Maid torture: Media not asking the right questions

Images of the horrific abuse and torture of a domestic maid on the front pages of our newspapers have stunned many of us. The news commentary and analyses however don’t go deep enough to help us understand why such violence can occur.

Wong Sulong only scraped the surface in his comment piece in page 2 of The Star yesterday. He said there was common strands running through the torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib and the violence against Nirmala. "First, they were completely under the control and at the mercy of their captors. Yes, Nirmala was, to all intents and purposes, a helpless captive."

Correct, Wong. But why did you then fail to ask ask the obvious questions? How is it possible for maids like Nirmala to become "captives"? Why is there no protection under the law, no maid abuse hotline, no contractual recourse for domestic maids? How do they end up so disempowered?

For one thing, most of the maids don’t have possession of their passports (which are usually in their employers’ hands or with the agents) and are therefore reluctant to flee from situations of abuse. Unlike the better- protected Filipina domestic helpers, many Indonesian maids do not have a day off – hence, there is little likelihood of being part of a social support group of their peers. They have little recourse to outside help and even if they do, they are not aware of it. They are often not allowed to use the phone in the house. Many employers also forbid their maids from socialising or talking to outsiders.

So what is a maid to do in a situation of abuse? Not surprisingly, she becomes a captive. What is surprising is that newspapers like The Star have failed to point out the systemic problems that have allowed maids like Nirmala to be horribly abused and tortured. Unless maids are empowered and freed from their bondage and recognised as employees with rights and dignity as human beings and as workers, they will continue to be abused and tortured by cruel, sadistic employers. And each time it happens, we can expect the same "shock" and "outrage" that such abuses can happen.

Just as the American military top brass are finding out in relation to Abu Ghraib, there is no point expressing "utter disgust" when we persistently close an eye to the system that creates the climate for such abuse to occur in the first place.