Young Moroccan domestic workers experience mistreatment

2005-12-22

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released Tuesday (20 December) says that tens of thousands of girls working as domestics in Morocco face physical and psychological abuse, as well as economic exploitation. Some girls as young as age 5 are forced to work for 100 or more hours a week for as little as 6.5 dirhams a day.

"There is a myth that these girls are improving themselves by working," said Clarisa Bencomo, a children's rights researcher at HRW. "The reality is that far too many girls end up suffering lasting physical and psychological harm," she added.

An HRW release says the children suffer "frequent physical and verbal abuse, denial of education and of adequate food and medical care, and sexual harassment by employers or their relatives". Some are beaten and locked indoors if they refuse to work.

HRW urges the Moroccan government to "enforce the legal minimum age of 15 for all child workers, ensure domestic workers the same rights as other workers, eliminate the worst forms of child domestic labour, and sanction employers and labour recruiters who abuse children".

The Moroccan National Institution for Solidarity with Women in Crisis has launched a campaign to save exploited children, especially little girls, who are increasingly being mistreated and used as domestic workers. (Morocco Times, Human Rights Watch)