They take care of the most valuable part of the society: the family. They are responsible for preparing food, doing the cleaning and the laundry for the family, and even look after their pets and plants. Many become a sort of second mother to the children and others provide support for elderly members at the end of their lives. However, despite the fact that they are almost indispensable for the modern family, Dominican domestic workers enjoy fewer employment rights and some do not even have personal rights.
Social anthropologist Tahira Vargas told Diario Libre that “domestic workers are one of the clearest expressions of the inequality that exists in Dominican society.” She says that these women experience several levels of discrimination, including gender and social discrimination, “because they are inside a space where the difference in class is experienced very intensely and is deep-rooted.”
“Imagine – if you can – living in a house with someone who orders you around and belongs to a much higher social class and who often discriminates against you and treats you badly,” says the specialist.
Domestic Workers Association (ATH) president Victoria Garcia says that the most common forms of ill-treatment suffered by domestic workers include: lack of privacy, including opening of correspondence, searching of the room or belongings, verbal abuse (principally using names) and some even endure physical violence and sexual aggression.