Time Magazine on Gender, Migrant Work & Rape
By Deputy Editor Thea Lim
Time Magazine reports on women migrant workers who have been raped, and the resulting pregnancies:
While globalization has turned much of the world into a wide-open labor market, it has also created complex human and societal dramas. Women account for up to 50% of the world’s 100 million–strong migrant-worker population — and there is no effective entity to protect their rights and dignity. In 2008, Indonesians working abroad, commonly as domestic staff in the Middle East and parts of Asia, contributed about $6.8 billion to their national economy via remittances, according to the World Bank. And while statistics are difficult to come by, there are increasing reports of many who are physically abused, raped and — in some cases — killed by their employers…
…female migrant workers are raped and then dumped on the streets by their employers, who refuse to give them their passports after discovering that the women are pregnant. The women are then arrested by police and placed in jail. Sometimes they are deported before the child is born.
Normawati says there are dozens of children who were abandoned by migrant workers in homes throughout Jakarta and surrounding areas.
I really appreciate the way this article draws attention to the intersection of gender and workers’ rights. The article focuses on Indonesian women working in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, but their stories are an illustration of a wider problem — those hit hardest by callous economic policies are almost always poor women of colour.
But it must be said that I do not care for the way Time Magazine characterises the women migrant workers. The article doesn’t interview any actual migrant workers; as a result both the mothers and the children they leave are painted as voiceless victims, when there is definitely a lot more to their existence than that. (For example, the women are referred to as “raped migrant mothers” – not “women who were raped while doing migrant work.” Potentially a small difference, but the first phrase reduces the women to the word “raped.”) As well the article repeatedly emphasises how these women have ABANDONED their children; leaving the reader with a rather crude and over-simplified picture of women in unimaginable situations, forced to make terrible choices.
And while the article points out that countries like Saudi Arabia and Jordan provide insufficient protections for migrant workers, it’s the same story everywhere.
Perhaps another bone to pick with the article is the way it localises problems that pervade the entire world, especially industrialised countries – like the exploitation of migrant workers, violence against women, patriarchal prejudice towards children born of rape – to the Middle East and Indonesia.
For example, Canadian organisation Justicia for Migrant Workers works to protect the rights of migrant workers in Ontario and beyond. J4MW tries to protect workers from both their employers and the Canadian government, whose policies sacrifice workers’ rights for “economic stability.” Their Campaigns page will give you an idea of the kinds of rights violations workers are facing.
Below is a list of other organisations that work for migrant worker rights. I found most of them by asking around and random google searches; if you have more you’d like to add to the list, leave them in the comments! I had trouble finding any organisations that specifically represented women migrant workers and their issues, which is probably pretty telling.
Damayan Migrant Workers Association Holds Health Fair & Gender Rights Training (North Star Fund Blog) (US)
Damayan Migrant Workers Association (US)
United for Foreign Domestic Worker’s Rights (Southeast Asia)
Migrante International Website (Philippines)
Migrante International Blog (Philippines)
Immigration Advocates (US)
United Farm Workers (US)
Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (US)
Thanks to Jane, Angela and Sunny for their help!
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Cycads wrote:
There IS plenty and in my view, unbalanced focus on the migrant workers separating from their children. It’s clear that the writer is repeatedly trying to make a point about something, but I’m a little unsure what the point is beyond stating what happens to children born out of rape (oh, repeatedly) and almost hearing the writer go, “tsk, tsk”.
Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 6:58 pm ¶
Jen wrote:
In terms of the story “localising” the problem – it’s about Indonesian migrant workers, and about a very specific group of them.
It is a story about women who get raped while overseas and then feel that for a range of reasons they cannot raise their children. I don’t get a tsk tsk vibe at all, and I don’t really see why that’s a bad subject for a story. Look at the list of consequences of rape that are given: ostracisation, abandonment, deportation. I get a “this is so awful I don’t know what to say” vibe.
It’s clearly not meant to be a wide ranging piece. It notes that there are 100 million migrant workers around the world, and that this is the result of globalisation, but the story focuses on Indonesians. I think expecting every story on migrant workers to discuss the plight of every group around the world is a bit much. And next to it is a link to a more general story about migrant workers elsewhere (”Migrant Workers: A Hard Life Gets Harder”). I understand your concern that it might again smack of connecting rape with the Mid East, but what would you prefer the Time correspondent in Jakarta to write about? He’s going to write about Indonesian experiences. And not every news story can be a few thousand words long (I would like to see better use of hyperlinks in stories for this reason, actually – this one should contain links to a range of background stories).
I do find it a little surprising that the story does not quote any migrant workers themselves, although I know from experience that it can be hard to get them to talk on the record, due to fears about retribution, be it from family, immigration agents, or that it may cause them problems should they want to go overseas again. Never mind that these women have been through traumatising experiences and may not want to live them again. Or that the sight of a white journalist might not be particularly comforting.
My main problem with this piece is actually the complete lack of a discussion about the fate of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, which seems an odd ommission given that it’s almost constantly in the news. The Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur has a dormitory out the back to house migrant workers who are in legal disputes with their employers (I almost typed “owners” there, since that’s really how they’re treated) over abuse.
It is certainly not overstating the abuse suffered by Indonesian workers in Saudi and elsewhere. This is a story my old editor filed a few years ago; the situation has not changed: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2006/05/10/coming-home-dark-039trade039-flight-qr-626.html
In general, the Post and the Jakarta Globe focus heavily on the experiences of migrant workers.
If you’re interested in Southeast Asian NGOs that specifically focus on migrant workers, there’s Migrant Care (www.migrantcare.net website is in Bahasa Indonesia but sometimes they put out statements in English), the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (http://www.apmigrants.org/) and the Migrant Forum in Asia (http://www.mfasia.org/).
And there’s also a fantastic book called Maid in Hong Kong, about the experiences of migrant workers there (including industrial action and their struggle for better pay and living standards) by Nicole Constable. It’s mainly about Philippina workers, but there is some focus on Indonesians.
Posted 20 Nov 2009 at 1:06 am ¶
Jen wrote:
Actually, I think I came across as a little defensive there – I just think people sometimes expect a little too much out of journalists. One news story is never going to be able to capture the full picture of anything.
Posted 20 Nov 2009 at 2:16 am ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
@Jen -
I disagree. The reporter set this up as if it were to be a global story, then focused in on Indonesia. If one wants to do a story about Indonesia, that’s fine – but it looked like the story was going to be farther reaching than it was. No, that could be the whims of an editor, but there is no harm in asking for specifics.
No, news stories can’t capture the full picture of everything, but I think holding journalism to a lower standard ultimately does more harm than good. I know, just like you know, that most journalists are humans with lives and deadlines that loom regardless of how deeply one may want to dive into a story.
But I also think that even if we cannot meet these lofty ideals that we set for ourselves, that they need to stay high. Asking for specificity and the voices of women to be included in an article about their lives doesn’t strike me as overreaching.
Posted 20 Nov 2009 at 9:03 am ¶
Fiqah wrote:
“Bye, Lou. Don’t let the doorknob hitcha where the good Lord splitcha.
Posted 24 Nov 2009 at 1:20 am ¶