Slavery in The 21st Century

welfare system of these countries. In order to enable female nationals to ‘reconcile’ care
work and a working life, some European states have installed a quota system for the
recruitment of domestic workers (Spain, Italy, Greece), which allows employers to
recruit workers from abroad under specific criteria, or they have opened their borders to
these workers (Britain and Ireland with the domestic worker visa). Others, such as
Germany, the Nordic States, and the Netherlands, have hardly acknowledged the need
for migrant domestic workers, let alone included this need in their managed migration
policies. United States and Canada have adopted migrant programs such as
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 IRCA and Live-In Caregiver program,
respectively, in order to facilitate the employment of migrant domestic workers.
Informal Economy
The high demand for domestic care, along with different social welfare structures,
together with restrictive migration policies, has led to an extensive informal domestic
services market with a high percentage of undocumented foreign workers in Western
countries. For this reason, despite the IRCA's intent to limit illegal migration, it has been
accused of promoting the undocumented immigration of women. The employment of
domestic migrant workers in these countries is known to be based on social capital.
There are three entrance doors through which women enter the domestic sector. First,
there is the "co-Optation modality" whereby women channel each other into each other
into employment positions, by mainly relying from the moment of arrival on social
networks made-up of family members, friends and/or acquaintances who connect them
with potential employers in the country. Second, there is "freelance domestic worker" by
building her own clientele through newspapers and magazines job offers, distributing
cards offering services in residential areas. Finally, there is the "communitarian social
network", which unlike co-Optation,is formed after migration. Religious networks (i.e.,
churches) are extremely important in network-building of many female immigrants. This
entrance door is rarely used upon arrival as it requires the formation of new contacts
amongst immigrants.
Vulnerability to Abuse
Although the working conditions of migrant domestic workers are also dependent on
regional and country specific factors, several global commonalities render these
workers vulnerable to abuse.
Risks of Abuse During Recruitment And Travel
Recruitment agencies and other intermediaries often do not inform migrant domestic
workers about their rights in their future employment and about the mechanisms
available to them in order to report abuse. Advertising non-existent domestic jobs and
forcing migrants to pay high fees are daily risks migrant domestic workers face. In
transit to the country of employment, female workers are particularly vulnerable to
physical and sexual harassment and abuse.
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