、蔬

菜，有的养牛、做农活。

第二章对访谈问卷的分析

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这份采访问卷主要是针对家政工自己对影响妇女的因素的认

识而设计的。问卷间接地考察了她们对两性的社会角色的信条和

态度，也考察了她们在亲身或间接地受到对妇女的不平等的待遇

的影响后如何形成了自己的观点、做出了怎样的选择和采取了怎

样的行动。问卷的第一部分涉及家政女工们在老家时面临的性别

问题，如女性教育、家庭暴力和自杀行为；第二部分是关于移民

到北京的决定和拐卖妇女的话题；后一部分涵盖了在北京工作

中面临的所有问题、雇主家的待遇和工作条件、工作场所的性骚

扰、采访对象在做家政工的过程中思想上的变化以及她们对将来

的打算。我在这份报告中的数据分析，目的在于深入研究可能影

响这些女性和她们的性别规范的严肃的社会议题，以及对于权力

和女性在社会和工作场所中的地位的看法。

外来家政工没有多少资源，她们通常依赖雇主为她们提供住

宿、膳食和工资。作为非正规就业部门中的一个群体，由于在隔

离的居家环境下工作，并且不受中国劳动法的保护，她们极易遭

受剥削、虐待和歧视。北京急需立法并成立相关组织来帮助家政

工们解决工作场所所遇到的困难。城市中大多数打工者教育程度

低下，财力微薄，又缺乏社会关系网络。这些妇女正在与形成她

们的家庭和工作的角色以及影响她们进入服务行业的性别规范抗

争。尽管她们能够外出打工挣钱并且获得新的经历，但是她们必

须面对这种被人们认为是廉价的、社会地位低下的和女性化的工

作所带来的困难。

第一节受访者的教育背景

在分析中，我们用不同的词语来代表家政工，包括：受访

者，工人，女性和回答者。我们首先考察了 20 位受访者的教育

背景，因为这与她们加入家政工行业直接相关，即这个行业不要

求正规的技能和培训。大多数受访的家政工仅仅获得了初中文

凭，或者初中没有毕业就辍学了。这些女孩子们的教育程度低下

与女性被社会所规范的角色和价值密切相关。在这些受访者当


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中，有些人也许与其他人相比有较强的性别和权利意识，这与她

们先前接触过“打工妹之家”直接相关。

20 位受访者中，只有 8 个女孩由于家里穷困、无法负担学费

而中途辍学。然而在这 8 个人中，3 个女孩的兄弟们却可以继续

读书。一位受访者在描述自己被迫辍学、而自己的兄弟却能继续

读书时情绪变得激动起来，她到现在都无法原谅父亲当初的决

定。

10 个女孩或是不愿意读书、或是由于成绩不好而离校。当她

们说到自己学习不好时，这也可能是没人教过这些女孩子们学习

技巧、鼓励她们保持良好的学习习惯，或是说她们也许受到教师

歧视女孩读书的态度的影响。然而也有父母鼓励她们上学的情

形，一个女孩还被老师叫回了学校。一位受访者高中毕业后就离

校了，因为她觉得自己所学的已经够用了；另外一位离校是想要

摆脱学校的束缚、走向社会；其他的受访者的家庭不重视教育问

题，但也没有劝阻自己的女儿放弃学业。我们不能期望未成年人

对自己的学业做出十分理性的决定，因为他们无法了解这种决定

将如何影响自己的未来。孩子很容易受父母、同龄人尤其是小

学、初中就辍学的同学的影响。

只有一小半的受访者被迫辍学是由于家里财力不够。因此，

大多数女孩原本只是需要更多的指导和鼓励就可以继续学习。下

面是采访者的回答：

[受访者 20] 她初一时辍学。“很多原因，那时候就是太小

了，家里条件不太好，别人呢都上不起学，我呢，我们家有家

务，我就不珍惜，我不爱上学，特辛苦。当时太不懂事，后来有

学习的机会，可是我就是不去，当时属太固执的那种人，为什么

我现在逮着书就看，逮着有学习机会就学”。

[受访者 17] 她初中毕业。“…但我哥的学费特别高，得 1

万多，所以我爸做出决定，就让我哥读，让我停学了。”

[受访者 9]“因为那会儿小不懂事，再说父母不重视，父母

不重视你也就不会重视，你自己也就不重视。如果父母不重视这

些，你又那么小还是个孩子，你肯定也不重视，就糊里湖涂不上

学了。”


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第二节性别问题

该问卷询问家政工们：老家的女孩或者妇女遇到的大的问

题是什么。她们的回答必然会反映出哪些因素影响了她们自己的

社会规范和实践。教育、贫穷、工作和婚姻交织在一起，而这些

都是农村妇女所要面临的重要问题。一些受访者并没有具体地指

出某个问题，而是对大环境和老家机会的缺乏表示担忧。一位受

访者说女孩子要么上学、结婚、生孩子，要么就去工作。她觉得

如果一个女孩不想早早就结婚而又没有工作，处境就会很尴尬。

大城市所能提供的学习和提高的机会与乡下狭隘、单调的生活形

成鲜明的对比，这也促使了许多妇女到城市里去寻找工作。不过

我们在小组活动中的讨论也反映了许多女性只是出于经济上的考

虑才移民到城市来，并非心甘情愿，她们期盼着将来回老家。

贫困/工作/经济独立

一位受访者认为大的问题是找不到工作，或是挣的钱不够

用。从她的回答中也许可以看出，她的家乡的社会规范正在发生

变化，就是说现在妇女和男子一样都有责任出去挣钱。另一位说

她那个年代的人很难找到工作，一个班上 60 个人，只有两个找

到了工作，而且还是父母退休以后顶替的。她的同学们一般和铁

路工人结婚生子，然后到外地打工。她说：“女孩就只好嫁

人。”另一个家政工说她们村太穷了，自己的父母压根就不该把

孩子带到这个世上来。在整个采访过程中，她们都提到了女性应

当独立，这不仅仅是为了保证自己和家人有稳定的经济来源，而

且也是为了她们自己的安全和福利。依靠丈夫赚钱有时与家庭暴

力和在家庭中的不平等地位相关。

教育

教育和婚姻之间存在着明显的联系。有些受访者提到，女性

的教育问题被认为是一个非常严重的问题，她们所在的地区，大

人们往往会让女孩子们辍学去工作或者结婚，有些人则是看到同

学辍学自己也不上了。从受访者的回答中可以推断出，上学是避


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免早婚的一个办法，也为将来的工作打下基础。一个受访者说：

“不上学了，今后的出路在哪里？”

另外一个受访者说她们大多数在老家的时候就中途停学去工

作或结婚。家里在她们 15 岁或 16 岁的时候就给找好了对象，在

她们当中有 17 或 18 岁就结婚的。她接着说老家的村里现在只剩

下老年人和孩子；大多数的年轻人都到外地打工去了。她说，因

为早婚和到外地打工的缘故，越来越少的人会继续上学。像她们

村一样，其他村也缺乏对教育的重视，不认为教育是对女孩子将

来工作和家庭的投资。

相反地，另外一位回答者说她们村里的大多数的女孩子都在

17 或 18 岁结婚。许多念完了初中，如果有钱，她们就参加中

考，考上高中了就继续读书。男孩和女孩都一样，只不过上一届

只有两三个学生考上了高中。

还有一位受访者指出性别歧视和贫困是女孩辍学率高的原

因。“主要是没有经济收入导致辍学。一般女孩辍学的比较多，

农村的思想，重男轻女。”

婚姻

好几位回答者都提到婚姻和家庭关系是农村女性面临的重

要的问题。她们关于婚姻和自杀的讨论常常围绕着家庭管制这个

主题。从历史上看，一个人的家庭影响或者决定了其教育和婚

姻。结婚后，妇女一般和丈夫家住在一起。一些回答者估计说，

十几、二十年前老家的自杀率明显地要比现在高很多。她们所说

的例子都把妇女的自杀行为和妻子受丈夫和公婆的管制联系起

来。其他的回答者说婚姻本身很重要，应该摆在优先地位，对她

们而言主要的问题是找一个合适的丈夫。这些女性的回答反映出

她们家乡普遍存在的一些观点和看法。一些人说要自己找个好丈

夫，这说明她们离包办婚姻的期望已有一定的距离。她们属于外

地打工男女一族，这一族逃脱了被她们描述为封闭的环境，带来

了关于自由选择和性别角色的新观点。其他人意识到婚姻对女性

而言是不公平的，而且它会带来许多麻烦。然而一般的观点还是

觉得你必须结婚，问题只是和谁结婚、何时结婚。

大多数受访者的回答反映出她们的一种意识，即妇女无论是

在自己家还是结婚后都受到社会的贬低。在结婚的必要性和妇女

地位的低下，以及家庭暴力、自杀和拐卖妇女之间有一道必然的


9

联系。一些回答者的确结婚很早，可她们仍然从亲身经历或观察

中意识到性别规范使婚姻成为不平等的制度。女家政工们在描述

自己时，更多地将自己定位在母亲而非妻子的角色上。她们把母

亲看作是自己的职责，并甘愿牺牲自己的自由和生活质量为子女

提供更好的生活。

[受访者 9] 一个回答者说女孩在老家大的问题是找到好的

婆家。尽管她的回答暗示着她对现存的性别规范的认可，但是也

反映出妇女价值的低下。这说明妇女无法掌握自己的命运，而公

婆会决定儿媳的成长、发展和命运。

[受访者 10] 一位家政工用生女孩的故事来说明她们遇到的

大的问题是农村的重男轻女思想。她认识一位妇女，由于生了

个女孩而让公婆很懊恼，在她出外打工的时候公婆就拒绝照顾孙

女。而她自己的母亲也因为正在照看儿子的两个孩子，而不愿意

照顾外孙女。这个回答者说幸亏后来这位妇女在打工时和丈夫又

生了个儿子，所以当夫妻俩再回家的时候情形就好转了。另外一

位妇女因为生了女儿被迫和丈夫离婚。

我们也可以看出祖母也有很大的负担，因为通常她们要照顾

孙子孙女。在本项研究中，只有在离婚后女方放弃抚养权的情况

下，才出现男方抚养子女的情形。上面提到的受访者说妇女的教

育水平很低，因为大家认为，女孩迟早要出嫁，多学也没有用。

她说没人能拿到高学历，这种说法强调了对男性教育的重视，这

种重视是假设将来男性掌握权力，并照顾父母；而女孩早晚要离

开娘家，所以没有必要在她们的教育和前途上投资。

[受访者 11] 她是年轻的受访者之一，只有 18 岁。她谈到

了关于家庭关系和结婚的不同的观念。她的回答指出了一方的父

母在双方恋爱、婚姻关系中所扮演的角色以及传统的期望与子女

的现实想法之间的冲突。“感情问题，爱情受家人管，有些自己

谈恋爱，双方都同意，就是家人不同意，很多都是听家人的，找

朋友早早结婚生子，觉得她们都是在虚度光阴。”

[受访者 20] 包办婚姻是个大问题。在这位受访者还上小学

的时候，她们那儿有两个都姓秦的男孩和女孩谈恋爱，结果女孩

被家里关了起来，连打带骂，还把男孩给赶走了。后两人都自

杀了。她说：“做子女的没有什么自由，你有想法不行，得听父

母的。”

[受访者 4] “婚姻，一个女孩子嫁出去，就像客人，回到自

己家就和原来不一样的了，结婚后不像一家人了。”


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家庭暴力

20 位采访对象中有 19 位说他们老家有家庭暴力事件。只有

一个人说没有，但就是这个人，他的家族史上却发生过一起严重

的暴力事件。对于暴力的盛行和其原因，这些家政工们的回答各

不相同。有些人觉得家庭暴力很少发生，有些却认为这很常见。

但大家都同意说打孩子比虐待配偶要寻常得多。依施暴对象是成

年人还是孩子的不同，人们对暴力的定义也有明显的不同——社

会对暴力的定义和回答者对暴力的认识之间存在着明显的差异。

从回答中可以看出，在农村社会，一般认为虐待配偶是暴力行

为，而打孩子则属于正常现象。回答者自身异口同声地谴责对妇

女的暴力行为，但她们对打孩子的行为的评价却是好坏参半。

受访者列举了很多发生在自己家乡的家庭暴力事件及其原

因：丈夫酗酒或者情绪不稳定、婆媳闹矛盾、妻子闹事、两口子

打架、丈夫有外遇、贫穷或是收入不稳定，还有就是丈夫赌博。

一个回答者说妻子也打丈夫，但是这并不常见，而且女性一般不

会诉诸暴力来解决问题。

该问卷也调查了家庭暴力发生的原因。家庭暴力在各个社

会、各个阶层和各种文化中都会发生。它产生的一个根本原因就

是施暴者选择用暴力来向受害者显示自己的威力。大多数的家庭

暴力是不公开的，有关的数据统计也不完全。受访者的回答来自

于她们的观察和亲身经历。她们的观点受到周边环境——家乡、

媒体、城市社会或非政府组织——的影响。

回答者认识到女性遭受家庭暴力的一些原因，例如妻子的经

济依赖性。当一位妇女在经济上依赖丈夫时，她在家里的权利和

影响就比较小，因此容易受到伤害，但也不大可能离开。其他的

导致家庭暴力的原因有：贫穷、个人的性情和品质、压力、在人

前炫耀、从小娇生惯养、酗酒、不忠或大男子主义。提及压力、

脾气大和施暴人的性情等原因的受访者并没有直接责备施暴者的

行为，而只是将其归于典型的男子脾气不易控制才动手的老一

套。这种假设忽视了男子只打妻子和家人这个事实，而不是其他

任何一个他不易控制和影响的人。我们的一位受访者把暴力和收

入的不平等联系起来。有经济来源的男子可以外出挣钱并与其他

女性交往，而妻子没有经济来源因此也就没有这个权力。这暗示


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着许多男子经常有外遇，而他们的不忠导致了夫妻间的争吵以及

暴力的发生。

[受访者 15] 此个案反映了回答者内心的自我矛盾，她的父

亲有暴力倾向。她陈述了虐待的事实，却把暴力的责任推到了她

母亲的身上。尽管父亲虐待了全家，她仍然对他有比较好的印

象，并为他的暴力行为开脱。她也许已经认同了传统中对于父母

角色的规范。她的父亲工作挣钱养活全家，而母亲的行为却不符

合其性别规范，因为她既抽烟又只能生女孩子。“我小时候，父

母之间家庭暴力非常严重，我爸妈经常打架，我很害怕. 对啊，

我爸爸脾气不好，回来老打我们，因为我妈生了我们四姐妹，没

有儿子。后来我爸妈那年离婚，我爸动不动就拿我出气。[对接

下来的一个问题的回答] 不是，我妈妈脾气不好，我爸爸脾气还

算好，我爸爸是桥梁工程师，工作还辛苦，我妈妈又没工作，还

抽烟，我对我妈妈印象不好，我对我爸爸印象特别好，但妈唠叨

太厉害，我爸爸就打她，男人不爱吵架，他就打。”

下面是受访者提到的导致家庭暴力的其他原因：

[受访者 17]“女的没有经济来源，一般家庭，男的支撑着这

个家，要没男的女的生活特别困难，就这种情况。”

[受访者 9]“大多数大男子主义呗，男的比女的强，因为女

的打不过他呀，惹火了就打，有第一次就会有第二次。”

[受访者 18] 一位受访者觉得暴力的发生源于极度的贫穷、

教育水平不高、施虐者的情绪和他的个人素质低劣。然而她接着

承认了自己也打儿子，拿他出气。

[受访者 2]“教育不一样，农村人都没文化，只能用暴力

了。”

上面这位受访者把家庭暴力和教育程度联系起来，这很有意

思，因为学校从未教授如何防止家庭暴力。她的这个联系要么是

陈规，要么就是说教育能使人有教养或使人知道如何更好地与他

人相处。

虐待儿童

比较令人困扰的是对儿童施加暴力的行为的普遍态度。回答

者同意说打孩子是正常的，而且她们还列举了几种该打的情形：

孩子不听话、不好好学习或淘气。在这几种情况下，该责备的是


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孩子而不是打孩子的人。为了让孩子听话和成才，“打”通常被

认为是教育孩子的一种不合适但却十分必要的方法。

[受访者 3]“你要说父母打小孩是难免的，很自然的事。比

如说淘一点的孩子，有时候家里就那样么。”

[受访者 7]“主要就是打孩子的多，如果让孩子拿东西，不

听话，写作业不好好写，让干活不干等，都要挨打。”

[受访者 19] 或许是受其宗教教育的影响，受访者 19 给了我

们一个不一样的回答：“孩子父母文化程度低，这是一方面，我

认为这也是重要的，根本的。因为他们平时很少，不是很

少，是根本没看过，怎么去教育孩子，怎样跟自己的孩子去建立

关系，这样的书根本没看过，根本就没接触过。但像城市里的很

多父母会去看怎么去教育孩子，怎么去跟孩子进行沟通啊，怎样

去做一个好的父母，怎样让自己的孩子去建立自信，怎样在自己

的孩子中做个好的爸爸或者妈妈。在农村的爸爸妈妈根本就没这

样的，他们认为孩子犯了错误就应该打，打得让他们听话，改了

错误。他们是这么认为的，这样才能纠正他们的错误。”

自杀

我们的采访涉及到家政工的老家的自杀问题。自杀是一个至

关重要的问题，它反映出农村女性在社会中的价值和地位。况且

中国是世界上自杀率高的国家之一，而且也是唯一一个女性自

杀行为多于男性的国家，所以我们有必要考察家政女工对自杀有

着怎样的接触、导致自杀的情形以及她们对女性自杀者的看法。

采访中只有两个人说她们家乡及附近没有人自杀；一些人描述了

十几、二十年前的事例，但是其他人所提供的例子都是近发生

的。有两位受访的家政工自己差点就自杀了——其中一位是在采

访前一个星期有过自杀的念头。大部分的受害者选择喝农药自

杀，一些人选择上吊或吞服过量药品。有一些受害者是男性，包

括接受我们采访的一位家政工的前夫。在问起自杀的原因的时

候，她们列出如下几点：家庭暴力、生女孩子、情人分手、两口

子吵架妻子想不开、鸡毛蒜皮的琐事、包办婚姻、通奸、经济上

依赖丈夫，还有和婆家闹矛盾。总之，主要的两个原因源于妇女

的地位低下和经济上的不独立。这些女性或是家庭主妇，依靠丈

夫获得收入；或是恋爱和婚姻先是受娘家支配，然后又受丈夫和

婆家主宰。


13

从这些叙述中，我们可以看出，导致一个人自杀有很深刻的

原因，但一些受访者只是看到像打架这样引发自杀的孤立的事

件，而没能把握自杀问题发生的大背景。当然，有时候外人对家

庭暴力的了解也很少，因为人们不愿家丑外扬。在这种情形下，

受害者就由于得不到外界的援助而陷入孤立和绝望。以下认为女

子因为小事想不开而自杀的观点进一步强化了女性感情比男性脆

弱、容易冲动行事的陈旧观念。

[受访者 9] “就是因为家里时一些小事，有的两口子一

争，后女的想不开…就因为小事想不开就喝农药水，就这么简

单，你说要地天大的事，就是因为一些锁碎的小事。”

[受访者 17]“有个男的在做小本生意，女的在家照顾孩子，

做农活什么的，有一天女的跟男的要钱，就说家里买什么东西，

但男的又不想给，说我这一个月辛辛苦苦挣钱，你就全部给我花

了，女的觉得，你是家里的主力，你应该养活我们呀，我们是你

的妻子、孩了呀，这是理所当然的，但这男的就不这么想，你在

家里也用不了这么多钱，两人就吵起来了，后来这男的就动手打

了女的，说话特别粗鲁，后来女的一时想不开，就喝药。”

这个例子说明一个妻子由于没有个人收入而形成家庭内部不

平等的权力关系。许多家政工都意识到女性有个人收入的重要

性，不然她们就很可能陷入虐待或糟糕的关系中。

[受访者 10]“有个女孩家里给她介绍个婆家，她不愿意，她

父母非要她愿意，然后她就喝农药自杀了。”

[受访者 2]“有个女孩，谈了个男朋友，家里人不同意，后

来喝农药自杀了。现在没有了，谈朋友家人也都不反对了，这些

年没听说过自杀的。”

在问及受访者：她们认为导致自杀的普遍的原因是什么

时，她们的回答反映出妇女所受到的性别歧视以及对婚姻及其他

关系导致的心理压力的严重性的认识。她们意识到女性通常在处

理感情危机的时候无法从别处获得帮助。受访者用听到的故事回

答我们的问题，并指出：一套支持妇女的体系可以帮助她们解决

问题、化解引起自杀的绝望感。许多受害者深受当地流言的烦

扰，比如一位妇女因丈夫搞外遇而自杀。慑于外人闲言碎语，受

害妇女往往有了问题不敢声张。流言蜚语的威力说明人们自我尊

重的程度不高，而是把个人的价值建立在外界认同的基础上。

许多受访者对自杀的妇女深表同情。家政工们自己也由于职

业的关系饱受隔离、孤独和无处求援的痛苦。或许她们更能够体


14

会受害者的处境，并了解家人和朋友的帮助、分担和支持对她们

来说是多么重要。

[受访者 1]“怕老公看不起，自己心里压力大，怕邻居说。

农村都是那样，闲言碎语太多了。”

[受访者 4]“体现不出自己的价值，无人沟通，农村人都

“和舌头”不是都说吐沫压死人，没找到出气的地方。”

[受访者 12]“1.心理压抑，农村又没有心理医生 2.对婚姻

或一些事情看不开，特别是婚姻问题在农村离婚率很低，但不一

定过得幸福。”

[受访者 18]“主要是因为家庭问题。可以说现在越来越少

了，经济状况好一点了。问：普遍的原因是什么？答：就是因为

大男子主义，女性没有收入，女性别无选择，她没有技术，没有

固定的收入。虽然说她也干活，但她所有的东西都依附在男人身

上，没有自己的独立的经济的地位，像我们那女方的户口都落户

在男方都转在男方，如果离婚自己一无所有。”

[受访者 13]“我觉得跟她们的心理有关，她们有积怨，就找

不到合适的方法或合适的对象来倾诉，没有人及时对她们的矛盾

进行调解啊。”

拐卖妇女

定义：拐卖妇女儿童就是强迫她们劳动或卖淫。如果她们不

满 18 岁，即使没有受到强迫或威逼，这也属于拐卖。或者，她

们没有被拐卖到别的国家和地区，这也属于拐卖。一切出于利用

的目的，而诱导、贩卖、限制妇女、儿童的情况都属于拐卖行

为。拐卖者通常以威胁、暴力、欺骗、权力的形式或者利用被拐

卖者的弱势地位控制她们。这种威胁可以是性要求，可以是强迫

劳动，也可以是买卖婚姻。

我们向受访者询问她们听到的拐卖妇女的事件。除了媒体报

道的以外，20 位受访的家政工中有 15 位知道拐卖妇女的事情，

甚或自己就被拐卖过。其中一人被拐去强迫劳动；另外一人几乎

被拐去成婚；一个家政工在要辞职时却被迫继续工作；另外一个

在老家时被哄骗出来。一些受访者也提到拐卖男孩的情形，说有

一家人有五个女儿，领养了一个儿子，但是传言说孩子是买来

的。可以看出她们对拐卖行为看法不一。有过被拐卖经历或亲眼

目睹此类事件的女性，对这种利用的性质以及拐卖背后的妇女贫


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穷和对女性的物化感触较深。从她们的故事里可以看出，买卖婚

姻似乎并不为社会广泛谴责。她们以平常的口吻讲述这些事实，

只是说女性受骗被卖去做新娘，之后有的人的婚姻持续了下来，

有的没有。在一个案例中，拐卖和包办婚姻之间的界线模糊了，

这反映了妇女被物化的看法。两位四川的妇女请媒人给自己找个

好丈夫，结果结婚一年后却发现自己的丈夫先前付了媒人一大笔

钱。受访者觉得既然这些妇女是买来的，那么这在本质上也是一

种拐卖行为。

[受访者 4]“我叔在 99 年就买了个媳妇，是人家送上门的，

对方称是她的哥哥，花了三、四千就买下来了。人好，而且聪

明，跟叔叔过了一年，后来回娘家再也没有回来。她哥哥当时带

来两个，另一已跟人家生孩子了，现在还在，过得挺好的。她们

都是贵州的，老家很穷，她们觉得我们那里好。”

[受访者 3]“反正就是我们那附近的，也不是我们那村里

的，让别人给骗走了以后，买卖婚姻么，有些男方家里对她好

的，有感情了么，然后与家人联系来往了，不好的呆一段时间她

就跑了。”

[受访者 5]“拐卖人口的肯定有，一般四川、河南的、安徽

的都有，我 95 年来，那时北京太乱太乱，那时我老公都做过，

后来慢慢的劝他，刚来在北京打工找不到，那些女的听说给

300、400 块钱，就都跟着走，那时都在崇文门找活，丈夫 92 年

就来北京了，与别人合伙，也做这个。与河南女的合作。一般把

女的卖到贫穷的地方。有一回拐卖的来了，有个怀孕的，听说有

工作，就跟着走了，卖到陕西了，我就跟老公闹，人家一个怀孕

的，你把人家卖了.那时候肯定也有拐卖孩子。现在也有，但没

怎么听过。”

[受访者 14]“我以前还被骗到一个特别穷的地方，是被骗去

劳动，挖地，好几年前，就是我 17、18 岁那时，我在云南昆明

打工的时候，跟我一起在饭店打工的一个小伙子，当时就觉得那

人挺好的，就叫我们去他家玩，特穷，我俩就去了，当时我和另

一个女孩子一起去一的，然后就强迫我们去挖地，还派几个人看

着我们，干了两个月，累死了，一天老早就出去挖地，有人看

着。害怕，每天都哭，电话也没有，穷死了，电话也没有，走半

小时找不到电话打，是个山区里，当时家里人也着急。后来一个

女的偷跑出去打电话给他亲戚，派出所就去了，把我们救了出

来．那会就我俩人，有些女的都是被骗过去的，结婚、有孩子


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了，也就算了她们根本不和我们说话，听她们自己聊天才知道

的，听说可能骗去先干活，再看哪个女的挺勤快，就强迫嫁在那

里。”

第三节家政工在工作场所所面临的问题

工作场所的问题

该问卷涉及家政工初到北京时遇到的问题、他们和雇主及雇

主的家人之间的冲突、工作和生活条件以及雇主对她们不好的对

待。初到北京时常见的问题是：适应新环境、想家、没有朋友

和支持自己的关系网络。11 位家政工和雇主发生过矛盾，但是其

中一半的人认为这些矛盾还是很少，或是无关紧要。大多数的受

访者说至少有一家雇主对自己不错，有些甚至觉得自己就像雇主

家庭的一员。他们在其他家庭工作时遇到的问题有：雇主及其家

人对其不尊重、与孩子有矛盾、雇主不允许辞职、雇主希望低酬

多劳、或者被迫长时间地工作而缺少休息。

家政工们经常仅仅被看作是劳动力而不受人尊重。她们睡客

厅沙发、走廊或者和孩子睡在一起，甚至有一位回答者说她睡在

房间门口过道上搭的轻便床上。雇主们使用各种办法控制家政

工：让他们不间断地工作而无法休息、超时工作不加工资、拖时

支付工资以延长其服务期、批评家政工的衣着不合身份、不允许

她们吃家里其他人能吃的食物、不允许看电视、让她们手洗所有

的衣物而不允许用洗衣机、控制她们吃什么和吃多少，还有就是

翻查她们的私人物品。

家政工作属于传统女性的角色范畴。通常，家务劳动不被重

视、没有报酬，并被看作是女性的职责，人们对家务劳动的看法

被带入对这一职业的看法之中。女性家政工极易遭受剥削和歧

视，而雇主通常希望能在少报酬下榨取大的劳动力。在这项

个案研究中，不受尊重这条主线贯穿始终,反映出女性化职业的

地位低下。在一例陈述中，一位家政工含沙射影地说自己被当作

奴仆或物品一样对待。她睡在雇主用来装废弃物的狭小的房间

里。其他的家政工们也谈到了住在雇主家的其他问题。一些雇主

认为既然自己支付了工资并提供吃住，家政工就应该不停地工作


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并随叫随到。即使完成任务了，雇主也会想法给她们派其他的活

干，而不给休息或放假。有两位受访者说，觉得自己就像机器人

一样，一刻不停地工作。

[受访者 16]“我什么都做,但不照顾老人孩子。一般还行,就

是住家的话，会遇到有些雇主不能看你闲着，明明把事情做完

了，要是看你闲着，就会找一些小事让你干，你说家务事，要是

存心给你找事做，那还不容易。”

[受访者 15]“就是付出与收获的问题，就是劳动的付出与收

入不成正比，比如说这家，他们给我 1200 元，但我实际干的活

能值 1500 元，还有拖欠工资的事，以前也有拖几天的现象，走

的时候，也都给了，但不像现在这家平时不拖欠，你一旦提出不

干了，他立即就翻脸。你不能争取权益，你一争取，他就翻脸。

你要走，要提前一个月，等我找到了你再走，一个月找不到，一

个月你不能走，二个月找不到，二个月你不能走，”你已工作了

20 天了，不想做了，那这个工资就不给你了，他就吓唬我，强迫

我劳动。这次不就是少给我 200 块钱么。”

[受访者 17]“刚开始的时候，她们只要我搞卫生，洗孩子的

衣服，做饭，但后来就不一样了，他们家特别讲究，对卫生要求

特别高，卫生没搞好，就刺你，衣服每天都要慰，每天都要洗，

能做的都做，什么都做。几乎都没怎么休息。第一个月 300 元第

二个月 350 元，后来老太太生病了就住院了，就涨了 400 元，后

来一年后就 450 元。这么多人就我一个人干活，刚开始她们还帮

点忙，后来看我干活俐索，就什么都不帮了。问：你在他们家住

的怎么样？回答：一个特别小的房了，也就是存放东西的地方，

我住 15 平米一个很小的房间，刚开始就睡一个特别小的沙发，

后来放了一张上下铺，我睡下面，上面堆满东西。”

性骚扰

为了让回答者很快了解性骚扰的概念，问卷上首先提供了一

个来自美国的简单的工作场所性骚扰的定义。然后，我们询问回

答者是否受到过性骚扰或者知道、听说过此类事件。

工作场所的性骚扰的定义：工作场所的性骚扰是不受欢迎的

带有性色彩的语言或举动。这种行为会造成一种敌视性和冒犯性

的工作环境。性骚扰的具体情况有很多种。比如说，一个人对另

外一个人经常说黄色语言，讲黄色笑话，做挑逗性的动作或者长


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久的注视。还比如说，骚扰者故意靠近你或者触摸你或者强迫你

跟他约会或发生性关系。再如就是你由于不愿意提供性服务遭受

雇主或家庭的某个成员解雇或给自己造成不利结果的威胁，这也

算一种性骚扰。

20 位受访者中有 5 位觉得自己遭受过性骚扰，但并不是发生

在雇主的家里或工作场所。她们的经历包括：黄色短信、在公交

车上被触摸、骚扰电话、被拥抱以及邻居不怀好意的靠近。这些

家政工或是避免、不理睬骚扰者，或采取行动。其中一位妇女在

收到自己认识的一个人的黄色短信后先是不理睬，再接到后就报

警备案。另外一位受害者和自认为是一起工作的男子在一起工作

了几天，但接下来的几星期内她收到了一连串的骚扰短信和电

话，于是她离开了。一位妇女和从老家来的一个人交了朋友，结

果这个人一天晚上来访时就试图拥抱她。她对他喊叫，告诉他应

当尊重自己，如果喜欢她应当是喜欢她这个人而不能做无理的

事，他应当马上离开。

下面是一个家政工自己听说的工作场所性骚扰事件。通常年

长的男性会雇佣年轻的女性家政工，有的人有性骚扰的企图。年

轻女孩子不仅被看作是性骚扰的目标，而且也由于她们年轻而不

知道如何应对性骚扰，并且很少敢说出来。家里的其他女性或是

妻子通常也不足以阻止性骚扰行为。

[受访者 10]“那时候在亚运村嘛，一个女孩子，在一家做的

时候，照顾老头老太太，平时她打扫卫生时上卫生间时，老头就

跟着她到卫生间，老太太在埋头洗衣服，就摸她一下，她上厨房

老头就跟着上厨房塞给她钱，老头就摸一把，刚来老头就给她

300 元钱，她怎么处理这件事呢？用高跟鞋使劲踩了老头的脚，

老头就叫了一下，她把钱扔给了他们，就走了，不干了。后来公

司解除合同了。还有一个女孩，她怎么样的呢，她去一家雇主

家，那个男雇主腿有点瘸，家里有妻子和儿子，儿子十几岁了，

家里这么多人就住一居室，就一间房子，然后跟他们住一起，男

的就经常骚扰她，不让她出门，把门锁得死死的，她后来倒垃

圾，偷偷给公司打了电话，公司开车把她回来了。”

与家庭暴力行为一样，人们往往误认为性骚扰的发生是受害

者自己做了什么而引起的。许多人错误地相信不应当把责任全部

推到犯罪者身上，而受害者对犯罪者的行为也负有一定的责任。

性骚扰经常被误认为是与女性的衣着和行为举止有关，而不是一

个人试图强加于另一个人的故意的骚扰行为。从历史上看，在大


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多数社会里，女性在某种程度上都被认为在价值上低于男性，她

们通常被当作财产并被认为负有满足男性性欲的责任。在某种程

度上，这种观念在当今社会中仍然存在，女性在性行为上被物

化，她们作为性标志被冠在各种商品上出售。既然人们仍然在性

观念下看待女性，那么，骚扰行为也就包含了性的方面。同时，

受害者经常受到责备。下面一段话就认为：如果一个人不注意保

护自己，行为举止或者穿着不得体，她对自己受到的性骚扰就负

有一定的责任。

[受访者 20]“有些是打打闹闹的，有些时候是女的自个有问

题。有的是没意识到，有的是忍气吞声，有的是不予计较吧。”

[受访者 19]“我觉得性骚扰，可能是你自己就比较招人，打

扮得比较妩媚，自己露得多一点。人都很正常，人都是有欲望

的，你自己去打扮的，胸前露一点，后背挺露的那种。那男的，

自己也不由自主多看一眼。有的当然是他素质低。但为什么去针

对你，不是别人，当然是你。跟异性接触，还是要把握分寸。给

人一种感觉，你这个女孩挺随便的，挺花的，水性扬花的，自然

而然就招来一些事情。”

[受访者 4]“我觉得事情都是有因果的，自己注意不会出现

的。”

[受访者 18]“我没有，因为我们年龄偏大，不像是小女孩。

对呀，很大程度因为我们自身条件…他对你那个啥，也得看你情

况，不是说随便一个人就对你侵犯，也和自身有关系。”

有四位受访者说她们不大可能遇到性骚扰，因为她们很少出

门，没什么人身自由。这种想法只有在某些情况下是事实。从我

两年来的研究来看，大多数的家政工是在雇主家里遭受性骚扰

的。而家政工常常处于孤立的环境，这恰是令人担忧的一个原

因，因为这样一来她们在遭受剥削和骚扰的时候难以获得朋友和

外界的帮助。

[受访者 7]“没有，我都不出门，所以根本就不会遇到，我

觉得自己是间接的封闭，除了每天早上送孩子、接孩子没有和外

界有联系，所以觉得自己是间接封闭，到北京这么多年了，没有

认识几个人。觉得自己像是在鸟笼里一样。”


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第四节作为一个家政工的经验

家政工们对其职业的思考

每一位受访者都被问及当家政工的感受。我们设计的问题不

仅想探索在受访者的眼中家政工作的好处和坏处，也想了解家政

工对自己的职业的认同感。正是因为社会期望女性能承担起家政

工作，这份工作成为一个地位低下的、女性主导的职业。有些人

争辩到，这个职业之所以地位低下是由于它是“女性的工作”。

虽也有不少男性在寻找家政工作，但是那种认为顺从的、肯吃苦

的和细致的看护工作只适合女性做的陈旧观念给他们进入这个行

业设置了难关。只有在需要有体力的人来照顾病残者的时候，男

性才会被雇佣；因为他们不符合家政工的传统角色。由于地位

低、待遇差，许多妇女并不把家政工作看作是自己的事业，而只

是暂时性的选择。然而料理家务是世界上每一个家庭每天都需要

的基本的行为之一：没有哪户人家天天都不需要打扫、做饭，

也不用照顾老人和小孩，因此家政工作理应受到重视。然而，家

政工作至今没被社会认真地看待。

当我们询问家政工如何看待自己的职业时，从他们的回答中

我们可以判断：她们的看法是否部分受到传统角色的影响，或者

她们主要把自己看作一个独立的个体。如果一个女性在传统的性

别规范下长大，她自己习惯了迁就别人的需要，她就很有可能接

受家政工作中类似的自我牺牲。她比较能容忍苛刻的要求，以取

悦于雇主，也就更容易被利用。因此，以家政工作为职业的妇女

就很有可能受某种条件和待遇的制约，而这种条件和待遇的制约

使她们处于更不利的地位。许多家政工认为困难和缺乏尊重是家

政工作本身带来的风险。

一些受访者对这份职业的糟糕的待遇和其他缺点做出人权方

面的评价。这些女性提出孤立、歧视、缺乏地位和尊重、没有人

身自由和开发自身兴趣的机会等几个方面。一位受访者在谈自己

作为家政工的感受时只谈了她在工作中的表现，这与其他人形成

了鲜明的对比：后者将自己看作是可以从工作中获益的个体，很

可能会协商或寻找待遇较好而自己又能从中学习的职业。这些妇

女对家政工作并没有太大的认同感，而较多地谈论自己作为个体

的体验。


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家政工的待遇和机会的缺乏

[受访者 2]“太郁闷了，老待在家里。什么朋友都没有，也

不知干什么。”

[受访者 14]“我以前觉得做家政工挺好的，但我现在觉得再

好自己也是外人…做家政做够了，被人看不起，这几天小区查得

严，小区的阿姨见到我们就问：你干吗的？我就特讨厌，我说是

保姆，她们说原来是保姆呀，我就想保姆关你什么事，然后气不

知道从那儿来的，尤其是听到别人说小保姆怎么怎么。”

[受访者 4]“在社会上没地位，在家到是有地位，在外无地

位。”

这位受访者说她的家人对她从事家政工这个职业表示尊重，

而社会却因为她的职业看不起她。

[受访者 15]“我就觉得，劳动付出的，身体疲惫是其次，

重要的是受歧视、不平等看你，更多的是与人相处的那种勾心斗

角的心里累，其实你说累了，睡觉能恢复过来了，但是你跟人家

相处吧，就有来往，你就会受到伤害，只让她赢，不让你赢。”

[受访者 20]“雇主就会挑你的毛病，他不反省自个。就拿连

给我们上保险这点事，他们都做不到。这职业，也不能没有，就

是说以后发展趋势肯定保姆这一行肯定紧缺，可就这么紧缺，也

没有人关注，没有人保护。”

以角色为中心/以他人为中心

[受访者 3]“干哪行都要尽心尽力，把工作干好了，别人满

意，自己也满意…也可以，雇主不找麻烦，还没遇到过受委屈的

事，按人家要求做呗，尽量做好。”

[受访者 9]“我到是没有感受，就是为了生活、孩子，为了

家庭，挣钱呀！养家呀！主要为了家庭，很少想到自己。”

自我意识的体现

[受访者 6]“主要你诚实对人，人家就诚实对我，我山东人

特直，有股倔脾气，我不愿意跟那些花言巧语、不实在的人打交

道。你比如说，雇主要实在我们就靠近点，你要说不实在，心里

有数。不愿跟你相处，你跟我实在，我就跟你实在。”


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第五节变化的过程

问卷的后一部分考查了家政工们外出打工的经验如何影响

了她们对自己家乡的看法以及家乡的人如何对待她们。这些妇女

初来北京，需要融入城市生活，她们经历了很大的变化。通常在

她们返回老家后又要再重新经历一次适应的过程。她们的想法和

观点或多或少会有所改变，而家乡的人在她们外出做家政工后对

她们的态度也会有所不同。我们也问了每个受访者关于工作和家

庭的长期计划。

许多回过家乡的家政工都注意到了北京和家乡之间环境的差

异。他们觉得北京很现代、也很方便；而自己的家乡相对贫穷、

比较乡土气。但是，老家的生活节奏缓慢、比较质朴。一些妇女

喜欢家乡的宁静和新鲜的空气，希望将来能回家。其他人觉得乡

下人思想保守，认为他们应该学着开放点。

家政工关于其流动经历的思考

北京和家乡的区别

[受访者 20]“老家一潭死水，没变化，思想落后，对新鲜事

物，不愿意接受，排斥，不想改变。”

[受访者 13]“因为家里出来打工的人太多了，都觉得那边太

偏僻了，过得也太苦了点，物质上是一方面，包括精神的。比如

像我妈，她都没有坐过火车，也没有去过很好的餐厅，旅游就更

谈不上了，但是这个我会帮她实现的。”

个人的变化

一些女性觉得自己做家政工的经验给个人成长带来了好处，

而其他人觉得现在的自己与先前的生活脱节了。她们的新生活带

来了更多的机会和学习的体验，但同时也带来了许多不确定因

素。

[受访者 9]“…现在思想有变化，我所看到的、感受到的，

已经改变了，素质提高了，对人生的一些认识也有一些变化。观

念上也能接受一些事物，也能理解别人了，理解新鲜事物。”

[受访者 20]“家里挺陌生了，在外面吃苦受累，我还是属于

外面。除了做家政，我都自己租房子，我觉得自己有个家，有个

家不有归属感，哪怕三平米的地方也收拾利落点。老家这片地已


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不属于我了，虽然它生我也想我，我一直是漂着的，谁都不知自

己明天会怎么样？谁都不知道明天是怎么样。”

[受访者 4]“有，好多，主要是看事情比以前宽多了，可以

分析事情了。”

返乡：与家乡的融合

当这些家政工们返回家乡时,家人和老家的其他人对她们的

态度也许会与先前不一样。中国的农村有各种各样的移民经历，

对工作的期望也因性别的不同而存在明显地不同。一些地区已经

习惯了大批的女性外流，然而其他地区会认为女性外出打工既危

险又不光彩。只要有超出性别规范所期望的行为，就总会有批评

和质疑。如果习惯上认为妇女总要呆在家里或在田里工作，就难

保会有人猜测她们在城里到底做什么、怎么赚的钱。

有时候这些妇女由于经济独立、有一技之长而且见多识广，

她们就被提到较高的位置。其他一些妇女由于学到了被认为是对

女人来说有用的技巧而受到赞扬。一些受访者回到家乡后觉得不

舒服，因为她们被当成是外人，已经和当地的情况和价值观不合

拍了。

积极的反应

[受访者 4]“家里有事也会征求我的意见了，不像以前总把

我当小孩……老家人觉得我就漂亮了，回家很多人都那么说。”

[受访者 6]“每个人都拉着我掉眼泪，因为我有好几年一在

了吗，见到我特别亲切，她们掉泪我也掉泪，我说在北京挺好

的。特别老邻居对我挺好的。”

性别规范期许的变化

[受访者 17]“说我变化挺大的，比如对吃的，以前在家不会

做饭，现在可以做饭给家人吃。在家里都不怎么会做鱼、虾什么

的，现在我一般家里的菜都会做，就做给她们吃，都说好吃。”

不受性别规范期许的变化

[受访者 20]“快把我忘了，我再不回去，他们就把我忘了。

每个人都有自己的生活方式，老家人觉得自己不属于老家，我不

喜欢这样，老受关注，我就躲起来，自己觉得正常的事，老家人


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觉得不正常，总觉得我生活方式比较另类，老家人觉得自己太叛

逆，我给他们的感觉就是漂着的人，老没根，今天做这，明天做

这事，没定性，没长性，不可能对。”

第六节长期打算

我们考查了家政工们对工作和家庭的长期打算，以便了解她

们如何看待自己作为个体、作为与丈夫、孩子和父母相关联的女

性的生活。她们的回答也使我们洞察到家政工们是如何计划自己

的未来的，家政工作的地位和社会对该职业的观念是如何影响这

些女性对未来的打算的，她们是如何看待自己生活中的不同角色

和责任，而这又如何影响到她们的打算。

在问到对将来的打算的时候，20 位受访者中有 9 位没有提及

为了家庭而调整自己的计划。一些人不太确定自己将来的方向或

想做什么。其他人有关于工作和学习的具体计划，但即使她们将

男友或丈夫考虑在内，也无意为自己的另一半牺牲。相反地，有

11 位家政工说她们的计划中至少有一部分是帮助家人摆脱贫穷、

为孩子提供更好的发展机会。在这些妇女中，有些因为自己感到

作为女儿和母亲的角色冲突而根本无法为自己的将来打算。她们

过多考虑对他人的责任，并愿意为家人牺牲自己的幸福和利益。

对未来矛盾的想法/肩负着对他人的责任

[受访者 5]“有一次一个女的老乡说你就靠你老婆养着，也

不会不好意思，他也不生气。现在就跟他过一天算一天，也没办

法。我没有办法，我们老家说：一个女的想把家里搞好的话，肯

定是很难很难，不能光靠女方，需要俩个人，你看我老公那样，

家里能搞的好吗？现在老家的房子都没有了，都垮了，回家都没

地方住，回家干么？想跟他离婚，但不敢跟他说，我又害怕造成

我们家孩子，本身我自己也恨自己问：你为什么恨自己呢？那

不是你的错呀？答：恨自己没能耐，我要是有能耐，我老公成天

在家呆着，出来那么十多年了，钱钱没有，女儿跟他关系也不

好。跟老公吵架，我都自己憋在心里，又不能老吵，怕影响女

儿。”


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这位受访者在对自己和对女儿的责任之间挣扎，也为自己不

能走出那段几乎逼迫自己自杀的虐待性的婚姻关系而苦恼。尽管

她在经济上补贴全家，可她作为家庭暴力的受害者也说明了她为

什么不能离开自己的丈夫。她知道是丈夫的错，也知道这如何影

响到自己和女儿，但是她仍然保持沉默，直到差点自杀。她说很

多人说她不是为自己而是为别人活着，可她还是埋怨自己，于是

丧失了生存的欲望而吞服了安眠药。在接受采访的过程中，她批

评了将家庭纠纷归罪于妇女的社会规范。尽管她对这套规范抱批

评的态度，她仍然把问题归到了自己的身上，并恨自己无法维持

一个健康的家庭、而又无法摆脱这种对妇女不利的社会规范的约

束。

[受访者 6]“嗨，继续做家政，再说儿了娶媳妇，盖房子，

是我唯一的负担问：那你女儿呢？答：女儿我不能与她联系，

她在爷爷、奶奶那儿，她跟别人说“我妈不关心我，我也不理

她”别人问：“为什么呀？”她说“我妈不跟我亲”，她给我哥

打电话说找我，我跟我哥可别告诉她，再说爷爷、奶奶那么大岁

数了，身边没有个人也不行。问：你为什么那样对待女儿？答：

儿子毕竟是家的，出来打工没事，女儿要出来，万一不定性，出

了事我也保不了，不如在她爷爷、奶奶跟前，近点，各方面我还

放心，我就这么想的，她爷爷、奶奶可不理解我的心思，他们说

“你可把姑娘给我带走”。毕竟这姑娘他们从小疼大的，我又不

能带走，虽说没有他儿子了，更得给他们一份亲情，我这一辈子

都凭着良心做事。”

这位回答者觉得自己作为母亲和作为儿媳的角色之间发生了

冲突。她也受传统性别规范的影响，认为儿子更重要。她外出打

工的主要原因就是为了自己的儿子和将来的儿媳。就连公婆都认

为她应当把女儿带在身边，可她对公婆的责任感还是强过了对女

儿的责任感。当然另外一种可能是，在现代中国社会中，祖父母

照看孙子孙女被认为是理所当然，她的公婆只是希望能从这个责

任中摆脱出来。这位母亲的故事反映了外出打工的人的家庭关系

和责任的复杂性，尤其是在与家人分开的情形下。在此个案中，

每位家庭成员看重的东西不同，但是母女都因为母亲外出打工的

决定而失去了什么。母亲将来唯一的打算就是帮助儿子成家、买

房子。


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以下这位受访者也一样尽心尽力地要在经济上支持家人，可

是孩子们却感到遗忘并因此而怨恨她。但她觉得现在一时的牺牲

与家庭的长远利益相比是值得的。

[受访者 9]“目前还是未知数，走到那看到那，现在目的就

是说，主要还是挣钱，有钱能改变一切，没钱寸步难行，被钱打

败了。问：有钱能改变什么？答：生活状况呀，孩子能上好一点

学校，家里父母生活不用象现在那么累、那么辛苦。包括我自

己，也不会像现在那么累了，父母也可以改变一些生活，太累

了，孩子倒还没觉得，说实话，我们尽大的能力，为他们提供

好一点的条件，让人伤心的是，孩子们不理解。”

对未来有具体的想法

一些回答者不仅谈了对家庭的打算，而且也谈了自己的梦

想，比如：在北京开一家云南餐馆；在公司里搞销售，学习新闻

学，然后找一份工作，和现在的男友结婚；当护士，学电脑，

经济上支持家人；照顾孩子，并在北京寻求个人发展；卖衣服，

学英语，能给家人买医疗保险；拿到本科学位，出国留学，从事

社区发展方面的工作，然后在 27 岁以前结婚。这些女性根据与

家庭成员的不同关系为自己定位，但同时也考虑到自己的兴趣。

[受访者 7]“想把自考完成（蒙报了自考室内设计专业，而

且顺利通过了两门课程。她说自己非常喜欢美术，很想把这个学

完，找个和这个专业有关的工作）首先找一份好点的工作，能够

独立，很想经济独立，然后帮家里摆脱贫困，让父母过上好日

子。”

[受访者 17]“工作吧，打算学学美发的，学会了一门技术，

以后自己回家开个小店，只是想法，具体还没有。我觉得像我这

样文化特别低，不能实现自我，特别压抑，发展空间小，主要还

是文化、知识太少了，差距太大。”

这位 21 岁的回答者知道自己的潜力，但因教育和知识的缺

乏而感到无力。她先前说到作为家政工是如何地与世隔绝。她很

怀念在学校里快乐的日子，并因此而怨恨父亲让自己退学。她谈

到在乡下男人如何外出工作，而女人自身却没有收入，要过日子

没有男人很难。然而她也认为经济上的依赖是导致家庭暴力的主

要原因。她或多或少地明白收入与权力和自由的关系，并知道经


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济独立的重要性。尽管有疑虑和遗憾，她还是在努力争取独立的

生活。

第七节结论

通过对 20 位在北京打工的外地女性家政工的个案研究，我

们可以得出：她们都受到了社会对女性的期望和角色定位的影

响。性别不平等渗透到她们生活中的方方面面。尽管大多数农村

孩子都没有机会上高中，一些家庭对男孩和女孩受教育的不同态

度还是很明显的。现在，农村的女孩受到平等对待和受教育的机

会很可能提高了，但是地区间还是不平衡的。我们可以看出，家

里对女孩受教育的态度与该家庭是否有经济能力让女孩子读书起

着同样的决定性作用。在家里不重视、周围人又早早辍学的情形

下，孩子们自己无法判断教育的价值。

婚姻、教育、拐卖妇女、家庭暴力和自杀都是与妇女的地

位、资源和机会相关的问题。无论是在城市还是农村，无论是有

钱人还是穷人，这些问题都存在着，但是普遍的贫穷和传统的性

别实践更加弱化了农村妇女的弱势性。受访者强调说婚姻和家庭

关系、教育和收入是农村妇女和女孩子面临的重要的问题。她

们既没有机会也没有能力决定自己的生活和想法。包办婚姻和婚

后与婆家的依赖关系意味着她们要承担一系列新的角色，并可能

失去更多的自主权力。当这些妇女到外地去做家政工时，她们必

须对自己的生活和工作做出许多重要的决定，然而她们所从事的

职业性质又给她们带来了一系列新的约束。住家的家政工无权决

定自己做什么工作、如何做、在哪里睡、吃什么、何时以及如何

度过自己的闲暇时间，雇主也许会禁止来访及接电话。另外，她

们还要适应新的环境，平衡工作与家庭之间的责任。一些女性外

出打工是为了摆脱家庭暴力，一些是为了挣钱养家，还有一些是

为了到城市来增加阅历和机会。

拐卖妇女、家庭暴力和自杀与妇女地位的低下、脆弱性及缺

乏改变的能力相关。拐卖妇女之所以发生是由于有对妇女的性

的、劳动上的或婚姻上的需求；也是由于在小的风险下，拐卖

者可以通过满足这种需求获得巨额利润。还有一个原因就是，妇

女在某种程度上仍然被看作是可以买卖的商品，社会惩罚力度不

够，因而不足以打击“买方和卖方”。许多人并不知道卖淫的妇


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女实际上是被拐卖的，她们所遭受的肉体上和精神上的虐待和强

迫迫使她们滞留在这个行业。一旦妇女遭受了卖淫所带来的心理

上和肉体上的劫难之后，她们很难有信心和办法从获利者手中逃

脱出来。在不断的被污辱和被控制中，她们的自卑感越来越深，

家庭暴力的受害者的自尊心也是如此。家庭暴力之所以发生是由

于一人试图将权力施加于与自己亲密的人身上，而且相信他或她

有资格控制对方。由于大多数的施暴者都是男性，女性就自然由

于性别的原因更容易遭到侵害。阻止女性脱离虐待性的关系的原

因很多，其中包括关于婚姻的社会规范。家庭暴力的受害者可能

会与打人的人同样受到谴责，而且还面临维持家庭完整的压力。

离婚在农村地区也是被人蔑视的行为，女性不仅会因为离婚受到

谴责，而且她也很可能会失去所有的财产及对子女的监护权。两

位接受采访的妇女因为家庭暴力而离婚。其中一位由于无法照顾

自己的儿子而被迫放弃监护权。当时她在外地打工，居无定所，

也无力供儿子读书。她为此感到非常愧疚，在离开的时候把自己

所有的财产都留给了儿子。另一位也失去了对儿子的监护权，她

觉得是离婚迫使自己抛弃了儿子，而在这个世界上她已经什么都

没有了，一心就只想找份稳定的工作。有两位遭受过丈夫的暴力

的妇女也试图要自杀。暴力通常使受害者感到孤立和无助从而感

到无法逃脱。许多关于自杀的叙述都涉及到丈夫在肉体上、精神

上和经济上对妻子的控制。其他的自杀事件也有妇女感到无力改

变的情况。

受访者作为家政工所面临的主要问题都与家政工作的地位低

下和不被重视有关，同时也是因为工作场所缺乏保护机制。她们

有时过度工作、所得报酬过低、受歧视和虐待。尽管她们当中没

有人在工作场所受到性骚扰，但是许多家政工的确受到了骚扰，

只是大多数人不说而已。她们多能做的就是向亲密的朋友倾

诉，寻求一些精神上的安慰。如果她们将骚扰的事实公开，就有

失去工作的危险，并且可能被指责为制造麻烦者。

本研究所采访的女性家政工在谈到做家政工的感受时都是好

坏参半。这是一个体力上十分苛求的职业，缺乏自由、隐私和发

展自身兴趣的机会。家政工们往往要应对个性冲突、过量的工

作、骚扰和剥削，所以她们总是不知道接下来会有什么坏事发

生，这也使得这份工作变得困难重重。下一个家庭也许会更好，

但也许会更糟，所以如果一个家政工能够忍受当前的困难，她就

宁肯安于现状而避免未知的选择。然而，家政工有能力获得经济


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上的独立，供养家人，学习人际交往的技巧，并扩展自己的视

野。与其他外出打工的人类似，一些家政工希望将来能回到自己

的家乡，而其他人觉得她们已经成了局外人，有了不同的生活方

式。一些人在热情的欢迎下回到家乡，而其他人却要处理因自己

外出而引起的家庭问题。家政工作是一份很不稳定的职业，许多

女性过一天算一天，没有长期的打算。说到长期打算，她们往往

首先想到照顾自己的家人，然后发展自己的兴趣。遗憾的是，许

多社会成员还在自私地利用着为自己辛勤工作的同胞们，而这些

同胞们为了实现给其子女创造更好的未来的梦想继续做着自我牺

牲。


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在进行了 20 例采访后，我在当地的家政公司组织了三次参

与式小组活动。这些小组活动是与采访相联系的实践活动，旨在

从家政工方面直接获取她们所面临的问题、需要和公众社会应如

何采取对策支持她们的信息和建议。我围绕三个主题设计了这三

次小组活动，以期为那些帮助外来家政工的人或组织提供有用的

资料。第一次小组活动是围绕新到北京的外来移民的弱势性和相

关需求展开的；第二次活动讨论了当前家政工在工作场所遇到的

问题以及她们对可行性对策的建议；第三次活动探讨了这些女性

家政工的梦想和对将来的打算。

虽然每一次小组活动的参与者不同，但是她们的经历都很类

似：她们的声音重复了许多我接触过的其他家政工们的想法。在

每次开始小组活动之前，我们都会介绍这个项目的目的，并告诉

参与者这份出版物将鼓励当地组织和个人进一步支持家政工。我

们提议以她们的声音作为小组活动的主旋律，因为她们清楚主

要的问题在哪里并如何解决。通过聆听她们的想法和建议，讨论

与外界接触的机会和援助的缺乏以及了解她们的需要和兴趣，我

们使这些女性家政工成为寻找对策的积极参与者。

小组活动之一：初到北京的外来打工者

第一次小组活动针对家政工当中脆弱的群体：那些初到北

京的打工者。她们毫无准备，也没有策略和社会关系网络来支持

她们应付工作场所的问题。由于被隔离在私人的家庭空间以及没

有同事的工作环境，她们的经历与许多在非正式部门工作的工人

不同。这种隔离使她们变得更加弱势，也使她们无法从外界获得

援助。我们请她们谈了来北京时遇到的大的困难以及如何帮助

新来的外来打工者。


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第一节参与者的故事

第一次小组活动邀请了 10 位参与者分享她们的艰难经历。

这些女性有的 20 多岁，有的已至中年，她们大多初打算着出

来赚钱养家、供孩子上学。她们的故事反映了初来者对如何应付

中介和那些自以为有权利用她们的人并没有什么准备。即使有经

验的外来打工者也往往遇到同样的问题。

一位年老的妇女，也是小组中健谈的一位，她不仅自己积

极参与讨论，还鼓励其他人说出了自己的经历。在乡下的时候，

她和自己的丈夫（以前是位通讯员）育有很多孩子。在她的免费

结扎手术失败后，她在 1985 年又产下一子。丈夫去世后，家里

处境十分困难，于是，她于 1998 年外出打工。由于是文盲，她

初到北京时遇到了很大的挑战。

一位 26 岁的女家政工在 10 年前中学毕业后来到北京，为了

挣钱补贴父母和五个兄弟姊妹。起初，当她和三个十几岁的青少

年一起出来工作的时候，他们当中没人会讲普通话。他们每人花

了两百块钱买了去北京的火车票，结果其中两张是过了期的。她

们发现并想退票时，售票员却不给她们退。于是，他们就给政府

写信投诉，列车员发现了，阻止了她们写信。当时，16 岁的她感

到还没到北京就被骗了，心里很害怕。

另一位妇女在 16 岁左右的时候出来，通过一个非正式的劳

动市场找到一份家政工作。一老夫妇把她领了回去，她就一直在

那家做了两年，期间由于怕被别人欺负很少出门。几年后，她和

丈夫孩子返回北京，仍然从事家政工作，但是她说，要找到一份

好的工作和被雇主公正地对待很难。

另一位参与者谈到为了供孩子上学而离开他们到北京打工精

神上所付出的代价。然而她宁肯自己受罪也不让孩子受罪。她的

孩子不想让她走，小儿子说：“你走了，我很可怜。”可她没有

办法，只好一个星期给孩子打一次电话。

一位 27 岁的参与者说她是 1999 年到北京来的，当时她才 19

岁。她的姐夫把她带了出来，并通过一个劳动市场给她找了份帮

人卖瓜籽的工作。结果老板说她偷拿了钱，把她带到了警察局。

她白白工作了两个月，走的时候老板就只给了 200 块钱。后来她

就去发廊工作，结果三天后就因性格不够外向不得不离开了。接

下来，她又去给住在后海附近的一个老太太做家务，老太太说她


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太年轻，没几天就把她打发走了。她也遇到过贼。她感到在北京

生活十分艰难，和她想像的完全不同。

另一位妇女和雇主签了合同，当时说好了国庆节给她放假，

后来公司却扣了她一百元。她说公司一般不帮家政工说话。

第二节工作场所问题的动因

在小组活动中，我们试图营造一个包容的、安全的氛围。这

些妇女也知道她们可以通过讲出自己的经历来让更多的人了解并

帮助与她们处境相同的人。在我们的讨论中，她们有足够的勇气

透露出自己的无助和沮丧。她们向我们倾诉说她们肯为了一份好

的工作而吃苦，但是却无法决定自己的境遇。一些人觉得她们没

有能力解决这些问题，她们的工作、待遇和条件都由雇主决定。

一般来说，这些妇女在忍无可忍的时候只有一走了之，但她们还

会继续寻找新的工作并希望能得到好一点的待遇。下面是家政工

们关于工作场所问题的动因的陈述。

“打击啊，流眼泪。想找人保护你，帮你说情也不行。他有

权力改变方法，出来打工就是受气的，遇到困难就是忍，找不到

方法解决。苦点、累点没关系，就希望找个好人家，干长一

点。”

“人家说的算，人家是主人，人家说什么是什么，只能忍

耐。可是人的忍耐是有限的，实在忍不了就只有走。”

“要‘多干活、少吃饭，少给钱的’雇主占 80% 多。现在干

家政的人多。”

“遇到问题只能忍，坚持着，如果你走，他就不给你钱，威

胁我。我那时候小，他扣住你，不给你钱，3、4 个月才给一次，

我怕出去遇到坏人。慢慢有经验了，出来都不愿意换，因为回来

1 次又要交 20 元钱，大家都希望找个长期的，一般都是客户不

要，怕你吃，怕你夏天洗澡，户主说我不会看孩子，公司扣我的

钱。”

我们采用自由讨论的形式让家政工们说出她们初到北京时遇

到的大的问题和阻力。

第三节初到北京的打工者遇到的困难


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• 生活方式，生活习惯的差异，包括吃的方面、气候方面

• 语言障碍

• 不平等的待遇，雇主与自身身份差异，以及雇主和当地人

对外地人的歧视

• 工作不稳定，工作时间、收入问题

• 个人技能、经验问题

• 雇主的群体差异性，工作的好坏取决于雇主的态度和要求

• 心里成本（想家，孤独感，人际交往狭窄）

• 劳动力市场问题

在小组活动的后半部分，我们进行了自由讨论，以寻找克服

这些困难的策略。这些女性家政工提出了一系列的旨在减轻新到

的外来家政工的矛盾和困难的措施。她们也被问及社会各方——

包括她们自己在内，还有雇主、政府以及其他的当地组织——可

以在哪些方面予以帮助。

第四节需求和对策

1、我们需要法律的保护，法律或者政策中必需有具体的、

明确的规定，才有依据可循。法律保障是基本的，也是政府的

责任。

2、我们需要在外出打工之前仔细思考，以免盲目地进城而

没有任何准备。在这一过程中，有组织的劳务输出或者找熟人帮

忙是比较可行的办法。

3、我们需要培训，尤其当我们是初次外出打工。这能帮助

我们适应新的环境，并掌握基本的工作技能。

4、我们希望社会能够改变对我们的认识和想法，以增进互

相的尊重和平等。雇主应当尊重家政工；人人都应当加强平等的

观念。

5、我们需要自身利益的代表。无论是雇主还是家政公司都

是站在雇主利益一方，他们一般不会为了打工者的利益行动。没

有人为我说话，我们希望有真正关心我们、能够将我们组织起来

的人。

6、我们希望增进雇主与家政工之间的沟通和交流。一个发

言者说：“有些雇主说找不到好保姆，而好多保姆说找不到好雇


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主。”有人就建议政府应该帮助她们找工作，搞清楚雇主信息，

防止受骗。

7、我们需要保险，尤其是意外伤害保险。除此以外，还希

望能有医疗保险和养老保险。

8、我们希望建立雇主和家政服务人员之间的服务预警机

制：任何一方在想要终止工作关系时应提前通知对方。目前的情

况是，一些雇主不想要你时不提前告诉你，而你马上又找不到新

的工作。而如果家政工想要离开，她也应该提前告知雇主。这

套机制能够给双方提供一个缓冲期，从而减少一些困难和麻烦。

9、我们希望能建立打工者或家政工的组织或关系网。一位家

政工说：“刚来北京的时候很想家，也不认识人，遇到问题不知

道找谁，不知道怎么办，有时候很孤单、无助。”在小组讨论的

时候，家政工们并不太了解 NGO 一类的组织，也不清楚公众社会

组织能对自己有什么帮助。她们不知道如何接触这样的社会资源

和组织，所以希望政府或社会相关组织能对此做必要的宣传。她

们也希望有提供咨询、并能建议如何实现这些计划的地方。如果

家政工们不知道执行计划的步骤，那么，再多建议也是无用的。

小组活动之二：

当前的工作场所的问题和相关对策

第二次小组活动追踪了第一次小组活动中所提出的议题并将

其扩展，重点讨论了当前工作场所的问题，包括待遇和工作条

件。我们使用了国外家政工所面临的问题和她们的组织的实例来

激发参与者关于自己的经历和对策的对话，这些都涉及工作场所

的问题。我们请来一位特邀发言人对相关的劳动权利和法律进行

概述，并回答提问。这次小组活动的目的是让参与者讨论她们的

工作场所出现的问题、她们的对策及需要。这些信息或许能为公

众组织如何做出适当的反应或行动提供建议。

我们先是邀请参与者一起讨论在工作场所对她们影响大的

问题，包括工作过度、报酬、食宿和待遇等问题。当问到家政工

们自己如何应对这样的问题时，她们说有的时候唯一的出路就是

辞职、另找一份工作。从讨论中我们可以推断，家政工在工作场

所中几乎没有权力及影响力，这使他们无法就问题进行有效的协

商。她们常常无法扭转不公正的情形这个事实导致了一个沮丧的


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环境——家政工们觉得自己唯一的权力就是选择一走了之。既然

家政公司总是偏向雇主，也就没人帮家政工们说话。

第一节工作场所的问题和相关对策

工资问题

许多家政工通过私人关系或口头传达的消息来找工作，因此

从来不签合同，这与通过中介公司找工作的情形不同。但是通过

中介找工作也存在不少问题。中介公司是盈利组织，利润主要来

自于雇主而非家政工，所以雇主的话一般份量要大些。一些中介

比较讲道德而拒绝为虐待性和剥削性的雇主服务，但是他们没有

办法惩罚这些雇主，也无法使他们对自己的行为负责。如果中介

不帮忙，家政工们自己也就对雇主无可奈何。

“干的一家，工资挺高，但做了几天后，干了十天，就不按

原来的给钱了。还说，没干满一个月，不按高薪算。公司介绍，

没问题的…许高薪，给低薪，也没办法。（问到中介公司）中介

帮用户，不帮你。”

拖欠工资的对策

“只有中介出来证明，要不干了十天半月不给，也没办法，

钱拽在人家手里。用户怎么说，中介就怎么说。有时候只有不干

了。要有人专门调解，要有中间人，要有投诉机构，像公交车就

有投诉电话。”

超时工作的对策

许多家政工提到雇主让她们做额外的工作。我们就问她们对

超时工作如何回应。至于工资问题，家政工们说她们唯一的选择

就是默许或者辞职。

“[超时工作我]也可以去做。他们（雇主）说“我不说你就

不干了。”90%以上的雇主都会这样，[超时工作]不加工资。”

“雇主、小孩睡觉，我也可以休息。”

“看态度，心里委屈，就不想干了，干两天，就不干了。”


37

“干了 20 天，才给 300 块钱，脏、累。给工资才走，不给

工资不走。后还是给了。”

食宿问题

雇主对住家的家政工有提供合理的食宿的责任。而有时雇主

们并不这样做，而是限制家政工的食量，让她们吃便宜的饭菜或

剩饭。家政工们提到，她们有时睡在不合适的地方，在换工作期

间更是无处安身。她们或许会失去工作，而在这种情况下她们就

得用自己少量的积蓄买食物并与人合租房间。

“雇主亏吃，不让吃，吃剩。有时候是开水加剩菜，有时候

是加半个馒头。让少做一个人的饭。”

另外一个人补充说她总是吃剩饭。还有人说这种问题通常发

生在老年雇主身上，因为他们不舍得花钱。但是，她反问到：我

们不吃饭怎么工作？

我们又问了她们关于住宿的条件。有的说，有时家政工就睡

在雇主家的沙发上或阳台上，在没工作的时候她们就每晚花六元

钱住在家政公司。留宿家政工的中介公司只提供长凳、一张床垫

或几把椅子。一般公司不允许这些女家政工使用卫生间，而是让

她们在需要用水、上厕所时使用公共设施，或者去澡堂洗澡。

食宿问题的对策

“吃不饱, 没办法。”

“合同期满就换用户。”

待遇问题

这些女性受到恶劣待遇的遭遇描述出她们有时被严重地歧视

或虐待，但是却没有办法将雇主绳之于法。

“我没事，工作还不错。（不过在其他家政工的鼓励下，

后还是讲了自己的故事）我来北京时间不长，刚干了 40 天。有

天我给老太太做了副手套，她揪我的头发，我哭，她说不打我，

在沙发上，她打我的肚子，说把我的小肚子给打掉。40 天，我就

辞了。后来跟家政公司说了，阿姨说也知道这个老太太的情况，

但不让我乱说。老太太一个月换了 18 个（家政工）。”


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另一位参与者说该受害者应该干脆就辞职，哪怕下一份工作

还没有着落。有人补充说她的工作应该得到补偿。另一位妇女说

起自己的经历，说即使她一天都不休息，她的雇主也不多付她工

资。当雇主骂她的时候，她就装作没听见。但是要是打她，她也

许就无法容忍了。

一位五十多岁的妇女诉说了自己受到的歧视性待遇，而这反

映出她在雇主眼里如何分文不值：“有一天我在一家人那里干，

给老太太做鸡蛋饼。后剩下一个，我没吃早饭，特别饿，就问

老太太我能不能吃。她家媳妇回来了，好像跟老公吵架了，心情

不好，就让我滚。我说我不走，已经这么晚，我没有地方可以

睡。她要我走，把我的东西塞到我的包里，踢了我一脚，把我赶

了出来。我没地方去，就在她家楼道里，坐在那里。后来我在那

里哭，一个老大爷看见了，就把我送到派出所。派出所后来也把

我赶出来了。我就到公园里，到处都是蚊子，咬我，我用衣服把

头包起来。后来实在坐不住，一个人走过来，让我去前面的旅

店，说那里正招人。我就过去了，后来被门口的人拦下来，说那

人不在，让我明早过去。我还是没地方睡。这里（家政公司）也

关门了，我没办法，又回到那个楼道里，用衣服蒙着，第二天，

我来到中介公司。后来那个媳妇也过来了，说到处找我，我到哪

里去了。她就是装样子，后来她家老人也说她这样做影响不

好。”

反对不公正的待遇

我们问这些家政工在雇主试图欺骗或虐待她们时应当怎样

做。其中一位说“我可以原谅，但你得给我赔偿。对年轻人，要

给法律制裁；对老年人，就要她赔偿。”

我们还问她们是否试图通知雇主的其他家人，一个受访者

说：“跟他们说，说了跟没说一样。他们会说，为什么她不打别

人，打你。”

另一位家政工说：“只有不干。打了不认账，也很难证

明。”

第二节建立一个服务于家政工的组织


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小组活动中，我们讲述了国外的家政工权益维护组织的故

事。参与活动的女性家政工们觉得要是能有一个组织来帮助她们

解决与雇主之间的矛盾、主持公正、在待业时能为她们提供住

宿、提供关于家政工与雇主之间如何沟通的培训，是再好不过

了。她们认为应当由法律机构或者有权影响中介公司的人来领导

这样的组织。她们意识到社会关系网络和对家政工的支持的缺

乏。家政工们只有在偶然的情形下会面，除此以外没有其他可能

的集会地点。因此，她们显然需要一个活动中心。如果家政公司

通知她们有什么活动，她们一般会设法参加，尤其是在周末的时

候。

小组活动之三：对未来的打算和期望

第三次小组活动致力于了解家政工对将来的打算、现存的障

碍及公众社会如何支持她们职业和个人的发展。我们围绕四个主

题展开了讨论：

1）工作计划

2）家庭计划

3）学习和自我发展

4）组织和对家政工的支持

这个小组活动对所有参与者来说都很有意义，她们觉得通过

说出自己的需要而受到鼓舞，并对将来能有帮助她们的组织而感

到振奋。她们也深受同行的辛酸故事的感动。先后有四位参与者

在讲到自己的个人负担时泣不成声。

第一节工作计划

我们问每一位参与者是住家的家政工还是小时工，她为什么

选择这种类型的家政工作，以及她们是打算继续做下去还是转

行。我想知道她们认为自己选择的工作的好处和坏处是什么，以

及她们的决定是出于不得已还是自愿。小组里有四位小时工和六

位住家的家政工。

小时工们都说做小时工的主要好处就是比较自由。大多数人

知道自己短时间内还会继续做下去，但还没有很固定的长期打


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算。许多住家的家政工在北京没有熟人，除了雇主家以外没有别

的地方可去。六位住家的家政工当中，有两位年长的打算长时间

做下去；一位说以自己的年龄也没法做别的工作赚钱，而另一位

觉得老家还不如北京，但她还是打算回去，因为她觉得有责任给

儿子找媳妇，买房子然后照顾孙子。三位住家的家政工只是暂时

打工赚钱，将来好回家和家人团聚、种苹果树、饲养家禽。后

一位住家的家政工在小组活动中不停地哭，她需要养活自己的丈

夫和三个孩子，因为丈夫的腿在数次手术后还没能恢复过来。她

尤其为自己的儿子高亮担心：他离家出走到北京打工。尽管他在

学校成绩不错，但他决定停学去赚钱养家。做母亲的已经一年没

有他的消息了。

我们总结了阻碍家政工们实现将来的计划的种种障碍，以及

她们提出的解决办法：

1）没有学习的地方。一些女性想要学习如何种果树和饲养

家禽。“第一个方面是经济。找人教很难。想学技术，不知道去

什么地方。”

家政工自己提出的解决方案：如果她们的工资提高了，她们

可以购买学习材料自学。她们也可以找一个能帮她们找到合适的

书籍或材料的好雇主。

2）换工作。“3 天 5 天，在这吃住，找不到工作也挺着急

的。如果遇到不合适的，下来，老呆在这，也不是事，看能不能

快点找到，否则住也要钱。”

另外一个参与者说：“像有些公司吧，不提供住的地，找不

好工作，只好在外边公园里面呆着就是了。有这样的公司，所以

我认为好找有地方住的公司。”

解决方案：家政公司可以减少住宿的费用。

3）没有自由。工人们几乎没有自由时间和自己的空间，也

没有权力声张。她们觉得自己得对雇主唯命是从。

“她们不让我们出去，在一起说话，怕我们说，你挣得少，她挣

得多，但是，按我们打工的心理来说，只要你对我们好，我们肯

定也对他们好，我给你们家干活，肯定抱着给自己干活的心

态。打工的肯定想多挣点钱，对吧。”

另一位工人跟着说：“…有的人家吃饭给你一点，让你自己

单做，不让接电话，封闭的很。”


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解决方案：学习法律知识，并学习如何与雇主更好地沟通。

在家政工干完活后给她们一些时间会见朋友。如果工人吃不饱，

她就应当辞职另找人家。

4）在工人受骗后或当雇主不履行合约时，家政工们缺乏家

政公司的支持。“公司吧，总是向着雇主。像我们有错有对，公

司总是向着雇主的。我们打工的里面，有的人也不一样，什么人

都有，我们觉得少说为好。也不是指这个公司，总是有这样的公

司。”

解决方案：照上述参与者所说，既然工人们无法依靠雇主或

中介公司员工来支持她们，她们在说话时就应当留神。

5）看医生。一位女工说她没钱看病买药。

解决方案：像北京居民那样给家政工上保险。

第二节家庭计划

我们询问每一位参与者：是独自住在北京还是和家人一起？

短期和长期计划是什么？留在北京还是回老家？我想知道她们是

短期还是长期移民，还有促使她们留在北京或者回老家的原因。

参与者在做打算时主要考虑的因素是与家人在一起或者赚钱

养家。她们中有的人希望能在短期内回家，好照顾她们年幼的孩

子；其他人则不得不在北京呆较长的时间，好赚够孩子的学费。

有两位女性觉得由于工作难做而消费又高，在北京长期停留并不

合算。有一位说她想留在北京，但是由于她在北京没有家庭而觉

得前面所说的种种梦想都很难实现。一位小时工打算和她的丈夫

孩子永久性地留在北京。她以前当过教师，后来转做家政工。那

位丈夫残疾的参与者呆在北京只是为了赚钱养家，等丈夫能重新

下地干活了，她就回去。实现她们的家庭计划的障碍主要来自于

经济上：比如，刚才提到的那位参与者必须要还清家里为丈夫动

手术借的一万元的债，而其他的人觉得难以承担回家的路费。

第三节学习和自我发展

在开始这一话题时，我们首先问家政工们想要过什么样的生

活，她们闲暇时都做些什么，还有就是如果有机会的话，她们想


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做些什么。这些问题意在比较她们眼下的实践和理想中的追求，

看看两者之间的差距在哪里，并建议当地组织可以举办什么样的

活动。构成她们的理想生活的因素包括：与家人在一起而不感到

孤单、确保孩子们成家立业、将房子翻新成几层楼。闲暇时间她

们一般做的事情有：和朋友在一起、找一份更好的工作、逛街

（只看不买）、休息和听广播。一位女家政工说她们大部分人不

怎么识字，所以闲暇时也不会看书。一些参与者想学计算机或缝

纫。她们对这些问题的回答各不相同，一些人很消极，而有一些

人也抱着希望。一位年长的妇女说她不会学习，也不能做自己感

兴趣的事情，但是如果有适合没上过学的人参加的小组活动，她

就会去。另一位妇女微笑着说她对一个能提供学习机会的组织的

想法很是抱有希望。她说她只需要能够有人示范以及给予简单的

指导。

讨论的结果说明家政工们的需要都是非常基础的。如果她们

有闲暇时间，她们一般会和朋友或能够提供情感上的支持的人在

一起。而且她们没有机会和经济能力去学习，所以如果能够有指

导性的、提高能力的活动和培训，她们将受益匪浅。

第四节参与和组织

为了探索潜在的与外界接触的机会，我们提出了这些问题：

当地的家政工们是小时工还是住家？她们有哪些自由？她们在一

起聚会和分享信息的机会有哪些？参与者们说她们的自由时间很

少，如果她们外出通常需要雇主的许可。有个极端的例子，就是

一个受访者说她去年一年只放了一天假。雇主不让她休息，而每

个月只多给五十元作为补偿。他们不仅不让她休息，还唯恐自己

的孩子们会被她拐走。她的雇主还不许她接电话，以防有人和她

取得联系。相对来说，小时工灵活性就比较大，能够较自由地参

加一些活动。

我们讲了其他国家的家政工组织的故事，参与者们说要是有

这样的组织，她们就会有兴趣参加。显然，她们除了老家的妇联

和家政公司以外，没有参加过其他组织的经验。至于社区组织，

家政工们说：如果有这样的组织，也是只有雇主能参加，而没有

她们的份。与我交谈过的一两百位家政工当中，绝大多数都没有

听说过在北京蓬勃发展的、能对她们有所帮助的公共社会组织。


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大多数的人不敢想象会有这样的机构的存在，所以仍然独自面对

困难。

第四章城市组织和公民的进一步参与

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第一节北京外来家政工的需要和权益

在小组活动中，家政工们详细讲述了自己的需要，并清晰地

表达了希望能有代表自身利益的组织的愿望。本文后一章将总

结她们的实际需要和策略性的利益，并讨论公众社会组织和网络

将如何努力满足它们。实际需要指的是这些女性家政工认为是必

要的、并且与提高她们目前的职位所需的技能相关的需要。实际

需要的满足可以改善家政工们目前的情形，但无法改变她们的地

位。策略性的利益涉及改变妇女的角色或地位，从而在社会中得

到更公正的待遇。策略性的利益得到了满足，女性就可以自强，

并参与到社会变迁的过程当中。

家政工们不能够只依靠雇主和家政公司来伸张自己的权利。

作为个体的、非正式的工人，这些女性家政工们希望能有一个组

织来帮助自己调解纠纷，并帮她们解决问题。她们有意提高自己

的法律意识。她们对当前这种自己只能决定去留的情形并不满

意。她们要求合同上对工资和工作时限有明确的规定，以避免可

能发生的剥削。如果能够学会如何向雇主表达自己的法律知识，

及如何与雇主沟通并解决问题的技巧，家政工们在工作中的地位

就会加强。外界的中介机构可以提供这样的培训，并在她们需要

帮助和调解纠纷时提供相关的信息。

实际需求

• 在外出打工前帮助家政工们做好准备、了解外出打工必要

的条件，并在移民的过程中给予支持。

• 帮助家政工适应城市生活环境。

• 在合同中明确规定工作时限、工资、工作范围和超时工作

的情况。针对合同的履行要有一套强制系统。

• 与雇主沟通，克服起初的语言障碍。

• 工作技能培训。


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• 提供关于家政公司和雇主的信息，减少工人受骗或受剥削

的风险。

• 合理的食宿条件。

• 处理虐待或者剥削的办法。

• 健康保险。

• 一套预警系统，雇主和家政工都有责任在解除工作关系时

提前通知对方。这套系统的执行需要一定的动力，并要预防歧视

性的或报复性的行为或不良的工作表现。

• 在转换工作时有一定的保障，如提供住宿。

战略利益

• 社会对家政工的态度的改变，给予尊重和平等。

• 有尊严的雇佣和公正的待遇。

• 家政工的权益受到法律保障，并有执行机制。

• 有家政工的代言人来帮助她们争取自身利益，并将她们组

织起来。这些代言人可以是支持家政工的组织的成员，或是来自

一个由家政工、研究者和其他人组成的关系网络。

• 有家政工的组织或关系网来帮助她们解决孤立或局限的人

际关系网问题。

• 有调解人来帮助或培训家政工们应对拖欠工资、剥削和其

他工作场所的问题。

• 有供自我提高的学习资源和机会。

• 有更多自由和自由时间参加活动；降低雇主监控、命令和

事无巨细的管理的不公正程度。

家政工工作场所的所有参与者，包括工人自己、雇主、家

政公司和公众社会组织，都要为改变当前的状况而更积极地努

力。要做任何改变，首先要了解家政工所处的工作环境——她们

找工作所通过的渠道或中介并无意维护她们的权利。

关于雇佣渠道方面的需要

雇佣渠道决定了工作的范围，以及在剥削和虐待情况下是否

有安全网的存在，所以它们的角色很重要。女性家政工们通过非

正式的网络和雇佣中介寻找家政工作，所以我们有必要审视这两

个系统的一些弱点。目前家政公司对向他们付费找工作的家政工


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们不负任何法律责任。家政公司的行为取决于管理层和员工的道

德水准和实践。为确保能在家政工的合同或权益受损的情况下帮

助他们主持公正，家政公司有责任展开调查，并使有关人员负起

责任。由于家政工在遇到被侵害行为而向家政公司汇报时，她们

通常并不处于有利地位，所以有必要使她们有信心说出来，而不

至于担心这会影响将来的工作机会。不仅家政工们需要这样的保

证以揭发雇主的侵犯行为，而且家政公司也需要激励和实际办法

来使雇主负责、或向主管部门上告。

通过非正式渠道获得工作的家政工缺乏家政公司那里的社区

性的环境，她们无法与其他的家政工沟通，所以仍然陷于孤立境

地。这些女性家政工只和有类似工作背景、又是同乡、同时又住

在附近的人碰面。社区一级的援助对保护她们的权益至关重要，

将有关组织或热线的信息传递给这样的基层工作着实有效。

第二节公众社会的参与

在北京，致力于帮助家政工群体的非政府组织越来越多。我

与以下组织就它们当前的和未来的以家政工为服务对象的工作及

想法进行了交流：协作者文化传播中心，富平，打工妹之家和小

小鸟文化交流中心。一些组织先前与家政工并没有多少接触，但

它们可以为家政工提供建议、培训及自我提高的活动。不论这些

组织是关注于某一特定问题，如健康或法律权利，还是强调通过

提高能力或提供支持来帮助某个群体的发展，它们都对家政工的

生活的变化起到积极的作用。目前，这些组织提供的服务有：法

律咨询、培训、个案调查、能力建设活动、小组讨论、小组外出

活动、文化及自我提高活动。

北京的公众社会组织（CSOs）服务家政工的案例

北京已有的一些公众社会组织致力于满足各种不同的需要，

但主旨都在于使外来移民从个人和群体的层面上都得到提高。例

如，协作者提供：直接的服务和咨询，有关自我提高、法律、健

康和工作安全方面的培训，帮助外来移民适应城市生活的培训，

发展文化艺术的活动。它们也在多个层面上支持外来移民，包括

向政府提供政策建议。打工妹之家将重点放在法律方面，提供权


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利培训，每月一次的家政工互助小组活动，为外地妇女提供法律

咨询和服务，并就如何更好地保护外来打工者提供建议。富平也

有针对家政工的一系列计划：比如建立社会支持网络，提供城市

生活技能、保健、职业规划、能力建设（比如领导力）方面的培

训；有小笔基金来支持十个社区的小组建设；每月的娱乐活动；

与社区一级的管理层共同举办小组活动，以促进社区服务覆盖到

家政工群体。

隐性的及未开发的资源

许多能被家政工利用的基本的资源都已经存在，但却未被发

掘。这些组织彼此之间可以建立联系和合作，从而使工作更有

效；许多个人也非常愿意当志愿教师或组织者。另外一个问题是

家政工们通常并不知道这些组织和服务的存在。北京为家政工的

权利而努力的组织之间也没有广泛的合作。目前，各个组织对外

来移民问题的参与深浅不一，每个组织的使命也各不相同。如果

这些组织和网络能够通过合作或信息共享整合个体的力量，它们

则可以影响成千上万的家政工。草根一类的组织了解外来打工

者和妇女的需要，并且它们一直在探寻提供服务和扩大自己的服

务对象的途径。尽管非政府组织所处的环境被认为是比较困难或

竞争激烈的，但是，共同的目标为协作工作创造了令人振奋的机

会，即使是有限的合作也能在这个领域产生重大的影响。这种对

公众社会的进一步参与的需求超出了非政府组织的范围，它欢迎

各种围绕共同的兴趣和目的的运动、网络、社区组织、慈善团体

的联合和参与。

社会关系网络、能力与能力建立问题

从以上提到的三个非政府组织的服务范围中可以很明显地看

出，当地的许多项目可以满足参与小组活动的家政工提出的需

要。对于提供关键性服务的组织，目前的紧迫问题是关注家政工

与外界的接触、能力和地位。家政工们如何知道这些项目？组织

有没有容纳她们的能力？她们能否亲自到达活动场所？信息共享

变得至关重要，因为各个组织有不同的项目，又位于北京的不同

地区，它们延伸自己的服务的能力就很有限。对培训和资源有特

定需求的女性家政工、或是有兴趣在自己的社区建立小组的人或


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许能从某个而非另外一个组织中得到更大的帮助。有了基本的合

作，这些女性就可以选择适合她们的公众社会组织。面对北京庞

大的家政工群体，这些组织和它们提供的服务将供不应求。

如果这些组织希望能够建立互益的战略伙伴关系来解决家政

工问题，它们首先应当对从如何将共享的资源与现存的需要搭配

起来，到如何参与到合作性服务进行整体性的评估。这些组织可

以分析自己的优势和资源，以及为填补重要的空白而亟待提高的

领域。关于接下来的合作计划，它们应当集中精力于社会网络建

设，例如选择可以深入社会的媒介、策略和信息，以及相应的评

估机制。提供并宣传直接的服务是不可或缺的辅助手段。

正如一些公众社会组织所了解到的，没有关于个人的自我支

持和与他人分享知识的能力建设，该组织的服务能力就会受到限

制。对公众社会组织来说，其基本的任务是在草根组织中促进能

力建立，使家政工和其他感兴趣的个人都能参与到服务当中，同

时增强公众社会组织在社区一级的服务能力。即使只有一个组织

能够在多个社区培训志愿者、提供建议或支持，每个志愿者就可

以影响到许多的人。北京有无数的男男女女热心于为社会服务充

当志愿者；他们只需要起初的培训、深入社区的一套工具以及训

练方法和相应支持。

第三节家政工的示范中心

除了公众社会组织针对家政工和其他目标群体的各种形式的

帮助以外，家政工们也需要专门代表自己的组织，该组织至少在

起始阶段不必纠缠于成为承担社会责任的雇佣机构典范。非政府

组织有可能在实现有价值的使命的同时，也增加自己的收入；而

这反过来又能够提供更多确保使命的可持续性的方法。然而，应

优先确保有价值的使命通过项目和行动得以成功执行，进而考虑

增加收入以补助项目基金和捐款，而该方式不应致使使命本身打

折扣。与其完全依靠增加收入的活动，非政府组织应当继续寻求

实际上的财政援助，以及有经济价值的志愿者工作1。我在下面提

1 约翰逊·佩泽（Peizer, Jonathan）， “数码时代的可持续发展”。网络资源：http://www.mediachannel.org/views/oped/values.shtml


48

出了一个家政工的示范中心的例子，该中心可以回应她们的许多

需求。

一个家政工的示范组织或中心应当地处社区的便利位置，以

便作为当地劳动者的综合性资源发挥作用。它应当能使家政工、

当地居民、非政府组织、家政公司及其他社区组织都有机会参与

进来。该中心不仅为那些失业而流离失所的家政工提供临时住

所，更要帮助那些需要帮助去摆脱困境的家政工。该中心应当提

供各种问题及相关非政府组织的信息，而其他非政府组织或有兴

趣的个人也可以通过该中心提供培训或组织活动。组织家政工活

动的一个困难就是，家政工们一般都是在家政公司里忙着找工作

的情况下才聚集，由于每个人的日程安排不同，所处的地段也不

同，所以在这些家政公司之外，组织者们往往需要与她们单独联

系。在中心举办活动，而不是在家政公司或是其他场所，就不会

有利益冲突或其他不便利之处。

由于中心不是雇佣机构，家政工们会觉得受到了支持，可以

自由地参加活动而不必担心中心职员会限制她们的工作机会。家

政公司的工作人员只关心盈利，所以他们愿意雇用安静的、能干

的、对雇主有求必应的人；他们对工人的自我提高并不感兴趣，

特别是在工作时间内，况且这些活动并不能给公司带来好处。如

果家政工不能承担他们规定的角色，他们还会采取惩罚措施。

这个组织也可以作为家政工权益问题的研究中心，为倡导

者、研究者和政策制定者联络家政女工并与她们合作提供便利。

中心也可以作为社区复兴的资源，把当地的雇主也吸引进来。它

可以提供相关培训，以使双方认识到，良好的工作关系建立在互

相信任和尊重的基础上。这样的培训可以说明，在一种匮乏和控

制的态度下，雇主和家政工都只照顾自己的利益，这就在家里滋

生出不信任、嫌恶与压力。

我们的小组活动的参与者说，如果有这样的组织，家政公司

可以作为连接组织和工人的枢纽。然而，对于家政公司来说，他

们希望工人能在自由时间等候新的雇主，所以工人参加其他的活

动会影响他们的利益。不过也许有必要与家政公司达成妥协，因

为毕竟有些培训有利于工人将来的工作，因而对公司也有利。家

政工组织也可以承担监督侵犯工人权益的家政公司和雇主的职

能，它可以针对侵权的家政公司和雇主建立一个数据库。不过家

政公司依然掌握关于雇主的全面的信息。既然每个家政公司都

会有不守合约、虐待家政工的雇主，一家公司的频繁的事故汇报


49

并不能说明在那里找工作比较危险。相反，这可能正是吸引家政

工的地方，因为它说明这家公司积极地保护家政工的利益。这是

家政公司在家政工当中树立良好信誉的好办法；如果有更多家政

工愿意为其工作，公司招聘的费用就会大大降低。

如果一个组织能够吸纳关注或研究家政工问题的所有参与

者，它就能为更进一步的社会变革扎下更深的根。公众社会影响

这一社会问题的运动需要合理的领导，需要有远见的、投入的和

有精力的人来主导并与他人合作。

第四节结论

这份出版物反映出家政女工在北京面临的种种复杂性，从女

性本身经历的困难，影响其角色的性别偏见，她们的观点、态

度，到她们应对工作场所中的问题的低下地位和失权。这份报告

阐明了女工们亟需引起社会注意的实际需要和战略利益，并呼吁

公众社会组织及其他人员的进一步参与。只要保姆和家政工——

无论是男性还是女性——仍然因为工作的女性化、非正式化的性

质而不受尊重，只要法律和政治机构仍然不承认也不致力于实现

他们的正当权利，追求性别平等就仍然是举步维艰。从世界范围

来看，家政工们仍然在这个问题上奋斗着。我们同样需要记住的

是，许多其它的家政工，如参与了这个项目的家政工一样，已经

为追求自己应得的公平劳动、公正待遇的权利，做好了大胆地发

言的准备。而处于孤立状态的、没有组织的家政工正在寻求公众

社会的帮助来促使她们加入到争取自身权益的活动中。

毋庸置疑，在有原则性的领导下，再加上无数的员工、志愿

者、外来劳工和其他市民的参与，中国的公众社会得以成长。新

旧组织都开始迎接满足家政工的需要这一挑战。方式透明、观

念平等、抱合作态度和无畏参与的组织逐渐得以产生大的影

响。强大的组织会贯彻与社会变革价值观直接相关的执行机

制，以基层的需要确定自己的方向，并为所有成员的参与和成长

提供机会。人们认同这个组织的性质，就会受到鼓舞而加入进来

与其并肩作战。

家政工权益的实现要求各个方面的努力：对家政工作本身的

重新评价、权益主张与法律上的变革，来自基层的自我提高，以


50

及大多数雇主和家政工之间的问题都可以得到公正处理的支持性

条件。社会有必要对承担家政工作的人受歧视的根源进行有意识

的思考，无论这些人是职业家政工，还是照顾家庭的女性或男

性，或是居家父母。每个先前对“女性化的职业”的工作和家政

工持有负面的陈旧观念的人，都应本着博爱的精神甩掉这种漠不

关心的态度，取而代之以有意识地肯定和欣赏每个人的人格、与

别人的关系和他们的贡献。社会中的大多数个体并不总是实践平

等的信念，而是有意无意地信奉让自己有安全感的、将自己与他

人区分开的物质、社会和意识形态上的差别。然而令人欣慰的

是，越来越多的人选择帮助那些境遇较差的、受歧视的人，比如

传统上被边缘化了的家政工群体，并且他们愿意反思自身助成分

裂彼此的社会偏见的态度和信条。


51

i

Gender and Rights Research Report on Chinese Female Migrant Domestic

Workers

Mei-Ling Ellerman

Action Research Project on Domestic Workers

i

______________________________________ Contents Part I INTRODUCTION I. Background 1 II. Publication 1-2 III. Acknowledgments 3 IV. Respondents Basic Information 3-6 Part II ANALYSIS OF INTERVIEW

QUESTIONNAIRE I. Educational Background of the Respondents 8-9 II. Gender Issues 9-10

Poverty/ Work/ Economic Independence 10 Education 10-11 Marriage 11-14 Domestic Violence 14-16 Violence against Children 16-17 Suicide 17-21 Trafficking 21-23

III. Workplace Issues of Domestic Workers 23-28

Workplace Issues 23-25 Sexual Harassment 25-28

IV. The Experience of Being a Domestic Worker 29-31

Domestic Workers’ Reflections on their Profession 29-30 Domestic Workers’ Treatment and Lack of Opportunities 30-31

ii ii

V. Process of Change 31-34 Workers’ Reflections on Their Migration Experience 32-33 Returning Home: Assimilation into their Hometown 33-34

VI. Long-Term Plans 34-38 VII. Conclusions 38-41 Part III WORKSHOPS WORKSHOP I: NEW MIGRANTS COMING TO BEIJING I. Participants’ Stories 44 II. Dynamics of Workplace Issues 46-47 III. Problems for New Migrants in Beijing 47 IV. Suggested Needs and Solutions for New Migrants’

Issues 48-49 WORKSHOP II: CURRENT WORKPLACE ISSUES AND RELATED STRATEGIES I. Workplace Problems and Related Strategies 49-53

Payment Issues 50-51 Strategies for Non-payment 51 Strategies to Combat Excess Workhours 51-52 Food and Board Issues 52 Strategies for Dealing with Food and Board Issues 53 Treatment Issues 53-54 Strategies against Mistreatment 54

iii

II. An Organization for Domestic Workers 55 WORKSHOP III: FUTURE PLANS AND ASPIRATIONS I. Work Plans 56-58 II. Family Plans 58-59 III. Learning/ Self-development 59-60 IV. Participation and Organization 60 Part IV FUTURE INVOLVEMENT OF URBAN-

BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND CITIZENS

I. Needs and Interests of Migrant Domestic Workers in

Beijing 61-64 Practical Needs 62 Strategic Interests 62-63 Needs Regarding Employment Channels 63-64

II. Civil Society Involvement 64-67

Examples of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Beijing Serving Migrant Workers 64-65 Resources: Untapped and Unseen 65 Issues of Outreach, Capacity and Capacity-Building 66-67

III. Model Center for Domestic Workers 67-69 VI. Conclusion 69-71

Part I Introduction

1

PART I INTRODUCTION

I. Background In 2005, as a Visiting Scholar at the Gender and Law Research Center, at the Law Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), and supported by the Fulbright and David L. Boren Fellowships, I launched the Action Research Project on Domestic Workers to research the workplace issues of migrant domestic workers in Beijing. In 2007 after two years of research, with the help of dozens of trained volunteer interviewers, I completed 100 one-on-one qualitative interviews of both female and male domestic workers. We spent time in domestic worker agencies on a weekly basis, teaching the women English and conducting interviews. We investigated the workers’ workplace problems and their responses, gender awareness, discrimination, abuse, sexual harassment, outreach opportunities and self-empowerment. I continue to seek opportunities to use this data to raise awareness and support domestic workers as fully participatory and valued members of society, in their struggle to obtain fair work and equitable treatment. A long road lies ahead before societies wear down stereotypical gender norms and reappraise carework and domestic work. Historically and traditionally allotted to women, they are the essential building blocks for a healthy family and therefore society, and must be shared by both men and women.

II. Publication This bilingual publication originates from a separate collaborative effort to research female Chinese migrant domestic workers’ rights issues from a gender perspective. In late 2005, I initiated this endeavor with the Migrant Women’s Club to conduct complementary and comprehensive research on the experiences of 20 domestic workers in

Part I Introduction

2

Beijing. The process involved designing a structured qualitative interview questionnaire with open and close-ended questions, and reviewing interview and analysis techniques with NGO staff. After I designed the questionnaire, the staff of the Club carried out the majority of the interviews, and were responsible for providing data for the 20 case studies. The questionnaire chronologically documents the women’s accounts of their lives in their hometowns, through the migration process, to their working experiences in Beijing. Pursuant to the collaborative work, I piloted three workshops at local domestic worker agencies, which related directly to the issues raised by the questionnaire. By using an interactive format of teaching, telling stories, asking questions, and brainstorming, the participatory workshops became a direct source of information from domestic workers about their problems and needs and how we can address them. This publication analyzes qualitative data from in-depth interviews, and data from group activities to raise awareness about important issues that face the workers, what strategies they themselves use, and provides suggestions on how civil society organizations can respond appropriately. The booklet is intended for both organizations that work on migrant issues, and for those who are interested in learning more about migrant issues in China. The interviews explore and provide an analytical backdrop on wide-ranging issues affecting rural women who migrate to the cities for work. The workshops chapters offer the results from our participatory group work with migrant workers, and their group contributions of stories and strategies to the publication. The final chapter deals with civil society organizational involvement in addressing the needs that were voiced, and tapping into existing and unexplored resources, networks and knowledge to advance domestic workers’ interests.

Part I Introduction

3

III. Acknowledgments

First I would like to thank the domestic workers who, in the interest of helping others, opened their hearts and minds to contribute their stories and who articulated their ideas on how local organizations can help. This publication is for them. Major thanks to the principal interviewers, Fang Qingxia and Fangfeng, for their hard work in carrying out the interviews and for their contribution to the project; I acknowledge the meticulous transcriptions done by my volunteers and Fang Qingxia; my appreciation to all participants in the analysis groups including my volunteers and Migrant Women’s Club collaborators; special gratitude to Hongyan, my Project Assistant whose constant hard work and dedication over the months made this publication possible; to Jiang Na of the National University of Singapore for her excellent translation; and to Mei-Mei Ellerman for her skilled editorial work on the English version, Hongyan for her conscientious editorial work on the Chinese version; and Derek Ellerman for designing the classic cover. My deep appreciation to Karin Czermak of UNESCO for her unstinting support of our work. Finally, I thank UNESCO for supporting migrant domestic workers’ rights and for its vital financial backing for this project. May it continue its meaningful and crucial contributions to the realization of Chinese migrant domestic workers’ human rights.

IV. Respondents Basic Information Age Groups 19-23 years: 8 Respondents 24-30 years: 5 Respondents 30s (mostly upper 30s): 6 Respondents 40s: 1 Respondent

Part I Introduction

4

Education No schooling: 1 Elementary school (completed): 1 Middle school (dropped out during or completed): 14 High school (dropped out during or completed): 2 Vocational high school (completed): 2 The respondents’ domestic work experience in Beijing ranges from 2-7 years. Marital Status Unmarried: 10 Married : 6 Divorced- 2 Widowed- 1 Remarried after husband committed suicide – 1

Part I Introduction

5

Basic Information of 20 Interviewees

Age Group

Education Marital Status

Beijing Domestic

Work Experience

#1 19-23 1st yr. High school Unmarried 2 years #2 24-30 2nd yr. Middle school Unmarried 7 years #3 24-30 Graduated Middle

school Married 2 years, 11

years in Beijing #4 19-23 Middle School Unmarried 4 years #5 30s No school Married 3-4 years, 11

years in Beijing #6 40s Graduated

Elementary school Married 4 years

#7 19-23 2nd yr. Middle school Unmarried 3.5 years #8 24-30 Middle school Married 7 years #9 30s Graduated Middle

school Married 6 years

#10 24-30 Graduated 3 yr. Vocational school

Married 5 years

#11 19-23 Middle school Unmarried 3 years #12 24-30 Vocational school Unmarried 5 years, 8 years

in Beijing #13 19-23 Middle school Unmarried 5 years #14 19-23 1st yr. Middle school Unmarried 3 years #15 30s High school Widow 5 years #16 30s Graduated Middle

school Married 2 years

#17 19-23 Graduated Middle School

Unmarried 3 years

#18 30s Middle school Divorced 2 years #19 19-23 1st yr. Middle school Unmarried 4 years #20 30s 1st yr. Middle school Divorced 1-2 years

Part I Introduction

6

Parents’ Work Background I asked about the parents’ occupations to better understand the background of the respondents. 27 - Farmers 2 - Railway workers 1 - Tailor 1 - Workman 1 - Mining and Forestry Department worker 1 - Civil Servant, Local Government 1 - Teacher 1 - Driver 1 - Domestic Worker 2 - Vendors 2 - Parents sick or deceased The respondents had a variety of work experiences before coming to Beijing to become domestic workers. These ranged from: working in a gas station, textile factory, spinning mill, paper mill, restaurant, making deliveries, running a store selling water heaters, tailoring, farming, raising children, running small businesses selling snacks and vegetables, raising cattle, and doing farmwork.

Part II Analysis of Interview Questionnaire

7

PART II ANALYSIS OF INTERVIEW

QUESTIONNAIRE The interview questionnaire solicits domestic workers’ knowledge about issues that impact women in particular. It indirectly examines their beliefs and attitudes regarding women’s and men’s social roles, and how their own personal or second-hand exposure to unequal treatment of women shapes their perspectives, choices and actions. The first section of the questionnaire deals with the gendered issues of female education, domestic violence and suicide, to which the women were exposed while still living in their hometowns. The second section addresses the decisions that led to migration, and the issue of trafficking in women. The final section covers all work problems in Beijing, treatment and conditions in the employer’s household, sexual harassment in the workplace, the changing perspective of the interviewees based on their experiences as domestic workers, and their plans for the future. In this report, I analyze the data to delve into serious social issues that may influence the women, their gender norms, and perspectives about power and women’s status in society and the workplace. Migrant domestic workers have few resources, and are usually dependent on their employers for room, board and salary. As a subset of informal sector workers, they have heightened vulnerability to exploitation, mistreatment, and discrimination since they work alone in private households and are excluded from China’s Labor Law. In Beijing there is an urgent need for laws and organizations to help the workers resolve workplace difficulties. Most workers come to the city with little education, and minimal financial assets and social networks. Women struggle with gender norms that inform their familial and work roles and influence them to enter service occupations. Although they migrate to earn a living and gain new experiences, they must negotiate the difficulties inherent in what is considered low-wage, low-status, feminized work.


8

I. Educational Background of the Respondents

In the analysis, the words: interviewees, workers, women, domestic workers, and respondents, are used interchangeably to represent the domestic workers interviewed. We start by examining the educational background of the 20 interviewees. It can be associated with their entry into domestic work, which has few requirements for formal skills and previous training. The majority of the domestic workers interviewed either had a middle school education or dropped out during middle school. The low level of girls’ education is intimately linked to the role and value attributed to females. Some of the respondents may have greater gender and rights awareness than the average migrant worker, because of previous contact with the Migrant Women’s Club. - Only 8 girls dropped out of school because their family was too poor, and couldn’t afford the school fees. Out of these 8 however, 3 girls had brothers who were allowed to continue their studies. One respondent became emotional during the interview about being forced to stop school while her brother continued, and she is still angry at her father for his decision. - 10 girls left school because they either didn’t want to study or go to school, or weren’t good at studying. When they stated that they weren’t good at studying, this could also mean that the girls were not taught study skills, did not have the support to maintain consistent study habits, or that they could have been affected by a teacher’s discriminatory attitude towards girls’ learning. Sometimes, however, their parents supported their attendance, and in one case a teacher asked a girl to return to school. One of the respondents left after high school because she thought her education was sufficient for her needs, and another quit because she wanted to escape the confines of school to go out and work. Other respondents’ families placed negligible emphasis on schooling, so did not dissuade their daughters from giving up their studies. Adolescents should not be expected to make a rational decision about their own schooling, because they lack the necessary perspective to understand how it can affect their future. Children are


9

easily influenced by their parents, peers, and classmates who drop out by elementary or middle school. Less than half of the respondents had to drop out because their families did not have enough financial resources. Thus, many of the girls may have just needed greater guidance and encouragement to continue studying. Below are illustrative quotes from the interviews. [Respondent #20] She quit in the first year of middle school. “I was too young then, my family’s circumstances weren’t good, and no one else went to school. We had housework to do, and I didn’t value studying, I didn’t like going to school, it was too hard. But I didn’t really understand how things were back then, and afterwards when I had the opportunity to study, I didn’t take it. I was stubborn back then. That’s why now whenever I get hold of a book, I read it, and I take whatever chances I get to study.” [#17] She graduated from middle school. “…my older brother’s tuition was really high, over 10,000 yuan, so my father made a decision. He would let my brother continue his studies, but I would have to give up school.” [#9] “After middle school I dropped out. I was immature, and my parents didn’t attach a lot of importance to education. If your parents don’t think it’s important, how are you supposed to think it’s important, when you yourself don’t understand things. If your parents don’t think it’s important and you are nothing more than a kid, you just sort of decide to not go to school.”

II. Gender Issues The questionnaire asked what the domestic workers thought were the greatest problems for girls and women in their hometown. Their answers necessarily reflect phenomena that may have influenced their own social norms and practices. Education, poverty, work and


10

marriage are intertwined, and present the foremost issues for rural females. Some respondents did not pinpoint a single problem, but expressed concern about the general environment and lack of opportunity of their hometown. One woman commented that females can either go to school, get married early and have children, or work. She felt that it was a serious dilemma when a woman does not want to marry early, yet has no job. The lack of opportunities for growth and learning which larger cities may offer, contrast with more limited and predictable life choices in the countryside, and push many women to migrate to urban centers for work. However, our workshop discussions also showed that many women migrate unwillingly, yearn to return to their families, and continue to work purely out of financial necessity.

Poverty/ Work/ Economic Independence One respondent cited the chief problem as being unable to find work, or unable to earn sufficient money. Her answer may indicate changing social norms in her hometown; that now women as well as men are expected to earn a living. Another respondent said that it was extremely difficult for her generation to find jobs. Out of her class of 60 students, only two found jobs that they inherited from their parents when they retired. Her classmates tended to marry railroad workers, have a baby, and then migrate for work. She said, “girls have no choice but to get married.” Another worker stated that her village is so poor that she doesn’t think parents should bring children into the world. The need for women’s economic independence was voiced throughout the interviews, not just to ensure financial stability for themselves and their families, but for their own safety and well-being. Dependence on the husband for money is sometimes related to situations of violence and inequality within the family.

Education There is a clear link between education and marriage. In areas where the women considered female education to be a serious problem, it


11

was the norm for girls to drop out of school to work or marry, or because their classmates quit school. It may be inferred from the respondents’ answers, that attending school is a means to avoid getting married early, and may also provide a foundation for future work opportunities. One respondent underlined this point, “When you don't go to school, what way out do you have?” - Another respondent said that most women in her hometown drop out of school early to work or to marry. When they are 15 or 16 years old, some of their families have already found partners for them. Among these girls, some then get engaged and marry around 17 or 18. She added that in her village, only elderly people and children remain; most of the young people are out working. She said that because of early marriage or migrating for work, there are less and less people who continue their studies. In her village as in others, there is a lack of emphasis on education as an investment that will help girls in their future work and relationships. - In contrast, another respondent said that most girls in her village are married by 17 or 18. Many finish middle school, and if they have the financial resources and pass the entrance exam to high school, they continue their studies. She said that the situation was the same for boys and girls, but in the last class only 2-3 students went on to high school. - Another respondent pointed out gender discrimination and poverty as causes for the low attendance rate for girls, “ They don’t have any income, which causes them to drop out of school. More girls tend to drop out of school. According to how people think in rural areas, boys are more important than girls.”

Marriage There were multiple respondents who mentioned marriage and relationships as the most significant issues for girls and women in the countryside. The theme of family control constantly surfaced throughout their comments and stories about marriage and suicide. Historically, tradition dictates that one’s family influences and/or


12

makes the major decisions regarding education and marriage. After marriage, women usually live with the husband’s family. Some respondents estimated that 10-20 years ago suicide rates around their hometowns were notably higher. Their stories link suicide to conflicts resulting from wives being controlled by their husband and in-laws. Other respondents said that marriage itself is an important priority, and that one of the chief problems is finding a suitable husband. The women’s answers demonstrate a range of attitudes that exist in their hometowns. Some talk about looking for a good husband themselves, which demonstrates a large shift away from the expectation of arranged marriage. They are part of a trend of women and men who migrate for work, some who escape what they characterize as a closed-off environment, and who bring back different ideas about freedom of choice and gender roles. Others respondents are aware that marriage is not a fair institution for women, and that it can generate more problems. However, the norm is that you must marry, it is generally just a question of whom and when.

Most of the respondents’ answers revealed their awareness that women are devalued by society, both within their own families and after they marry. There is an evident link between the necessity of marriage and the low status of women, and occurrences of domestic violence, suicide, and trafficking. Some of the respondents did marry young, but that did not preclude them from realizing through personal experience and observation that gender norms make marriage an inequitable institution. Workers defined themselves as mothers, more frequently than they saw themselves as wives. They view the maternal role as their responsibility, and sacrifice their freedom and quality of life for years, in order to provide a better life for their children. [Respondent #9] One respondent said the greatest problem for girls in her hometown is finding good in-laws, and a good family to marry into. Although her response implies that she may believe in this gender norm, it also demonstrates the low value of women. It suggests that women can’t control their own destiny, because the in-laws will shape the woman’s growth, development, and fate.


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[#10] One worker used stories about giving birth to girls to show that the main problem is that people in the countryside place a low value on female children. She knew a woman who gave birth to a girl, which upset her mother-in-law, who subsequently refused to take care of the girl when the baby’s mother migrated for work. That woman’s own mother was unwilling to care for the baby because she was already taking care of her son’s two children. The respondent said that fortunately the woman and her husband had had a baby boy while away working, so the situation improved when they went home. Another woman was divorced by her husband after she gave birth to a girl. One can also draw the conclusion from such stories that there is an enormous burden on grandmothers who are frequently expected to care for the children. The only mention of paternal parenting in the study was when divorced mothers sacrificed custody of their sons to the ex-husbands. The above respondent said that women have a low level of education, but there’s no use in studying more because they will leave their home to get married. She said that no one could achieve a high degree of education. Such statements underline the greater emphasis on a male’s education, which is likely linked to future earning power and the presumption that he will care for his parents. This is akin to the expectation that women will leave their maternal home, so it is not necessary to invest extensively in their education and prospects. [#11] One of the youngest respondents, 18 years old, remarked on the changing values around relationships and getting married. Her comment points out the conflict between traditional expectations regarding the role of the individual’s family in their relationships. “Emotional obstacles, the family managing your love relationships, some fall in love by themselves and the couple feels the same, but the family doesn't agree. A lot of people will just listen to their family, will find a boyfriend, get married young and have a child. I think they are all just wasting their time.” [#20] Arranged marriage is a critical problem. When the interviewee was in elementary school, there was a boy and a girl both named Qin who were in love. The girl’s parents locked her inside, beat her, yelled


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at her, and drove the boy away. Both committed suicide. She said, “If you are female, you don’t have the freedom to be independent. You shouldn’t be opinionated, you have to listen to your parents.” [#4] “Marriage, when a girl gets married, she becomes like a guest, and when she goes home it’s not the same as before; after she gets married she’s not like a family member anymore.”

Domestic Violence 19 out of 20 respondents said that there is domestic violence in their hometowns. The only person who said there wasn’t any, had a family history of severe domestic violence while living at home. There was a wide range of responses concerning the prevalence of violence and its causes. Whereas some respondents felt that there is very little domestic violence, others said that it is very common. There is general agreement that hitting children is much more common than spousal abuse. A variance between social acceptance and stigmatization of violence became evident, with a clear discrepancy between judging violence against adults and children. Responses demonstrate that rural society generally views spousal abuse in more negative terms, but sees hitting children as normal. The respondents themselves typically condemn violence against women, but have mixed feelings about the practice of hitting children. The interviewees provided numerous examples of domestic violence in their hometown and its causes: the husband’s excessive drinking, the husband’s mood, problems between the wife and mother-in-law, the wife causing trouble, fights between the couple, the husband’s love affairs, poverty and financial instability, and the husband’s gambling problems. One respondent commented that women also hit men, but it is less common, and women don’t tend to use violence to deal with problems. The questionnaire also investigated what the respondents believe are the causes of domestic violence. Domestic violence happens in all


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societies, all classes, and all cultures. A fundamental reason why domestic violence occurs, is that the abuser chooses to use violence to demonstrate power over the victim. Most family violence is hidden, and statistically undercounted. The answers of the domestic workers show what they’ve drawn as conclusions about the phenomenon from observation and exposure. Their opinions are influenced by their environment, whether it be their hometown, media, urban society or NGO activities. Respondents understood some of the conditions that can contribute to domestic violence against women, such as the wife’s financial dependence. When the woman is economically dependent on her husband, she has less power and leverage within the household, and is therefore more vulnerable and less likely to be able to leave. Other suggested causes of domestic violence are: poverty, the nature and quality of the person, stress, wanting to show off in front of others, growing up spoiled, drinking, infidelity, and male chauvinism. Responses that cite causes like stress, bad tempers, and the nature of the abuser, do not directly blame the abuser for his actions, and play into the stereotype of the male who hits because he cannot control his temper. This assumption disregards the fact that the abuser selectively hits his wife and family, rather than other people over whom he has less control and influence. One respondent related violence with power inequality that comes from income. A man who has financial resources can go out to earn money and meet other women. The wife has no economic resources, and therefore she suggests, has no power. It is implied that many men have affairs, and that their infidelity causes arguments, and then violence. [#15] This case study shows the conflicting beliefs of a woman whose father was very abusive. She states the facts of abuse, but ends up blaming her mother for the violence. Although her father abused the whole family, she had a better impression of him and excused him for the violence. She may have also been influenced by her parents’ adherence to traditional gender roles. Her father worked and provided for the family whereas her mother violated her gender role by smoking and giving birth to only daughters. “When I was very young, there was severe domestic violence between my parents, and they often fought. I


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was really scared. Yes, my father had a bad temper and beat us when he came home, because my mother gave birth to four girls and no sons. Later my father and mother divorced, and my father would get mad at me really easily. [In response to a follow-up question] No, my mother has a bad temper and my father’s temper is fine. My father is a bridge engineer and he works really hard, my mother has no job and smokes. I don’t have a good impression of my mother, but I have a really good impression of my father. Mother is too gossipy and so my father beats her. Men prefer beating to arguing.” Below are other reasons that interviewees provided for domestic violence: [Respondent #17] “Women have no income. It’s usually the man who supports his family, so a woman’s life would be really hard without a man.” [#9] “The most common reason is male chauvinism. Men are stronger than women, and women can't fight back. If a man is provoked he’ll hit. If it happens once, it will happen a second time.” [#18] One respondent suggested that violence happens because of extreme poverty, low education, the abuser’s mood and his/her low quality as a person. However she admitted to hitting her son, and taking out her frustrations on him. [#2] “The education isn’t the same, people from the countryside don’t have education/culture; they only know how to use violence.” This respondent links domestic violence with education, which is interesting because domestic violence prevention isn’t taught in schools. Her connection is either a stereotype, or she is suggesting that with education comes manners, or knowing how to deal with others better.

Violence against Children More troubling is the common attitude towards violence against children. Respondents agreed that it is common to hit children, and


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they listed the circumstances under which children are/should be hit: when children don’t listen, don’t study well, and are naughty. These reasons blame the children rather than the abuser. Hitting is often viewed as an unfortunate but necessary way to educate children in order to make them more obedient and better people. [#3] “One would say that it’s inevitable that parents hit kids, it’s a pretty normal occurrence. If the kids are naughty, then sometimes parents hit them.” [#7] “Child abuse is the most common, like if you ask a child to get something, if they don’t listen, if they don’t do their homework well, or don’t do their chores, then you hit them.” [#19] Respondent 19 offers a different response, which may have been influenced by her religious education. “I think the most basic and important reason for domestic violence is because parents have a low level of education. They basically don't read or don't have a chance to read books on how to educate children and how to built relationships with their children. Many parents in cities go and learn how to educate children, how to communicate with them, how to be good parents, how to help build children’s confidence, and how to be good fathers or mothers. In rural areas parents don't do this. They think children deserve a beating when they do something wrong. Beating them will make them listen, and correct their mistakes. They think that you need to hit your children to teach them how to correct their mistakes.”

Suicide The interviews addressed the question of suicide in the women’s hometowns. Suicide is a critical issue that reflects the value and place of rural women in society. As China has one of the highest rates of suicide in the world and is the only country where more women than men commit suicide, it is crucial to see what exposure the domestic workers have had to suicide, the conditions that led to suicide, and what their attitudes are towards the female victims. Only two respondents said


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that there was no suicides or attempted suicides in or near their hometowns. Some accounts were from 10 or 20 years ago, but others were recent. Two of the domestic workers almost committed suicide, one just the week before she was interviewed. The vast majority of victims killed themselves by drinking pesticide, although a few hung themselves or took an overdose of medicine. Some of the victims were male, and one respondent’s ex-husband had committed suicide. When asked for specific accounts of suicide in their hometown, these are some of the reasons provided in the stories: domestic violence, giving birth to girls, separation of lovers, arguments in which the wife takes things too hard, trivial reasons, arranged marriage, adultery, financial dependence on the husband, and conflict with in-laws. Two major themes are the low status of women, and their lack of independence. The women may be housewives dependent on their husband for income, or women whose dating and marriage is first controlled by their maternal family, and then whose lives are dictated by their husband or in-laws. From the accounts, one can see that there are serious factors that influence the victim’s decision to kill herself, but some respondents only noticed isolated incidents like the fight that triggered the suicide, rather than comprehending the overall context of the situation. Sometimes outsiders might also not know about conflict existing in the household, especially due to an emphasis on keeping family problems private. However when conflict is hidden, the victim lacks the outside support that may help her resolve it, and may feel hopeless and isolated. The perspective cited below, that women commit suicide over trivial matters, reinforces the stereotype that women are not as emotionally strong as men and act impulsively. [Respondent #9] “It's because of trivial things that happen in the family, sometimes it's because the husband and wife argue, and the wife takes things too hard…they take small things too seriously, then end up drinking pesticide, it's that simple. You would think that it's because of something really big, but it's actually because of some minor things.” [#17] “There was a man who had a small business and his wife stayed at home to take care of the children, and to do the farming etc. One


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day, the woman asked her husband for money to buy something. The man didn’t want to give it to her, and said, “I worked hard all month to earn this money, and you just spend it all.” The woman thought, you are the main earner in the household so it's natural that you should be taking care of us, we are your wife and children. But the man didn’t think like that. He thought she shouldn’t use that much money at home. Then they argued, and he hit his wife and said some really terrible things to her. The woman took it really hard, and ended up drinking pesticide.” This is an example of how a wife’s lack of personal income can lead to unequal power within the household. Many domestic workers are vividly aware of how important it is for a woman to have her own salary, without which she is more likely to remain stuck in abusive or bad relationships. [#10] “One girl’s family arranged her marriage. She wasn’t willing, so they forced her to get married, and then she committed suicide by drinking pesticide.” [#2] “There was a girl who had a boyfriend, but her family didn’t give their consent, so she committed suicide by drinking pesticide. Now there isn’t any suicide, families aren’t opposed to girls having boyfriends, and the past couple of years I haven’t heard of any other suicides.” We asked respondents what they thought were the most common causes of suicide. Their answers show awareness of gender discrimination against women, and of the significance of psychological stress caused by marriage and other relationships. They realize that women often have no one to turn to who can help them deal emotionally with their situation. When answering this question they abstracted from the stories that they had heard; indicating that a support system for women could help them negotiate their problems, and mitigate the despair that leads to suicide. Many victims are deeply affected by local gossip, such as one victim whose husband was having an affair. They may also keep problems to themselves, because they are afraid of what others will say. The importance placed on the role of


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gossip suggests that many people do not have high self-esteem, but derive much of their sense of worth from external sources.

Many of the interviewees sounded sympathetic towards the victims. Domestic workers themselves experience isolation, loneliness and lack of support as part of their profession. Perhaps they are more able to empathize with the victims, and know first-hand of the need to have friends or family to whom they can turn to share their worries, and obtain support. [#1] “Afraid of being scorned by the husband, a lot of emotional stress, afraid of what the neighbors will say. The countryside is always like this, there’s too much idle gossip.” [#4] “When they don’t see their own value, when there’s no one with whom to communicate. People in the countryside all gossip, and others can’t bear the weight of the rumors, and can’t find a way to vent their emotions.” [#12] “1. Psychological depression. There still aren’t any psychologists in the countryside. 2. When you take marital or other problems really hard, especially marital issues. The divorce rate in the countryside is really low, but that doesn't mean couples are happy.” [#18] “The main reason is family problems. Now you could say that suicide is less and less common, the economic situation has improved a bit. [Question: What are common reasons for suicide?] It’s because of male chauvinism, women don't have their own salary, women have no choices, no skills, and no dependable source of income. And although the wife may be working, all her possessions are with the husband; she doesn't have her own independent economic status, just like the permanent registered residences of we women that are settled on the side of the husband, and then everything is transferred to the husband. If you get divorced, you are left with nothing.” [#13] “I think it was psychological. They had accumulated grievances and couldn’t find a way to deal with them or anyone with whom to


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share their sorrows. There was also no one to help them to mediate their problems.”

Trafficking Provided definition: Trafficking in women and children is when the victims are forced or coerced into labor or prostitution. If they are under 18, they are automatically considered trafficked, even if there was no force or coercion involved. A person does not need to be transported across borders in order to be considered trafficked. Trafficking occurs when a woman or child is recruited, transported or kept for the purpose of being commercially exploited. They are kept through threats, force or deception, use of power, or controlled by the traffickers’ exploiting their vulnerabilities. The exploitation can be sexual exploitation, forced labor, or bride trafficking. We asked respondents to share any accounts they had heard about female trafficking. Not including accounts from the media, 15 out of 20 domestic workers knew stories about trafficking or had been trafficked themselves. One respondent was trafficked for labor, one was nearly bride-trafficked, one was forced to continue working as a domestic worker when she wanted to quit, and another had been solicited in her hometown. Some respondents mentioned son-trafficking, such as when a family with 5 girls adopted a boy, but were rumored to have bought him. Their accounts demonstrate different attitudes towards trafficking. The women who experienced it themselves or saw it first-hand, seemed more sensitive about the nature of the exploitation, and the poverty and objectification of women that contribute to trafficking. It is suggested through their stories that buying women as brides is not widely condemned. Some accounts told in a matter-of-fact manner, merely related that women were tricked and sold as brides, after which some of the marriages worked out and others didn’t. In one case, the line between trafficking and arranged marriage was blurred, underlining the objectifying attitude towards women. Two Sichuanese women had a matchmaker find good husbands for them, only to discover a year after marriage, that the husbands had paid the “matchmaker” a lot of money for them. The


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interviewee commented that since these women were sold, the situation was essentially one of trafficking. [#4] “In 1999 my uncle bought a wife, someone brought her to the door saying that he was her brother, and my uncle spent 3-4 thousand yuan to buy her. She was a good person and smart, and stayed for one year with my uncle. After returning to visit her maternal home, she didn’t come back. Her brother had initially brought two women [to sell], one of whom has had children and who is still there, and it’s worked out really well. They were from a poor area of Guizhou, and they thought our hometown was pretty good.” [#3] “There was trafficking near us, but it wasn’t in our town. There were some people who were tricked into leaving, and then were sold as brides. Some of the men treated them well, and there were feelings between them, so they stayed. If the relationship wasn’t good, then they stayed a short while and then ran away.” [#5] “There is definitely human trafficking. Usually from Sichuan, Henan, and Anhui. I came to Beijing in 1995 when it was quite chaotic. My husband used to do human trafficking, and I eventually persuaded him to quit. When we arrived in Beijing it was very hard for women to find jobs, so when they were offered 300-400 yuan, they were happy to go with the person who gave them the money. At the time, they were looking for jobs in Chongwenmen. My husband came in 1992 and was working with others to do trafficking. My husband partnered with a woman from Henan who was doing the trafficking, and most of the women were sold to very poor places. I saw a woman who got pregnant at the time, but was trafficked to Shaanxi, and I complained about this to my husband, because I thought it was really inhumane. At the time, there was definitely a lot of child trafficking. I’m sure that there still is trafficking, but I don’t hear a lot about it.” [#14] “I was trafficked before to a really poor place, I was tricked into doing labor, farming work, many years ago, when I was 17-18 and working in Kunming. There was someone that I was working with at a hotel. I thought he was really nice, and he asked if I wanted to go to his house for fun. He was really poor. The two of us went, and at the time


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another girl came with us, but we ended up being forced to dig in the fields and had someone who kept an eye on us. We did this for 2 months. It was so tiring, every day we went really early to dig, and there were people watching us. I was scared, I cried everyday, and there was no phone. It was so poor there, that there were no phones. You had to walk for half an hour before you could get to a phone, it was in a mountainous area. …afterwards a girl snuck off to phone her relatives and the police came and saved us. There were just the two of us, but there were other women there who had been tricked into going, then got married and had children. They basically didn’t talk to us, I overheard them talking one day and found out. I heard that they first trick you into working, then see if you are the type of woman who is really hardworking, and then force you to get married.”

III. Workplace Issues of Domestic Workers

Workplace Issues

The questionnaire investigated problems the domestic worker encountered when first coming to Beijing, problems with the employer or employer’s family, living and work conditions, and poor treatment by the employer. The most common problems when first arriving in Beijing are: getting used to the new environment, missing family, and the lack of friends and a support network. Eleven workers had problems with their employers, but half of them characterized these problems as few, or minor. Most respondents, however, had worked for at least one family where they were treated well, some like a member of the family. Their workplace problems in other households included: lack of respect from the employer and family, problems with the children, employers not letting them quit, employers expecting a lot of work for a low salary, and being made to work constantly with insufficient rest.


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Domestic workers are frequently viewed solely as labor and treated with disrespect. They are made to sleep in the living room on sofas, on the porch, with the children, and in one case, on a cot placed right in the entryway to the apartment. The employers of the interviewees exercised various types of control over the workers: making them work without breaks, not paying for overtime, withholding salary to force them to work longer, criticizing their clothes as inappropriate for a domestic worker, not allowing them to eat food available to the rest of the family, not permitting them to watch TV, making them wash all clothes by hand instead of using the washing machine, regulating what and how much the domestic workers eat, and going through their private possessions. Domestic work is part of the traditional female role. Normally unpaid, undervalued and expected of women, the way household work is valued is transferred to the profession. Female domestic workers are vulnerable to exploitation and discrimination, and employers sometimes try to get the maximum amount of work for the least compensation. There is a common thread of disrespect seen throughout the case studies, reflecting the low status attributed to the feminized profession. In one of the following narratives, the domestic worker insinuated that she was treated like a servant or an object. She slept in a tiny room that the family used for storing junk. Other domestic workers talked about the additional problems that can come from living with their employer. Some employers reason that since they pay the domestic worker and provide food and board, the woman should be always working and available. Even if she finishes her work, the employer invents other tasks instead of letting her rest or having free time. Two of them referred to feeling like a robot because they were made to work constantly. [#16] “I do everything except take care of children and old people. It’s usually ok, but when you do live-in domestic work, some employers can’t stand to see you doing nothing. When you’ve clearly finished all your work, if they see that you are unoccupied, they will try to go find something else for you to do. When you are talking about housework, it’s really difficult if they are intentionally creating more work for you.”


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[#15] “Problems have to do with work and compensation. I get paid less than I should for my work. Take this family for example, they gave me 1200 yuan, but my work was worth 1500 yuan. One time, they also delayed paying my salary by a few days. But finally they gave it to me. Once you say you don’t want to work anymore, the employer suddenly turns hostile. You can’t fight for your rights. If you do, he will act hostile. My employer said: “If you leave, you must give one month’s advance notice. You can’t leave until I find someone. If in one month I can’t find anyone, then you can’t leave in one month. If I can’t find anyone in two months, then you can’t leave in two months. You’ve already worked for 20 days and if you quit now, then I won’t give your salary. That’s how he threatened me and made me work. And that time they underpaid me by 200 yuan.” [#17] “At first they just wanted me to clean, wash the children’s clothes, and cook, but afterwards it was totally different: they were really demanding, and had really high standards for cleanliness. If something wasn’t clean enough, they would criticize you. Everyday the clothes had to be ironed, clothes had to be washed. If it was something you could do, then you did it. I did everything. There were virtually no breaks. The first month my salary was 300 yuan, then the second month 350 yuan, then 400 after I took care of the old lady in the hospital, and 450 yuan after one year. That many people, and only me doing the work. When I started, the family helped out a bit, but afterwards it was just me doing the work and they didn’t help with anything. [Question: Where did you stay?] Answer: It was a really small room, it was also where they stored stuff. I lived in a 15 sq. meter room. In the beginning I slept on a tiny sofa, and then they put in a bunk bed. I slept on the lower bed, and they filled the upper bunk with stuff.

Sexual Harassment The questionnaire first provided a simplified definition of sexual harassment in the workplace, designed to quickly inform respondents unfamiliar with the meaning. It was based on the U.S. definition. We


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then asked whether the respondents had been sexually harassed or knew of others who had been victimized. Definition of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual conduct that creates a hostile or offensive environment to work in. There are many different situations that can be considered sexual harassment. One may constantly be the subject of sexist comments, jokes, suggestive gestures or looks. Harassment is also when the harasser gets too close, touches you or pressures you for dates or sex; or if your employer or a member of the family makes you feel like your job is in danger, or that there will be negative repercussions if you don’t give sexual favors. Five out of the 20 respondents felt that they had been sexually harassed, but none had been harassed in the employer’s home/workplace. Their accounts included: dirty text messages, being touched on public buses, receiving harassing phone calls, being embraced, and being approached by a neighbor with questionable intent. These women either avoided and ignored the harasser or took action. One of the women who received dirty text messages from an acquaintance first ignored him, then called the police to file a report. Another victim spent a few days with a man she was considering working with, then turned down the job only to be harassed for weeks with text messages and phone calls. One woman made friends with someone from her hometown, who then visited her one night and tried to embrace her. She yelled at him, told him that he should respect her and like her for herself, and said he should leave right away. [#10] The following is a second-hand account of sexual harassment in the workplace. It is common for older men to hire young domestic workers, sometimes with the intention to harass. Young girls may not only be seen as attractive targets for harassment, but might be less likely to know what to do when sexually harassed, and less likely to speak out. The presence of other women in the household, or the wife, is often not sufficient to prevent sexually harassing behavior.


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“I was working in Yayuncun, and there was a girl who was taking care of an old couple. Often while she was cleaning, the old man would follow her to the bathroom. When the old woman was busy washing clothes, he would touch the girl. When she went into the kitchen, the old man followed her and offered her money, and he touched her again. At first the old man only gave her 300 yuan and she left, what was she supposed to do? She used her heel to step on the old man's foot, and he yelled. She threw the money at the old couple, then left saying, "I won't work for you anymore." Then she went to the agency to cancel the contract. There was also another girl. She went to work for a male employer, who had a diseased leg. He, his wife and their 10+ year old son, all lived in one room. Just one room, and then when she lived with them, the man often sexually harassed her. He wouldn't let her leave and would lock her inside. Once when she was doing the trash, she secretly called the agency and someone came to rescue her. Both sexual harassment and domestic violence suffer from the popular misconception that the victim did something to trigger the abuse or harassment. Many people erroneously believe that one should not just attribute the fault to the perpetrator, but that the victim played a role in causing the perpetrator’s behavior. Sexual harassment is frequently misperceived as being related to a women’s dress or behavior, rather than being understood as a deliberate harassing action when one person tries to exert power over another. Historically, women in most societies have at some point been judged as less valuable than men, considered as property, and thought to have some obligation to be sexually available to men. To a certain extent, this belief still persists in society, where women are objectified sexually and their sexual image is commodified to sell virtually everything. Since women are still viewed in a sexual light, it is more likely that harassing actions may take a sexual form. The practice of blaming the victim is still common. The quotes below demonstrate the assumption that one may be partly responsible for sexual harassment if one is not vigilant in protecting oneself, or if one acts/dresses in a certain manner. [#20] “Some were just kidding and sometimes it was the woman’s fault. In some cases, I'm not really sure, sometimes I just swallow my anger


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and deal with it, and sometimes I just try not to think about it too much.” [#19] “I think sexual harassment maybe happens when you are trying to attract people, and you dress up and show yourself off a bit. People are normal and have sexual desires, and you dress up and expose your breasts and back etc. Men can't help but look at you. Of course some of them are low-quality people. But why are they looking at you and not other people? Of course it's because of you. When you have contact with the opposite sex, you should exercise restraint. You could give people a certain impression, like that you are really easy, and a cheap sort of woman, which naturally will lead to something.” [#4] “I think that everything has a cause and effect, one also has to make sure that it doesn’t happen.” [#18] “No, because we are older, we aren’t like young girls. There's a big difference because of our physical condition…What would the guy do anyways. It also depends on your situation, that's not to say that a person will just casually harass you, it also has something to do with you.” Four respondents said that there would be no possibility of being sexually harassed because they rarely leave the home, and have very little freedom. This belief is only true in certain situations. My two-year research project revealed that most domestic workers were harassed in the employer’s home. The frequent isolation of domestic workers is a cause for concern because they have few friends or resources outside the household to rely on in case of exploitation or harassment. [#7] “No, I never go out, so I basically would not ever encounter that situation. I feel that I'm essentially shut off from the world, except for dropping off and picking the child up from school. I never really have contact with the outside. So I feel shut off from the world, I've been in Beijing for this many years, but only know a couple of people. I feel like a caged bird.”


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IV. The Experience of Being a Domestic Worker

Domestic Workers’ Reflections on their Profession Each interviewee was asked how she felt about being a domestic worker. The question was designed to elicit a description not only of the possible advantages and disadvantages of the job, but how much the respondent identified with her professional role. Domestic work is a low-status occupation that is populated by women, precisely because society expects women to undertake the work. Some argue that professions are also attributed low value because they are “women’s work”. There are a considerable number of men who look for domestic work jobs, but the stereotype of the obedient, hard-working, detail-oriented female careworker prevents them from easily entering the profession. Men are often only hired when their physical strength is needed to work with invalids; they do not fit into the stereotypical role of the domestic worker. Because of the low status and minimal benefits, many women do not consider domestic work as a career, but as their only current option. Yet it should be highly valued, since caring for a household is one of the few essential actions that every household in the world must undertake on a daily basis. Few households go a day without cleaning, feeding the family, and caring for the children and elderly. However, domestic work does not currently hold an elevated status in society.

When we question how a domestic worker identifies with her profession, we can analyze whether part of her identity comes from the stereotyped role, or whether she sees herself chiefly as an individual. If a woman was brought up with traditional gender norms, whereby she was accustomed to focusing on the needs of others, she might accept the similarly self-sacrificing aspects of the domestic worker’s role. She may tolerate more exacting demands in her desire to please the employer, and may be more liable to be taken advantage of. Hence, women who do professional domestic work are likely to be subject to conditions and treatment that further disempower them. Many workers


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believe that difficulties and lack of respect are risks that come with the job.

Some respondents made human rights-focused comments about poor treatment and other disadvantages of the profession. These women mentioned isolation, discrimination, lack of status and respect, and the lack of freedom and opportunities to pursue their interests. One respondent’s comment on how she felt as a domestic worker focused on her job performance. This contrasted with those who saw themselves as individuals who could benefit from the work, and who were more likely to negotiate or to seek positions where they were treated well and could learn from the job. These women did not identify as much with the domestic worker role, but talked about their experience as individuals.

Domestic Workers’ Treatment and Lack of Opportunities [#2] “It’s too depressing, I’m always in the house, I don’t have any friends, and don’t even know what else to do.” [#14] “Before I thought that doing domestic work was really good, but now I always feel like an outsider…I’ve had enough of doing domestic work, I’ve been discriminated against, and the past couple of days my community has been visited a lot by the police. Every time the women in the community saw me, they’d ask what I was doing. I was really annoyed. I said I was a domestic worker, and they said, ‘Oh, so you are a domestic worker!’ I thought, so what does that have to do with you? I suddenly got angry especially after I heard people gossiping about domestic workers.” [#4] “In society I have no status, but in the family I do.” The respondent comments on the fact that the family respects her for her work, but society judges her based on her profession. [#15] “I think that when you work, it’s of secondary concern that your body feels worn out, the greatest problem is discrimination. If you aren’t treated fairly, it’s emotionally fatiguing to try to get along with


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others when they are jockeying with you for position. That’s actually tiring, you can always catch up on sleep, but as for getting along with others, that comes and goes. You can be hurt, but you still have to let them win; they never let you win.” [#20] “Employers are more likely to pick on your faults rather than actually look at themselves. They don't even give us insurance. In this profession you shouldn't be without it. I think that there's an increasing need for domestic workers, but there isn’t really anyone to care about us or protect us.” Role-Centered/Other-Focused [#3] “Whatever you do, you should try your best, and do it well. If others are satisfied, you’ll also feel satisfied…The employers aren’t trying to cause trouble and I’ve never been really wronged. I just do what the employer asks for, and I do my best.” [#9] “I don't really have any particular feelings, I do domestic work in order to make a living for my children and my family, to earn money! To take care of the family! The main thing is that it's for the family, I rarely think of myself.” Individual-Centered [#6] “If I treat others honestly, others will treat me honestly, we Shandong people are really straightforward and opinionated. I’m not willing to communicate with sweet talkers and people who aren’t frank. For example, if the employer treats us honestly, we can become closer. If you aren’t honest, then I know how things stand.”

V. Process of Change The last section of the questionnaire deals with how the domestic worker’s migration experience has affected her perceptions of her hometown, and how people in her hometown now treat her. The women go through significant changes when they first come to Beijing and try to adjust to their place in urban society. They often go through


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a second process of readjustment once they return home. Their ideas and perceptions may have changed, and people may treat them differently since they migrated and are professional domestic workers. We also asked each respondent what her long-term plans were for work and family. Many women who visited their home noted the physical differences between Beijing and their hometown. They feel that their hometown is comparatively poor and rustic, whereas Beijing is modernized and convenient. Life back at home is slower-paced and simpler. Some women appreciated the quiet and fresh air that home offers, and wanted to return in the future. Other women view the mindset of rural people as more conservative, and think that they could learn to be more open-minded.

Workers’ Reflections on their Migration Experience Differences between Beijing and the Hometown [#20] “My hometown is like a stagnant pool, there is no change, thinking is backward and people refuse to accept new things. They don’t want to change.” [#13] “So many people left to come out and work, and they all feel that our hometown is too remote, and that people there lead a really hard life, both physically and mentally. For example, my mother has never taken a train and has never been to a good restaurant, let alone traveled anywhere. But I can help her to achieve these things.” Personal Change Some women feel that their experience as domestic workers has caused positive personal growth, versus others who now feel a disconnection from their former lives. Their new lives have brought more opportunities and learning experiences but also greater uncertainty. [#9] “… now my way of thinking has changed, what I see and feel has already changed. I've improved myself, my understanding about life has also changed. I can accept more things, I can understand other people, and new things.”


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[#20] “I felt like a stranger when I was back at home. Although outside I suffered a lot of hardships, I still belong to the outside world. Besides doing domestic work, I rent my own place. I feel I have a home and there’s a feeling of belonging. Even though it's a 3 sq. meter room, it's neat and organized. The land in my hometown doesn’t belong to me, although it helped to raise me. I have been drifting, and I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. No one can know what tomorrow will bring.” [#4] “Yes, a lot, I see things from a broader perspective now, and can analyze things.”

Returning Home: Assimilation into their Hometown When women visit their hometowns, they may be treated differently by their families and other locals. Chinese villages have diverse migration practices, and distinct gendered expectations for work. Some areas are accustomed to major female out-migration, whereas other areas may see migration as dangerous or stigmatizing for women. Whenever one gender breaks the norms for whatever they are expected to do, there is likely to be criticism and suspicion. If women are normally expected to stay and work within the home or in the fields, there may be unwarranted conjecture about what they actually do and how they earn money in the city. Sometimes women are seen as having higher status since they are financially independent, have learned useful skills and are more knowledgeable. Others are praised because they have learned skills considered valuable for women. A few of the interviewees feel uncomfortable when they return home, and are treated as outsiders who no longer share the local practices and values. Positive Reactions [#4] “When there's something going on at home, people can ask for my opinion, unlike before when they always treated me like a


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child…They think that I've become beautiful, a lot of people said so when I went home.” [#6] “Everyone just grabbed me, tearing up, because I haven’t been home for many years. Everyone who ran into me was really warm; they were crying and I was crying. I said that being in Beijing was great. My old neighbors were especially nice to me.” Change Consistent with Gender Norms [#17] “They said that I’ve changed a lot. For example about eating… before, I couldn’t cook when I was at home, now I can cook for my family. At home no one can really cook fish, and shrimp etc., now I can pretty much cook anything, and when I cook for them, everyone says it’s tasty.” Change Inconsistent with Norms [#20] “They almost forgot about me. If I don't go home again, they would just forget me. Everyone has his own lifestyle. People in my hometown don't think that I belong there. I don’t like being noticed and so I hide. What I think is normal, people back home think is abnormal. They think the way I live is bizarre. They think I'm such a rebel. They feel that I am a drifter and have no roots, I do this today and that tomorrow, there's no stability, no constancy, and it shouldn't be that way.”

VI. Long-Term Plans We examined the domestic workers’ long-term plans for work and family to understand how they feel about their lives as individuals, and as women who have relationships with husbands and children or parents. Their answers also provide insight into how some domestic workers plan for their future. How does the status of domestic work and perceptions about the profession affect the women and their plans? How do they see their different roles and responsibilities in life, and how does that influence their plans?


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When asked about their plans, 9 out of the 20 domestic workers made no mention of adjusting their plans for their family. Some were unsure of their direction or what they wanted to do. Others had specific plans for work or study, and although they often included a boyfriend or husband in their plans, did not suggest making sacrifices for their significant other. In contrast, 11 women said that at least part of their work plans were to help their family out of poverty and provide better opportunities for their children. Some of these women are unable to plan for their future because they are too conflicted about their responsibilities as mothers and daughters. They feel weighed down by their duty to others, and sacrifice their own happiness and interests for their families. Conflicted View toward Future/Weighed by Duty to Others [#5] “Once someone from my hometown said that ‘you [meaning her husband] are just dependent on your wife to take care of you,’ but he wasn't embarrassed and didn't get angry. Now I take it a day at a time with him, I can't do anything else. There's nothing else I can do. People from back home say: ‘If a woman wants to do a good job with her family, it's definitely really hard and you can't just rely on the wife. You need two people,’ but look at my husband, can my family do well? In my hometown we don’t even have a house, it collapsed, if we go home there is nowhere to live. If I go home, then what would I do? I want to divorce him, but I don’t dare tell him, and I would hurt my child. I basically hate myself for this. [Question: Why do you hate yourself? It’s not your fault, right?] I hate myself because I don’t have the ability…if only I had the ability to deal. My husband spends all day at home, he’s been like this for more than 10 years, there’s no money, and my daughter’s relationship with him isn’t good either. I argue with him, and I keep it all inside. I can’t always be arguing, I’m afraid of affecting my daughter.”

This respondent is torn between her responsibility towards herself and her daughter, and her inability to leave the abusive relationship, which made her so unhappy that she tried to kill herself. Although she financially supports the entire family, the fact that she is also a victim of violence may explain why she cannot leave her husband. She understands that her husband is the problem, and the impact it has on


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herself and her daughter, but remained silent until she reached the point of attempting suicide. She said that many people told her that she didn’t live for herself, but for others. Still blaming herself, she lost the desire to live and took sleeping pills. During her interview, she criticized the social norms that condemn and blame women whenever something happens to their family. Although very conscious and critical of these norms, she internalizes them and hates herself for what she sees as her failure to maintain a healthy family, and to break away from the negative social norms for women. [#6] “Continue to do domestic work. And to find a daughter-in-law, have a house built, that’s my sole burden. [Question: and what about your daughter?] I can’t get in touch with my daughter, she’s with her grandparents. She tells people, “My mother doesn’t care about me, I’m ignoring her.” Other people ask why, and she says, “My mother isn’t close to me.” She calls my brother to ask him to find me. I tell my brother to tell her, “Grandma and Grandfather are so old, it won’t do to leave them without anyone.” [Question: Why do you treat your daughter like this?] After all, it’s the son who is family, and if he comes out to work it’s fine. If my daughter comes out to work and something happens, I can’t help protect her. But if she’s with her grandparents, closer, I feel a lot more relaxed about everything, that’s how I’m thinking. Her grandparents don’t understand my feelings, they said, “you should bring your daughter with you,” but I can’t because they brought up my daughter since she was small, so I really can’t take her away. They lost their son, I should leave someone who can be close to them. I have always acted based on my conscience.”

This respondent feels conflicted by her duties as a mother and as a daughter-in-law. She’s also influenced by traditional gender norms that place greater value on the son. The principal reason why she’s working is to take care of her son and future daughter-in-law. Her sense of obligation to her in-laws is stronger than that to her daughter, despite the fact that even her in-laws think that she should be with her own daughter. It’s also possible that the grandparents, obliged to care for their grandchildren as so many do in modern China, would be relieved to take a break from child-rearing. The mother’s account shows how complex relationships and responsibilities are for migrants, particularly


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those who are separated from their families. In this case, the family members have diverging priorities, and the mother and daughter both lose something as a result of the mother’s decision to migrate. The only plans she has for the future are focused on helping her son get married and building a house for him. [#9] This respondent has similarly dedicated herself to supporting her family financially, despite her children’s feelings of abandonment and resentment. She sees the current sacrifice as worthwhile for the family in the longer run. “Right now the future is still unclear, I'll just take it one step at a time. Now my goal is to earn money, if you have money you can change everything, if you have no money it's very difficult, so I'm just focusing on money now. [Question: how does money change things?] Living situation, the kids can go to a better school, and my parents don't have to be as tired and hardworking as now. This includes me, I wouldn't have to be as tired as I am now. My parents could change their life a bit, it's too tiring. The children don't really notice, frankly we try our best to give them better conditions, what hurts the most is that they don't understand.” Specific Dreams for the Future Some respondents commented not only on what they could do for their families, but also on their own dreams, for example: to open a Yunnanese restaurant in Beijing; do sales in a company, study journalism and then get a job and marry her boyfriend; become a nurse, study computers and help her family financially; take care of her child and pursue her personal development in Beijing; sell clothes, study English and be able to buy medical insurance for her family; get a bachelor’s degree, go abroad, do community development work, and get married by 27. These women see their roles with respect to their different relationships, but also recognize their individual interests. [#7] “I want to take the college test (for the self-taught). [She wants to test in interior design, and she’s already passed two courses without difficulty. She says that she really likes fine arts, and that after graduating, she wants to find a job related to her major.] First I want to find a better job so that I can be independent, I really want to be


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financially independent. Then I’ll be able help my family get out of poverty, and help my parents lead a better life.” [#17] “When it comes to work, I want to study hairdressing, learn some techniques, and afterwards open my own little shop at home. It’s just a thought, nothing concrete yet. I think that my education is really low, so I can’t achieve my potential, I feel really stressed and down. There is too little space in which I can develop myself. I still need education, I haven’t acquired enough knowledge yet, and the difference is too big.”

This 21 year old respondent knows that she has potential, but feels disempowered by her lack of education and knowledge. Her past comments indicate that as a domestic worker she feels shut off from the outside world. She misses the happy days at home when she was in school, and still deeply resents her father for forcing her to quit. She talks about how in countryside men go out and work, but women themselves have no income. She says it’s very difficult to get along without men. However, she also cited economic dependence as a major cause of domestic violence. She implicitly understood that income is linked to power and freedom, and knows that it’s important to be financially independent. Despite her misgivings and regrets, she is still trying hard to build an independent life.

VII. Conclusion From the 20 case studies of female migrant domestic workers in Beijing, we can conclude that social expectations and roles for women have affected them all. Gender inequality has permeated much of their lives. Although many rural children never attain education above the middle school level, there was a visible difference in how some families treated education of boys and girls. Now there is likely increased equality and educational opportunities for girls in rural areas, but it is still unevenly practiced. One can see that the attitude of the family towards female education may be as important as having the financial


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resources to allow girls to attend school. Children cannot decide on the value of education by themselves, in an environment where their families do not attach importance to it, and where the trend is to stop school early. Marriage, education, trafficking, domestic violence and suicide are all issues connected with women’s position, resources and opportunities. These issues are common to rural and urban areas and to the rich and poor, but more pervasive poverty and traditional gendered practices increase the vulnerability of rural women. The respondents emphasized marriage and relationships, and education and income as the most significant problems for rural women and girls. Females both lack opportunities and control over their own lives and decisions. Arranged marriage and compulsory relationships with the husband’s family means a new set of roles and a potential loss of self-determination. When women migrate to do domestic work, they must make many important decisions about their lives and work, but the nature of their vocation creates a whole new set of constraints. Live-in domestic workers may have no control over their work or how they do their work, where they sleep, what they eat, when or what they do with their free time, and the employers may forbid visitors and personal phone calls. In addition, they have to get used to a new environment, and balance their work responsibilities with those of their family back home. Some women migrate to escape an abusive relationship, others work to provide for their families or come to the city to expand their experiences and opportunities. Trafficking, domestic violence and suicide are related to women’s low status, vulnerability, and lack of power to instigate change. Trafficking occurs because there is demand for women for sex, labor or as brides, and because with minimal risk, people can make enormous profits by responding to the demand. It also happens because at a certain level women are considered commodities that can be bought and sold, and there isn’t sufficient social condemnation to stigmatize the “buyers and sellers.” It is not widely understood that many women who are prostituted are actually trafficked, since they have been subjected to physical or emotionally abusive and coercive behavior that forces them to stay in the industry. Once women


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experience the psychological and physical toll of prostitution, they may not have the resources or self-esteem to break the relationships with those who profit from them. Just as their low-esteem is constantly reinforced by how they are treated by the men who buy sex and by the people who control them, so is the esteem of victims of domestic violence. Domestic violence occurs when one person tries to exert power over someone they have an intimate relationship with, believing that he/she is entitled to have control over that person. Since most abusers are male, the mere fact of being female puts one at risk of being battered. There are a host of factors that keep a woman from leaving an abusive relationship, including social norms about marriage. The victim of family violence may be stigmatized as well as the batterer, and may feel pressure to keep the family together. Divorce is also stigmatized in rural areas, and a woman may not only be blamed for the divorce, but she may lose all her possessions and custody of her children when she leaves. Two of the women interviewed left their marriages because of domestic violence. After the divorce, one was forced to give up custody of her son because she wasn’t able to take care of him. At the time she was out working, had no fixed residence and couldn’t afford to send him to school. She felt so guilty about leaving him that she left her son all her belongings. The other woman also lost custody of her son. She felt that the divorce forced her to abandon him, and that she had nothing left in the world except the possibility of finding a stable job. Two of the respondents who were battered by their husbands, also tried to commit suicide. Violence often leaves the victim isolated and powerless, feeling that they cannot escape. Many of the accounts of suicide involved relationships where the husband established and abused physical, emotional or financial control over his wife. Others suicides involved instances where the women felt powerless to change certain situations. The interviewees’ principal problems as domestic workers can be related to the low status and value of domestic work, as well as the lack of protective mechanisms in the workplace. They were sometimes overworked, underpaid, discriminated against and treated poorly. Although none of them were sexually harassed at work, many domestic


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workers are harassed and most do not report it. At best, these workers tend to tell close friends who can only offer emotional support. If they speak publicly about the harassment, they risk losing their job, being blamed or labeled as troublemakers. The women in the study displayed mixed feelings over their experiences as domestic workers. It is a physically grueling profession that leaves little free time, privacy or opportunity for pursuing other interests. It is also potentially fraught with difficulty, where one never knows if something negative will happen, when one will have to deal with personality conflicts, excessive workloads, harassment or exploitation. Each household may be better or worse than the next, so if one can tolerate the difficulties, the current situation may be preferable to the unknown. However, domestic workers can be financially independent and support their families, learn coping and people skills, and broaden their horizons. Similar to other migrant workers, some women want to return to their hometowns, others feel that they’ve become outsiders and no longer share the same lifestyle. Some are welcomed home with open arms, and others have to deal with family relationships that have suffered in their absence. Domestic work is an insecure profession, where many women live day to day without planning for the long-term. The respondents’ long-term priorities tended to be about taking care of their families, and secondarily pursuing their own interests. It is a source of shame that many members of society perpetuate the exploitation of fellow citizens who work so hard for them, and who make sacrifices to pursue their dreams of a better future for their children.


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PART III WORKSHOPS

Following the 20 interviews, I presented a series of three participatory workshops at local domestic worker employment agencies. The workshops were practical accompaniments to the interviews, designed to directly elicit information and suggestions from domestic workers on their issues, needs, and strategies on how civil society could support them. I built the workshops around three themes that can provide helpful data for those who assist migrant domestic workers. The first workshop addressed the vulnerability and related needs of new migrants to Beijing, the second workshop dealt with current workplace problems and the workers’ thoughts on potential solutions, and the third workshop introduced the women’s hopes and plans for the future. Each workshop had different participants but familiar stories; their voices echoed the many concerns of other domestic workers with whom I’ve worked. At the beginning of each workshop we introduced the goal of our project, and told the participants that the publication would encourage local organizations and individuals to further support domestic workers. We proposed that theirs be the principal voices in the workshops, because they know best what the critical problems are and what tactics they adopt to deal with the issues. By listening to their perspectives and strategies, discussing the lack of outreach and assistance, and identifying their needs and interests, we asked the women to be an active part of the solution.

Workshop I: New Migrants Coming to Beijing The first workshop addressed one of the most vulnerable populations of domestic workers: those who have recently migrated and who have no preparation, strategies or outside networks to abet them in dealing

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with workplace issues. Their experiences differ from those of many informal sector workers, because they are secluded in private households, and do not share a working environment with colleagues. The isolation accentuates their vulnerable situation, and their ability to reach out to others for assistance. We asked the women to talk about the greatest difficulties they experienced coming to Beijing, and what could be done to help new migrants.

I. Participants’ Stories

The first workshop had 10 participants who shared stories of their hardships. Ranging from their 20s to middle age, most women had initially come out to earn money for their families or children’s tuition. Their stories demonstrate that new migrants are ill-equipped to deal with the agencies and people who feel entitled to take advantage of them. Even more seasoned migrant workers are prone to facing the same challenges. ♦ One older woman, who was the most talkative in the group, helped others through her active participation to voice their own experiences. While living in her village, she had many children with her husband, a former reporter. After her free tubal ligation operation failed, she gave birth to another son in 1985. Subsequent to her husband’s death, her family found itself in difficult straits, so she migrated for work in 1998. When she first arrived in Beijing she encountered serious challenges, because she was totally illiterate. ♦ A 26 year old woman came to Beijing 10 years ago, after she graduated from middle school. She wanted to help support her parents and five siblings. When she first came out to work with three other teenagers, none of them could speak Mandarin. They spent 200 yuan each on their tickets, but were sold tickets that had already expired. When they discovered the problem, the seller said she couldn’t help them. They started writing a complaint to the government after boarding the train, but then the conductor took the paper away. The

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then 16 year old was scared that she had already been cheated, before even reaching her destination. ♦ Another woman migrated at 16-17 and found a domestic worker job through an informal labor market. An old man and woman picked her out, and she followed them home. She worked for nearly two years, rarely going out because she was afraid of meeting people who would take advantage of her. Years later, she has returned to Beijing with her husband and child. She is still doing domestic work, but says that a good job and fair treatment by employers are hard to find. ♦ Another participant spoke of the emotional costs of being separated from her children while working in Beijing to pay for their studies. However, she would rather that she suffer than her children. Her children tried to keep her from leaving, her youngest son cried and said, “I’ll be so sad and lost if you go.” She couldn’t do anything about it, but calls her children once a week. ♦ A 27 year old migrated to Beijing in 1999, when she was 19. Her brother-in-law brought her out, and she found her first job through a labor market, helping someone sell melon seeds. Her employer accused her of taking money and sent her to the police station. She worked for 2 months without pay, and when her employer let her leave, he only gave her a total of 200 yuan. Then she did hairdressing for three days, but left because she didn’t have a sufficiently outgoing temperament. Subsequently she worked for an old lady near Houhai who dismissed her for being too young. She also had a confrontation with a thief. Life in Beijing was really hard, and quite different from what she had expected. ♦ Another woman signed a contract with her employer, and then with her employer’s consent, took time off for Spring Festival. Afterwards, her employment agency fined her 100 yuan. The worker commented that employment agencies usually don’t support you.

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II. Dynamics of Workplace Issues

As the workshop progressed, we worked to create a receptive and safe atmosphere. The women also knew that by voicing their experiences, they could reach a larger audience, and potentially help others like themselves. During our discussion, they felt confident enough to reveal their actual feelings of helplessness and frustration. The women said that they were willing to work hard for a good job, but had no control over how they were treated. Some felt that they had no power to resolve problems, and that their work, treatment and conditions were all dictated by the employer. In general, when a situation becomes intolerable, the women often choose to leave, but persist in seeking new jobs and hope for better treatment. Below are some testimonies about the dynamics of their workplace issues. ♦ “There are blows that happen to you, and then tears follow. You want to find someone who will protect you, not just say that they will help. They have the power to change how things are done. Whereas, as a migrant worker, you will be bullied. When you encounter problems you can only tolerate them, and can’t find any way to resolve them. It doesn’t matter if you are a bit tired and things are tough, you just want to find a good family and to be able to work there for a longer period of time.” ♦ “What they say is what counts; they are the bosses. Whatever they say goes, and you have to bear with it. But people’s tolerance is limited. If you can’t deal with it anymore, then you have to leave.” ♦ “More than 80% of employers want domestic workers who will work more, eat less and accept a low wage. There are many more domestic workers now.” ♦ “When you have problems, you have to endure them, just keep on going. If you leave, they [the employers] won’t pay you. He threatened me. I was young then, he didn’t let me leave and wouldn’t pay me. He only gave me my salary every 3-4 months. I was afraid of encountering

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bad people when I went out. I gradually gained experience, but didn’t want to change employers because you have to pay 20 yuan [to the agency] each time. Everybody hopes they can find a long-term job; usually it’s the employer who doesn’t want you. They worry about your eating and taking showers in the summer. The employer said I wasn’t able to take care of children, and then the employment agency took a cut from my salary.” We engaged in a brainstorming session to come up with the most significant problems and obstacles that domestic workers generally encounter when they first come to Beijing.

III. Problems for New Migrants in Beijing

• Lifestyle, difference in living habits, food and climate problems • Language barrier • Unfair treatment, difference in status between the employer and the worker, and discrimination by the employer and locals against migrants • Unstable work, problems with work time and salary • Lack of skills and work experience • Differences between employers; whether a job situation is good or bad depends on the employer’s attitude and requests • Emotional toll: homesickness, loneliness, restricted social networks • Difficulty in finding jobs The remainder of the workshop was spent brainstorming together to generate possible strategies to combat these issues. The women produced a series of suggestions about what could help mitigate conflicts and problems for new migrant domestic workers. We also asked them to think about what they themselves, the employers, the government and other local organizations could do.

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IV. Suggested Needs and Solutions for New Migrants’ Issues

1．We need legal protection, specific guidelines in law and policy that

will be followed. Legal protection is fundamental, and is the government’s responsibility.

2. We need preparation and forethought before migrating for work, in

order to avoid arriving blindly and unprepared in the city. Organized migration or help provided by acquaintances are practical methods to aid in this process.

3. We need training, particularly when we first come out to work. It

would help us to become accustomed to the new environment as well as learn essential job skills.

4．We hope for change in society’s understanding and ideas, which

will bring mutual respect and equality. Employers ought to respect domestic workers; everyone’s consciousness about equality should be strengthened.

5．We need our own representatives. Both the employer and the

agencies support the employer’s interests, and they generally don’t act in the workers’ interests. There aren’t people who speak for us, we hope that there are people who genuinely care and can help organize.

6．We would like to improve the communication between employers

and domestic workers. One worker gave an example, “Some employers say they can’t find good domestic workers, while many domestic workers say they can’t find good employers.” The relevant government institution could help transmit information about employers, and help the domestic workers find work without risking being cheated.

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7. We need insurance, especially accidental injury insurance. We would

hope to obtain health insurance and old age insurance. 8．We want to establish an early alert system whereby employers and

domestic workers give each other advance warning when they want to discontinue the work relationship. Currently when some employers don’t want you anymore, they don’t let you know in advance, and you cannot find a new job right away. If a domestic worker wants to leave, she should also let her employer know in advance. This system creates a cushion that helps reduce difficulties on both sides.

9. We would like an organization or network for workers or domestic

workers. One worker said, “At first we miss home a lot. We don’t know who can help us when we have problems, and feel lonely and helpless.”

During the workshop, the workers didn’t have a clear idea of what an NGO-type organization is or how civil society organizations could assist them. They don’t know how to find these social resources and organizations. They suggested that there is a need for the government or relevant social organizations to help disseminate this information. They also want an accessible place that provides advice, and which suggests how to implement it. Advice can be useless if the workers don’t know the steps needed to execute the suggestions.

Workshop II: Current Workplace Issues and Related Strategies

The second workshop pursued and expanded upon the issues raised by the first workshop. It focused on current problems in the workplace, including treatment and conditions. We used narratives about foreign domestic workers’ issues and organizations to stimulate dialogue about

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experiences and strategies that they have used or observed, which address workplace problems. A guest speaker was invited to provide an overview of relevant labor rights and laws, and to answer questions. The goal of the workshop was for the women to discuss their workplace issues, strategies and needs. This information may be used to suggest how civil society organizations can respond appropriately. We first invited the participants to share experiences of workplace problems that had affected them the most, concerning overwork, payment, food and board and treatment among others. We asked how the domestic workers themselves would deal with each issue. They said that sometimes the only option is to leave and find another job. We can infer from the discussion that domestic workers have too little power and influence in the workplace to effectively negotiate issues. The fact that they are frequently helpless to remedy unfair situations engenders a demoralizing environment, where workers believe that their only power lies in their choice to walk away. Since agencies tend to be biased towards the employers, domestic workers have no one to advocate for them.

I. Workplace Problems and Related Strategies

Payment Issues Countless domestic workers find jobs through personal connections or word-of-mouth, and never sign the contracts that they would if they went through an agency. But it can also be problematic to find work through an agency. Agencies are businesses that profit more from employers than domestic workers, so the employer’s word typically carries more weight. Some managers are more ethical and refuse to serve abusive or exploitative employers, but they have no way to penalize them or hold them accountable for their actions. If the

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agencies do not help, domestic workers themselves have no leverage over the employer. “The family I worked for gave me a high salary at first. But after a few days, after I worked for ten days, they didn’t give me as much as before. And they also said they couldn’t give me as much as before because I hadn’t worked for a whole month. There had been no problems when I was introduced by agency…I couldn’t do anything even though they said they’d pay me a high salary, but then gave me a low salary. [We asked what the agency did to help] The agency usually helps clients, not you.”

Strategies for Non-payment “The only way is if the agency supports you. Otherwise, there’s nothing you can do if they [the employers] don’t pay you after you’ve worked for 10 or 15 days. Paying us is totally in their hands. The agency would just repeat whatever the employer says. Sometimes all you can do is quit. We need an intermediary or trained person who can help us resolve these issues. We need a complaint mechanism, like on the public bus, where there is a hotline for complaints.”

Strategies to Combat Excessive Workhours Many workers have mentioned that the employer finds extra work for them to do. We asked them how they would respond if they were overworked. As with salary problems, domestic workers say that their only choice is to acquiesce or to quit. “I could also just do the [extra] work. They [employers] explain, “If I didn’t tell you [to do the work], you wouldn’t do it.” More than 90% of employers are like that, and won’t raise your salary [for doing more work].” “I can take a break when the employer or child is asleep.”

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“It depends on their attitude and whether I feel like they took advantage of me. When I didn’t want to work there anymore, I worked for another two days and then quit.” “I worked for 20 days and they only gave me 300 yuan. Dirty, tired. I could only leave after they paid me; if they didn’t pay me I couldn’t leave. Finally they paid me.”

Food and Board Issues The employer is responsible for providing proper food and living conditions for live-in domestic workers. Sometimes employers do not offer decent meals for the women, but restrict their food intake, and give them cheap food or leftovers. The workers pointed out that besides sometimes having to sleep in inappropriate places, they have no transitional place to live when they are in-between jobs. They may lose their job and then have to spend the little money that they have to buy food and pay for a shared room. “The employer is unfair about eating, sometimes he doesn’t let you eat or gives you leftovers. Sometimes I add hot water to leftover food. Sometimes there’s just half a steamed bun. They ask me to cook less than what one person normally eats.” Another person added that she always had to eat leftover food. Someone else said that usually this problem happens with older people who don’t want to spend money. But, she asked, how can we work without eating? We asked about problems related to living conditions. The women mentioned that sometimes workers have to sleep on the employer’s sofa or the balcony, and said that when they are unemployed they pay 6 yuan per night to sleep in the domestic worker agency. Agencies that allow domestic workers to live there between jobs may just have hard benches, a mattress or chairs where the women can sleep. They typically don’t allow the women to use the bathroom in the building,

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but have them use public facilities or bathhouses whenever they need water, or to use the bathroom or shower.

Strategies for Dealing with Food and Board Issues

“There’s nothing you can do if you don’t get enough to eat.” “Change your job once you fulfill your contract.”

Treatment Issues

The women’s stories about poor treatment depict how they are sometimes severely discriminated against or abused, and have no way to hold the employer accountable for the abuse. “I haven’t had any problems, and work is fine. [Then after other domestic workers encouraged her, she came out with her real story.] I haven’t been in Beijing for long. I only worked for 40 days. One day, I made a pair of gloves for the old woman. She grabbed me by my hair, and I started crying. She said she wouldn’t hit me. Then when I was sitting on the sofa, she hit me in the stomach and said she was going to beat it to a pulp. I quit after 40 days. I told the agency about what happened. The staff person already knew about the old woman, but wouldn’t let me tell anyone else. The old woman switched 18 domestic workers in one month.” Another participant commented that the victim should have just quit, even if she didn’t have another job. Someone added that she should have been paid for her work. Another woman mentioned that in her own experience, even when she didn’t take any rest days, her employer didn’t give her extra pay. When they yelled or swore at her, she would pretend that she didn’t hear. But, she wouldn’t have been able to tolerate being beaten. A woman in her fifties told a story of discriminatory treatment that reflected her low value in the eyes of her employers. “One day I was working in my employer’s home, making an omelet for the old lady.

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There was a leftover piece, and since I hadn’t had breakfast, I asked the old lady if I could eat it. Her daughter-in-law came back in a terrible mood after having argued with her husband, and wanted me to get out. I said I wouldn’t leave because it was already so late and I had no other place to sleep. She wanted me to leave and stuffed all my things in my bag. She gave me a kick and made me leave. There was nowhere to go, so I just sat in the passageway of the building. I was just crying there, when an elderly man saw me and sent me off to a police station. I was also kicked out of the police station. Then I went to a park. There were mosquitoes everywhere biting me, and I wrapped my head with my clothes. Later I honestly couldn’t bear it any longer. Someone came over and asked me go to a nearby motel. He said they were looking for people. I went over. Then someone blocked the way to the door and told me that the person [responsible for hiring] was not in, and to come back in the morning. I didn’t have any place to sleep, and my agency was closed. There was nothing I could do, so I went back to the passageway and covered myself with my clothes. The next day I went to the employment agency. Then the daughter-in-law came and said she had been looking everywhere for me and didn’t know where I went. She was just putting on an act because the old lady said that her actions might cause something bad to happen.”

Strategies against Mistreatment We asked what the women would do if their employer tried to cheat them or treated them badly. One woman said, “I can excuse it, but you should compensate me. If they treat a young person badly, there should be legal sanctions. If they treat an old person badly, then they should compensate them.” We asked whether they would try informing the employer’s other family members. One respondent said, “If you tell them, it’s as much use as not telling them. They might say, “how come she beat you but not other people?” Another woman said, “There’s nothing you can do except quit. They would not admit that they hit you, and it’s really hard to prove.”

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II. An Organization for Domestic Workers

We told stories about foreign organizations that advocate for domestic workers’ rights. The women thought it would be wonderful if there was an organization that could help them to address problems with employers, implement justice, attend to their need for shelter while unemployed, and provide trainings on worker-employer communications. They thought that legal institutions or those who have the power to influence domestic worker agencies should lead this type of organization. They recognized the lack of networks and support for domestic workers. When workers meet, it is usually by accident; there are no other venues where they would tend to gather. Therefore, there is a clear need for a center where they can meet. If the domestic worker agencies were to inform them of activities, they would try to participate, particularly on weekends.

Workshop III: Future Plans and Aspirations The third workshop was designed to understand the nature of domestic workers’ plans for the future, the obstacles that exist, and how civil society in particular can support their professional and personal development. We led discussions around 4 themes:

1) Work plans 2) Family plans 3) Learning/Self-development 4) Organizing/Supporting domestic workers

This workshop was meaningful for all participants, who felt encouraged by voicing their needs and excited at the prospect of having organizations that could help them. They were also moved by the stories of their colleagues’ hardships. At different times, at least four participants cried when they tried to speak, overcome by their personal burdens.

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I. Work Plans

We asked each participant whether they were a live-in domestic worker or did hourly work, why they chose that type of domestic work, and if they were planning to continue or to switch professions. I wanted to know what they saw as the benefits and disadvantages of their chosen work, and whether their decision was made out of necessity or by choice. The group had 4 hourly workers and 6 live-in workers. The hourly workers agreed that the main benefit of their work was that it permitted greater freedom. Most of them knew that they would continue short-term, and had no committed long-term plans. Many of the live-in domestic workers knew no one else in Beijing, and had no other place to live besides with their employer. Out of the 6 live-in workers, the two older women planned to stay longer. One felt that she could do nothing else at her age to earn money, and the other one felt as though her home did not hold as much interest for her as Beijing. She did plan to return home though, because she felt it was her responsibility to find her wives for her sons, buy them houses and eventually take care of their children. Three of the live-in workers were working temporarily to earn money until they could return home to be with their families, to cultivate apple trees and raise animals. The last live-in domestic worker cried repeatedly during the workshop. She spoke about having to support her three children and her husband, whose leg had not yet recovered from numerous operations. She was desperately worried about one of her sons, Gao Liang, who had run away from home in order to earn money in Beijing. He had done well in his exams, but decided to stop school and earn money to help his family. It has been nearly a year since she had last heard from him. We made a list of the obstacles to domestic workers’ future plans, and of their suggested solutions: 1) Lack of resources to learn. A few of the women wanted to learn about cultivating fruit trees and raising animals. “The first problem is

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financial. It is really hard to find someone to teach you. I want to learn skills but don’t know where I could go.” Workers’ Proposed Solutions: If their salary was higher, they could buy their own supplies and study on their own. They could also find a good employer who would help them locate the appropriate books/materials. 2) Transition between jobs. “I’ve been eating and living here for 3 to 5 days [the agency], and I’m really worried that I won’t find work. I will feel worried if I’m always waiting here and I don’t find a suitable job. I wonder if there is some way to help us find jobs a little faster, or else we have to keep spending money to live here.” Another participant said, “There are some agencies that don’t offer a place to sleep. If you can’t find a job, you have no choice but to go outside and sleep in some park. Since there is this type of agency, I think you are better off finding an agency that has a place where you can sleep.” Workers’ Proposed Solutions: The employment agencies could lower their fee for an overnight stay. 3) Lack of freedom. The workers have little free time, personal space, and little power to speak out. They feel that they have to listen to whatever the employer says. “The employers don’t let us go out and talk to other domestic workers. They are afraid of what we’ll say, that we’ll find out that we earn less than other workers. But from our point of view, if they [employers] just treat us well, we will certainly treat them well. We will work for their family as though we were working for our own. It is of course true though, that when you are out working, you would like to earn more money.” Another worker related, “…some employers just give you a little bit to eat, otherwise you have to take care of your own food and they don’t let you receive phone calls. It is really isolating.” Workers’ Proposed Solutions: Learn about the law and how to communicate better with employers. Give domestic workers some

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time to see friends after they complete all their work. If a worker isn’t given enough to eat, they should quit and find another family to work for. 4) Lack of support from agencies when the workers are cheated or when their employers do not fulfill what they have promised. “When it comes to the agencies, they always take the side of employers. Whether we are right or wrong, the agencies are always biased towards the employer. When we are out working, some people aren’t the same, there are all types, so we think the less we say the better.” Workers’ Proposed Solutions: As the above participant stated, workers need to be careful of what they say, since they cannot necessarily rely on employers or agency staff to advocate for them. 5) Seeing the doctor. One woman said that financially she could not afford to see the doctor or buy medicine. Workers’ Proposed Solutions: To be insured like Beijing’s residents.

II. Family Plans We asked each participant whether she is living alone in Beijing or with her family, and whether her short and long-term plans are to remain in Beijing or return to her hometown. I was interested in finding out whether they were short or long-term migrants, and what motivated them to either stay in the city or return home. Being with their family or earning money for their family were the principal motives that determined the participants’ plans. Some women intend to return home in the short-term to raise their young children, others have to stay in Beijing longer to earn money for their children’s school fees. Two felt that there are not sufficient benefits to staying long-term in Beijing, since work is difficult and the cost of living is high. One woman wants to remain in Beijing, but since she had no

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family there, she dismissed these dreams as futile. One hourly worker was planning on living indefinitely in Beijing with her husband and child. She had been a teacher before, and had switched to doing domestic work. The participant with the invalid husband is only staying in Beijing to earn money to keep her family going until her husband is well enough to farm again. The obstacles to fulfilling the women’s family plans are mostly financial: for example, the afore-mentioned participant has to repay the 10,000 yuan her family borrowed for her husband’s operations, and others cannot afford the transportation to return home.

III. Learning/Self-development When we started investigating domestic workers’ self-development we first asked what type of life they want to have, what they currently do during their free time and what they would like to do if they had the opportunity. The questions were intended to compare their current practices with their ideal pursuits, to see where the gap lies, and to suggest activities that local organizations could offer. Elements of their ideal lives include being with their family so that they will no longer be alone, making sure that all children are married and settled, and renovating their houses to have two floors. In their free time they would like to: spend time with friends, look for a better job, go window-shopping, rest, and listen to the radio. One woman said that most of them cannot read well, so they can’t do that in their spare time. Some of the participants wanted to learn computer and tailoring skills. The women reacted differently to these questions, some with pessimism and some with hope. An older woman said that she can’t really learn or do what she’s interested in, but it would be ok if there were some workshops suited for people who hadn’t gone to school. Another woman was smiling and radiated hope at the idea of an organization that would provide learning opportunities. She said that all she needed was to be able to watch someone do something, and to give her basic instruction. The discussion indicated that the workers’ needs are fairly basic. If they had free time, they would tend to spend it with friends or people

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who offer emotional support. They also lack the opportunities and financial resources to study, so would benefit greatly from instructional and capacity-building activities and trainings.

IV. Participation and Organization

We asked questions that probed potential outreach opportunities, such as whether local domestic workers were hourly or live-in, what freedom they have, and what opportunities they have to get together and share information. The participants said that they seldom have free time, and that they often need the employer’s permission to go out. In one extreme case, a participant said that she had one day off during the entire past year. Her employers wouldn’t let her take rest days, and only raised her salary 50 yuan per month to compensate. They not only wouldn’t let her rest, but were paranoid that she would take their children and try to sell them. Her employers also wouldn’t permit her to receive phone calls, so there was no way that anyone could get in touch with her. The hourly workers who live on their own clearly have more flexibility and freedom to attend activities than live-in workers. We presented stories about domestic workers’ organizations in other countries, and the participants said that they would be interested in taking part in similar organizations. It is evident that they have had no exposure to organizations besides perhaps the hometown Women’s Federation and domestic worker agencies. When asked about community-level organizations, they said that if there were such organizations, their employers could participate, but domestic workers don’t have that right. The vast majority of the one to two hundred domestic workers that I have spoken with, are isolated and unaware of the blossoming civil society organizations in Beijing which could help them. Most of them cannot imagine that there are such institutions, so continue to deal with their problems alone.

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Part IV Future Involvement of Urban-Based Organizations and Citizens

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PART IV FUTURE INVOLVEMENT OF URBAN-BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND

CITIZENS

I. Needs and Interests of Migrant Domestic Workers in Beijing During the workshops, the migrant domestic workers detailed their needs and articulated their desire for representative organizations. This final section will summarize their practical needs and strategic interests, and discuss how civil society organizations and networks can work to meet them. Practical needs involve what the women see as necessities and relate to improving the workers’ ability to fulfill their current roles. Meeting practical needs can improve the workers’ conditions but do not transform their positions. Strategic interests deal with changing women’s roles or positions to gain greater equity in society. When strategic interests are met, women can empower themselves and participate in social transformation. Domestic workers cannot just rely on their employers or agencies to enforce their rights. Since they hold little influence as individual informal workers, the women are interested in having an organization that can intercede for them or provide services that help them resolve issues. They want greater legal awareness. The women are not content with the current environment, where their power lies in deciding whether to tolerate workplace problems or whether to find another job. They want contracts that clearly detail their salary and the limits of their work, and which thwart potential exploitation. Their position in the work environment can be strengthened through learning how to confidently convey their legal knowledge to the employers, and how to communicate and settle issues with employers. External agencies can provide these training and as act as resources if the workers need further help and mediation with conflicts.


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Practical Needs

• Help in preparing to migrate and understanding what it entails, and

support for the migration process. • Help with integrating into the urban environment. • Clear employment contracts with specified hours, salary, scope of

work and overtime. An enforcement mechanism for the employment contracts.

• Communication with employers and overcoming the initial language barrier. • Work skills training. • Information about agencies and employers that minimizes the risk of

being cheated or exploited when looking for work. • Decent living conditions, food and board. • Methods to deal with abusive/exploitative treatment. • Health Insurance. • Alert system, whereby the employer and domestic worker have the

responsibility to inform each other in advance before they terminate the work relationship. This would require incentives to implement the system, and to prevent discriminatory or retaliatory actions or inadequate job performance.

• Security to facilitate the transition between jobs, such as a shelter.

Strategic Interests • Change in social attitudes towards domestic workers, which foster respect and equality. • Dignified Employment/fair treatment. • Legal protection of domestic workers’ rights, and implementation

mechanisms. • Representatives who advocate for domestic workers, and help them organize. These individuals could be from an organization that advocates for domestic workers, or from a network of domestic workers, researchers and others. • Organization/Network for domestic workers; counteracting their

isolation and restricted social networks.


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• Intermediaries who assist or train workers to combat non-payment issues, exploitation, and other workplace problems.

• Learning resources/opportunities for self-development. • Increase in freedom/free time to participate in activities; counteracting unfair degree of employer control, demands and micromanagement. All actors in the domestic workers’ environment, the workers themselves, their employers, the employment agencies and civil society organizations (CSOs), must play a more involved role in refashioning the status quo. For change to occur, it is vital to first understand the employment environment, where workers find jobs through channels or agencies that are not meant to advance domestic workers’ rights.

Needs Regarding Employment Channels The role of employment channels is critical, since they determine the scope of work and the presence or absence of a safety net in case of exploitation or mistreatment. Women find domestic work through both informal networks and employment agencies, so it is important to examine some of the weaknesses in both systems. Domestic worker agencies currently have no legal obligation to safeguard the workers who pay them to find jobs. The actions of the agencies depend on the ethical standards and practice of the management and staff. To ensure consistent upholding of rights when workers’ contracts or rights are violated, the agencies should have the responsibility to initiate an investigation and hold the responsible person accountable. Since domestic workers often find it to their disadvantage to report wrongdoings to the agency, they must have confidence that speaking out will not impact their access to further job opportunities. Not only do domestic workers require this assurance in order to disclose employer transgressions, agencies also need the incentives and practical means to hold employers liable, or to report them to the authorities. Domestic workers who obtain work through informal means, lack the communal environment of the employment agency where they spend time with other workers, so remain isolated. These women tend


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to only come together with others who share a similar work background and geographic origin, and who live in their neighborhood. In order to protect their rights, community-level outreach is essential. A grassroots effort to spread information about organizations or hotlines could be extremely effective.

II. Civil Society Involvement

In Beijing there are an increasing number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that specialize in assisting groups of migrants. I have spoken with organizations about their present involvement or potential association with domestic workers such as: the Culture and Communication Center for Facilitators, Fuping, the Migrant Women’s Club, and the Xiaoxiao Niao Cultural Communication Center. Some organizations have had little prior contact with domestic workers, but can nonetheless offer advice, trainings or empowerment activities in which domestic workers can participate. Whether their organizational mandate is issue-specific like health or legal rights, or whether it is focused on facilitating development of groups through efforts like capacity-building or advocacy, all groups can make a difference in the lives of countless domestic workers. Similar organizations currently provide services such as: legal advice, trainings, casework, capacity-building activities, discussion groups, group outings, cultural and self-development activities.

Examples of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Beijing Serving Migrant Workers

Some of the existing CSOs in Beijing address multiple needs, with the principal goal of empowering migrants as individuals and as a group. For example, the Facilitators offer: direct services and counseling; empowerment, legal, health and worker safety trainings; trainings that help migrants adapt to life in the city; cultural and art development activities. They also advocate for migrants on multiple levels including


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offering policy recommendations to the government. The Migrant Women’s Club focuses on legal issues, offers rights trainings, a monthly domestic worker support group, legal counseling and services to migrant women and makes recommendations for greater protection of workers. Fuping also has a variety of programs for domestic workers such as: a social support network which offers trainings on urban living skills, healthcare, career design, and capacity-building for leadership etc.; small funds for organizing groups in 10 communities; monthly recreational activities; and workshops with community-level management departments to promote access to community services.

Resources: Untapped and Unseen Many essential resources already exist for domestic workers, but lie untapped or unseen. Organizations could become more effective through creating linkages and collaborating, and many individuals would be willing to step forward to serve as volunteer teachers or organizers. Another problem is that in general workers are simply unaware of existing organizations and services. Beijing also has no broad coalition of organizations working together for domestic workers’ rights. Presently, organizations are involved in migrant issues to varying extents, each with their own mandates. If these organizations and networks were to leverage their individual strengths through partnering or information-sharing, they could affect the lives of thousands of domestic workers. It is the grassroots-level organizations that understand the needs of migrant workers and women, and that have been experimenting with ways to deliver their services and expand their reach. Although the environment for NGOs is sometimes considered to be difficult and competitive, the shared goal of creating change offers exciting opportunities for synergistic work, where even limited collaboration can have a powerful impact in the field. This need for further civil society engagement extends beyond NGOs to embrace movements, networks, community organizations, charities, associations and participation organized around their shared interests and purposes.


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Issues of Outreach, Capacity and Capacity-Building

By examining the breadth of services offered by the three above-mentioned CSOs, it is apparent that there are already programs in place that can meet many of the needs mentioned by the workshop participants. In the case of organizations that offer critical services, the pressing questions concern outreach and capacity. How do domestic workers find out about these programs, is there the capacity to accommodate the workers, and are they physically able to go to these locations? Information sharing becomes essential, because organizations have distinct programs, are located in different areas of Beijing, and possess limited capacity and outreach. Women who have particular needs for trainings or resources, or who are interested in forming groups in their own communities, may benefit more from one organization than another. With basic collaboration, the women can be referred to the appropriate CSO. With the enormous population of domestic workers in Beijing, there will always be greater demand than supply of these organizations and their services. If organizations want to enter into a mutually beneficial strategic partnership on domestic worker issues, they can first assess everything from how to match joint resources with existent needs, to how to engage in collaborative outreach. The organizations can analyze their own strengths, assets and resources, and areas that they should develop in order to fill important gaps. Subsequent to planning their mutual endeavor, they could concentrate on outreach such as by choosing the medium, strategy and message for outreach into communities and the evaluative mechanism to see how the outreach strategy is working. Providing and advertising direct services is one indispensable form of assistance. As some CSOs already understand, there is a limitation to the ability to provide services without also building local capacity for individuals to advocate for themselves and spread their knowledge to others. It is essential for CSOs to promote capacity-building at the grassroots, both for domestic workers and other interested individuals who will do outreach and strengthen CSO efforts at the community level. If even


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just one organization can train volunteers in multiple communities, and offer advice or support, each volunteer can impact that many more people. There are countless women and men in Beijing eager to volunteer for social change work; they only require initial training, a toolkit on outreach and training methods, and support.

III. Model Center for Domestic Workers In addition to the diverse efforts of CSOs to help domestic workers as well as their own target groups, workers require an organization that exclusively represents them, and which at least initially, does not have to grapple with the complexities present in the socially responsible employment agency model. It is possible for a NGO to follow a value-based mission while generating income, which will increase the variety of methods to ensure sustainability. However, it may be preferable to first ensure the successful implementation of a value-based mission through programs and activities, and then complement grants and donations with income-generation that does not compromise the mission. Rather than becoming solely dependent on income-generation activities, an NGO must continue to seek both actual financial contributions and volunteer work that has great financial value.2 Below, I have put forward an example of a model center for domestic workers that would respond to many of their needs. A model domestic worker organization or center would be located conveniently in a community, where it would act as a comprehensive resource for local workers. It would offer the chance for domestic workers, local citizens, NGOs, employment agencies, and other community organizations to all participate. The center would double as a temporary shelter for domestic workers who are unemployed and have nowhere to live, and particularly for those who are escaping difficult situations. The center would have information on a variety of issues and relevant NGOs, and would be a place where other NGOs

2 Peizer, Jonathan, “Sustainable Development in the Digital Age”. [Online] Available at: http://www.mediachannel.org/views/oped/values.shtml


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or interested persons could offer trainings and activities. One of the difficulties groups encounter in organizing activities with domestic workers, is that the only place workers tend to gather is the employment agency, and only when they are busy looking for work. Outside of these employment agencies, organizers would normally need to contact workers individually, since each one may have a different schedule and live in a different area. There would be no conflict of interest or inconvenience holding activities at the center, as opposed to conducting them at employment agencies or recruiting individual workers to meet at another location. Because the center is not an employment agency, domestic workers would feel supported and would participate freely in activities without worrying that staff would limit their work opportunities. Conservative staff at employment agencies are focused on business, and want to offer domestic workers who are quiet, efficient and responsive to employers. They are not interested in advancing the empowerment of domestic workers, particularly during worktime, and especially if the activities do not benefit the agency. They could take minor punitory measures if they believe the woman is not working to fill her prescribed role.

The organization would act as a research center for domestic workers’ rights where activists, researchers and policy makers would have a convenient way to contact and work with the women. The center could be a source of community revitalization, when local resident employers are drawn in to participate. It could offer trainings that demonstrate that the best practice for work relationships is built on mutual trust and respect. The trainings would demonstrate that an attitude of scarcity and control, where both the employer and worker are looking out for their own interests, breeds distrust and resentment, and stress within the home. The participants in our workshops suggested that if there was such an organization, their employment agency could be a nexus for communication between the organization and the workers. However, losing workers to external activities presents a conflict of interest, since agencies want domestic workers to wait for clients during their free time. It may be necessary to reach a compromise with each agency,


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where some of the trainings benefit the workers’ job prospects, and are therefore valuable to the company. One function of the domestic workers’ organization could be to monitor employment agencies and employers who violate workers’ rights. It could keep a database of offending employers and agencies; but it is agencies that could provide the most comprehensive information on employers. Since every agency has clients who do not abide by their contracts and mistreat workers, a higher incidence of reports from one agency would not necessarily mean it is more dangerous to seek employment there. On the contrary, it should be a selling point for domestic workers, because it would indicate that the agency proactively works to protect them. This would be a good way for the agency to establish a high reputation within the domestic worker community, and with more workers interested in working for such an agency, the company would cut down on recruiting expenses.

When an organization involves all these actors in domestic workers’ issues, it sows deeper roots for transformative social change. The movement of civil society to impact such social issues calls for leadership, when people of vision, commitment and energy lead and collaborate with others.

VI. Conclusion

This publication reflects the complexity that faces female migrant domestic workers in Beijing, ranging from the hardships women experience and their gendered beliefs which impact the roles they play, their perceptions, and attitudes towards resolution of issues, to the working environment where low status and negligible power prevent the women from resolving workplace problems. The report identifies the women’s practical needs and strategic interests that must be addressed, and issues a call for further intervention and involvement of civil society organizations and actors. The pursuit of gender equality will remain frustrated as long as female or male caretakers and domestic workers continue to be disrespected because of the value attributed to their feminized informal sector work, and as long as legal and political institutions neither recognize nor actualize the due rights


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of the workers. Worldwide, domestic workers still struggle with this same issue. Equally important is to remember that many other Chinese domestic workers, like those who contributed to this publication, are prepared to speak out and pursue their deserved rights to fair labor and equitable treatment. The workers, currently isolated as individuals who lack a network or organizing force, seek the support of civil society to catalyze their participation in their own movement. Indisputably, Chinese civil society is growing thanks to principled leadership, and the many staff, volunteers, migrant workers, and other citizens who implement their work. New and existent organizations can begin to rise to the challenge to meet the needs of domestic workers. Organizations that have the most transparent methods, egalitarian values, collaborative attitudes and fearless participation will eventually achieve the greatest positive influence. The most formidable organizations implement systems that are directly linked to social change principles, seek their direction from the grassroots, and provide the opportunity for all members to contribute and grow to their potential. People recognize the nature of such groups, and are inspired to join them in the struggle. A fulfillment of domestic workers’ rights requires involvement of multiple actors, a revaluing of domestic work itself, advocacy and legislative change, empowerment at the grassroots, and the conditions whereby the majority of employer-worker problems can be resolved fairly. There needs to be a conscious examination of the roots of discrimination against those who engage in domestic work whether they be professional domestic workers, or the women and men who look after their families, or become stay-at home parents. It is the common responsibility of everyone who holds preconceived negative stereotypes about “feminized work,” labor and migrant workers, to shed their indifference in exchange for conscious recognition and appreciation of every person’s humanity, relationship to others, and individual contributions. Most individuals do not systematically put their belief in equality into practice, and consciously or unconsciously embrace material, social and ideological divisions that reassuringly set them apart from those unlike themselves. However, it is promising that progressively more people are undertaking the commitment to help those who are disadvantaged


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and discriminated against, such as traditionally marginalized groups like domestic workers, and are willing to examine their own attitudes and norms that contribute to the social prejudices that segregate us.

Gender and Rights Research Report on Chinese Female Migrant Domestic Workers...

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