House maids: One girl’s chilling story

Fifteen-year-old Cynthia Umutoniwase left her home in Nyamagabe for Huye District in search of a job. She dropped out of school when she was in primary five because her parents were not able to cover her basic needs and was employed by a family in Matyazo Cell, Ngoma Sector in Huye. “My colleague also working here, connected me with my employer called Isheja. I was supposed to cook, clean the house and other different house chores,” she said. Umutoniwase was subjected to all sorts of violence during the short time she spent as a house maid. She has just been discharged from hospital after being beaten and burnt with a flat iron after accusation of stealing a cell phone belonging to her boss. In a sad tone, she narrated to The New Times her ordeal. “She sent me to buy airtime, when I came back she was complaining that her phone had been stolen. We tried to call it several times but no one was picking. Suddenly, she turned against me saying I had stolen it and hidden it somewhere,” she said. Her boss then called her friends, including the village elders, who then started beating Umutoniwase with an iron bar and sticks. “They asked me to undress so that they could beat me while I was nude but I refused. She forcefully undressed me, then brought a flat iron and started to burn me everywhere,” she said. After being locked in a room for several hours, she finally went to hospital and when she returned, she was chased from the house. “It was my second week there so I was supposed to be paid Rwf 3,500. She deducted 1,000 for the transport fare she had given me when I went to the hospital. The remaining money was not enough to take me back home,” she said. She filed a complaint with the police who are taking care of her medical costs at Kabutare Hospital as they pursue the case. Both the village leader and the employer have been summoned to record statements. “I would advise other girls who think they are going to get better life from domestic work to think twice. It would be better to remain with their families and continue with their studies, or find something else to do like farming,” she added. Jean de Dieu Byukusenge a neighbour said he was on his way to church when he heard the news that a maid had been burnt. “I was curious to know what had happened, and when I arrived at the scene I met the girl wandering in the street with injuries on her body,” said Byukusenge. He took her to the hospital and informed local leaders about the case in order to get support for her. “Her boss said he will knock me with his car or send someone to hurt me. He said I had no right to report his wife. It’s unfair how people don’t react in the face of violence and when someone does, it becomes a problem,” he said. He said many people don’t condemn violence taking place in families fearing to invade people’s privacy. “We should embrace the culture of fighting against violence committed against anyone in our communities,” he said. Sylvestre Nzaramba, the Executive Secretary of Conseil National des Organisations Syndicales Libres au Rwanda (COSYLI) that, among its other roles defends domestic workers’ rights, said they conducted a study in all districts of Kigali and the results were terrible. “They are not given job descriptions, most of them are told that they will do domestic chores like cooking, looking after children. But when they arrive, they are made to work on farm and some are forced into sexual work,” he said. Some house maids are dismissed in the middle of the night with nowhere to go. Some employers deduct their salaries when utensils are accidentally damaged or broken and are given no day off, not even to attend church, Nzaramba said. Maids take revenge Nzaramba revealed that during their gatherings and training, the maids opened up about the bad things they did to their bosses after being mistreated. “For example one maid from Kicukiro District told us how she used to chew meat before frying it because she was not allowed to eat meat. Another one told us his boss used to beat him so he cooked his food using urine as a way of revenge,” he said. Domestic workers are capable of many bad deeds if mistreated and sometimes they can turn into murderers or kidnappers, he warned. How to treat a maid According to Nzaramba, almost all maids leave their families because of bad living conditions, especially lack of food. “In many families, maids are not allowed to share the same food with their bosses yet they are the ones who prepare it. It doesn’t matter if you pay them adequately, they will not be satisfied unless you guarantee them food,” he said. Police Spokesperson Theos Badege said violence against maids was on the rise and that it’s up to them and the community to report any case to the police. “We don’t have specific statistics of violence against maids, their cases are considered under general cases of violence, but it’s there. We always tell Rwandans to never cover up for those who commit any sort of violence. We also tell maids that they are not slaves of their bosses, they need to quit before things turn worse,” he said. Rwanda is not among the 23 countries that ratified C189, a 2012 convention on domestic workers by International Labor Organisation in Geneva. The convention reserves the main rights of domestic workers as decent work and at least 24 hours of rest a week, entitlement to a minimum wage, a clear, preferably written communication of employment conditions and taking protective measures against violence by governments, among others. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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House maids: One girl’s chilling story