Child domestic servants in Hanoi. Who are they and how do they fare?

Abstract

Child labour has been receiving much attention and the opinions of what is “ thebest interest of the child” and what is possible to achieve go wide apart.Children themselves and organizations working with them have very differentviews on the causes for and consequences of child work and what should bedone about it (Woodhead, 1999).The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) prohibits economicexploitation of children and their involvement in work that could be harmfulor that interferes with their education. It also requires States Parties to regulateages for admission to and conditions for employment. The Labour Code ofVietnam from 1994 states: “ A labourer must be at least 15 years old . . .” butit also provides for a number of occupations, which are accepted for childrenand not considered harmful.Domestic service is a common occupation of teenage girls all around theworld (Black, 1997). For girls, for whom education is not a realistic option, itis one of few opportunities available to earn a well-needed income. In thedebate it has been highlighted as a form of invisible child labour with greatrisks of being harmful (Blagbrough, 1999; UNICEF, 1999). The girls spendmost, if not all their time, con”ned within the walls of the employer’ s housewith few opportunities to meet others (Black, 1997). In some countries they may be very young and with little or no contact with their families(Blanchet, 1996; Janak, 2000). The risks for physical, sexual and psychologi-cal abuse and exploitation are obvious, since the girls are left to the mercy oftheir employer’ s families. At the same time domestic service is widelyaccepted. In many western countries a system of “ au pair” has been developed,in which young people can combine language studies abroad with domestic