Protecting domestic workers from the coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic has not yet reached its peak in Brazil, but it has already brought a crisis to the nation’s health and economy. Among those who are most affected by this virus aren’t just people who have COVID-19, but the nation’s domestic workers, the vast majority of whom are women.

Brazil has the largest population of domestic employees in the world, with a total of more than 6 million people, according to BBC Brasil News. According to data from 2016, 92% of these workers are women and many of those women are Afro-descendant and of low education levels.

No rights were guaranteed to these workers, until a constitutional amendment that required the formalization of domestic work through an employment record booklet was passed in 2013. This new law aimed to curb the exploitation of these workers by giving them the right to a paid vacation, minimum wage, and maximum workload. Even so, an estimated 68% of domestic workers are still employed in the informal sector, meaning that most still can’t access these rights.

Currently, despite recommendations for social distancing, many domestic workers continue to work in their employers’ homes because they don’t have another choice. Take the case of Ana (fictitious name), a day laborer who told El Pais Brasil that her employer told her, “I have the free will to come or not, and that if I wanted to go by car I could leave it in her garage. She left the choice up to me, but if I don't go, I don't get paid. In another place that I work, on Mondays and Fridays, they said that they would dismiss me. But they said they were not going to be able to pay me.”

In order to survive, many domestic workers risk exposing themselves and their loved ones to COVID-19 by continuing to take public transportation and exposing themselves to their employers. In Rio de Janeiro, one of the regions most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, the first victim of the coronavirus was a 63-year-old domestic worker. She lived in a small town 100 km from the capital, and took the train for approximately two hours to get to her employers' house in Leblon, the most upscale neighborhood in the city. The woman, who had been working for this family for 20 years, contracted the virus from her employer, who had recently returned from a trip to Italy and had not informed her that she was ill. This particular case exposes a great contradiction in Brazilian society in which employers typically say their domestic workers are "practically family." But they most often do so not out of true sentiment, but in an attempt to mask exploitation.

Concerned about her mother’s health, Juliana França, the daughter of a domestic worker, started a movement called “For the Life of Our Mothers” that calls for the right of domestic workers to remain safe without having to go through extreme financial difficulties. In a manifesto, these sons and daughters of domestic workers claim that their mothers have the right to paid leave from work and thus should be able to meet the quarantine measures and take the precautions stipulated by the authorities to protect themselves and their families.

Even among domestic workers who have been released from their work, many haven’t received payment. The movement also demands that employers, who have always been able to count on the service of these women to clean their homes, care for their children, and cook their food – these women who are “practically family members” – recognize the value of their work and pay them during this time so they can stay safe and maintain financial stability.

“The practice of social distancing should not be a privilege, but the right to maintain your safety and protect the health of your own family group. For this to happen, the employees – men and women – need to understand that paying for quarantine is beyond employment bond, is a matter of common sense,” said Jessica Meireles, an activist and actress, in an Instagram video made for the movement.

Recently parliamentarians in opposition to Jair Bolsonaro’s government managed to demand that the government pay emergency aid to some workers. This is quite an achievement, considering Bolsonaro has called COVID-19 a “little flu,” recently dismissed his minister of health for refusing to go against WHO and make social isolation measures more flexible, and minimized COVID-19-related deaths by saying that “people die every day.” But the value of this aid (600 reais) is almost half of minimum wage, and well below what domestic workers would gain if employers continued to pay for their services. What’s more, the government tried to hinder access by creating an app that doesn’t work properly and has delayed payments.

The “For the Life Of Our Mothers” movement has already had some effect, making some employers understand the importance of paid leave, but it is still necessary to continue amplifying the chorus that they have begun.