Family Bonds: Kinship Reciprocity, Female Teenage Trafficking and Domestic Labor Exploitation in Peru

Abstract

In this article we share the findings resulting from interviews with 25 female domestic workers in Lima between August and December of 2016. We argue that the experiences of these workers, who migrate from the provinces to the capital city of Lima as minors, frequently qualify them as victims of human trafficking-not because they are forced to move or deceitfully recruited, but due to their exploitation as adolescent domestic workers. We also analyze the drivers behind teenage female migration to Lima to work in the domestic sector under abusive conditions and offer future policy directions.

Power relations and persistent low fertility among domestic workers in Latin America

“…Domestic work changed from being a relatively socially and economically well-rewarded occupation that men and women performed during their youth as a way of gaining experience to a largely neglected, undesirable, and dead-end occupation that only people in extreme need take (Chaney & Garcia Castro, 1989;Moya, 2007). Kin and distant-kin relations between employers and employees were gradually disappearing as time passed leading to a virtual absence of kinship connection between employers and domestic workers in contemporary societies, favoring the possibility of enhanced physical control among workers (Pérez, 2021;Pérez & Freier, 2023). This latter characterization has become widespread across the world and the population occupied as domestic workers comprise mostly young women from rural areas or relatively disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds in national and transnational chains of care, respectively (Ehrenreich & Hochschild, 2004;Jelin, 1977;Parreñas, 2017).…”

“…For example, they have very little capacity to negotiate and enforce good labor contracts or to claim rights, although some may be supported by national legislation (Durin et al, 2014;Pérez, 2021). The same applies to domestic workers from urban backgrounds who typically come from impoverished urban areas such as slums, favelas, and barrios de invasión (Casanova, 2019;Hojman, 1989;Jelin, 1977;Pérez & Freier, 2023). In addition, Afro-descendent and indigenous populations are overrepresented among domestic workers, making historical and institutional discrimination and exclusion against these groups an additional layer of oppression (Chaney & Garcia Castro, 1989;Durin et al, 2014).…”

“…A myriad of kinship, distant-kinship, and acquaintance arrangements exist within households that host, hire, or have a domestic worker as a co-resident, making their measurement challenging (Hordge-Freeman, 2022; Levinson & Langer, 2010). There is a correlation between the type of arrangement and the host family’s class status (Pérez & Freier, 2023). Among high social class families in the mid-20th century, hiring domestic workers was not only a possibility given their resources but a class marker and an element of distinction, especially if families could afford to have more than one domestic worker: a cleaner, a gardener, a cook, a driver, a babysitter.…”

“…Private space management underpins these relations. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, middle- and upper-class dwellings included an additional small room called ‘ el cuarto del servicio ’ or ‘ quarto de serviço/empregada ,’ (service/maids’ room), usually located far from other rooms, next to the patio in houses, or beside the kitchen in apartments (Casanova, 2019; Maich, 2010; Pérez & Freier, 2023). These rooms are inside the dwelling but separate and isolated from other rooms and common spaces, and they allow patronas to physically control the life of domestic workers, who are not allowed to bring external people into the house, particularly men.…”

“…This padrinazgo may discourage or limit fertility among the host family. Another explanation could be that these families are emerging middle-class households that enjoy relatively better socioeconomic conditions despite their lack of educational credentials (Drouilleau, 2011; Fonseca, 2003; Pérez & Freier, 2023).…”