Previous page | New search |
The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here
Book chapter | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Health of Domestic Workers in South Africa |
Author: | Khan, Quarraisha |
Book title: | Women and Health in Africa |
Year: | 1991 |
Pages: | 79-88 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | South Africa |
Subjects: | women health domestic workers Labor and Employment Health, Nutrition, and Medicine |
Abstract: | Roughly 89 percent of domestic servants in South Africa are black and of these about 88 percent are women. Their working conditions are not protected by government legislation. Black domestic workers who live in their employers' homes are not allowed to bring their children to live with them. They may be separated from their families for days or months at a time, which causes them great anxiety about their children's welfare and deprives them of a normal married life. Furthermore, job insecurity, the demeaning nature of the job, poverty, and the lack of rest and recreation are causes of stress for these women. Also, domestic workers are at higher risk of certain occupational health problems, such as 'washerwoman's hands'. Current attempts to improve the lot of domestic workers are largely directed through SADWU (South African Domestic Workers Union). Notes (p. 222). |