I. Child Domestic Work in Morocco

Globally, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that between 50 and 100 million people —at least 83 percent women and girls—work as domestic workers.[1] Across Africa and the Middle East, domestic work makes up an estimated 4.9 percent (Africa) to 8 percent (Middle East) of total employment.[2] Over 15 million domestic workers are children under age 18, making up nearly 30 percent of all domestic workers worldwide.[3]

Currently, there are no accurate statistics regarding the numbers of children working as domestic workers in Morocco. No specific surveys on child domestic work have been conducted since 2001, when a government survey found that 23,000 girls under the age of 18 (including 13,580 girls under age 15) worked as child domestic workers in the greater Casablanca area alone. A 2001 study by the Norwegian-based Fafo Institute for Applied Social Science estimated that nationally between 66,000 and 86,000 girls under 15 were working as domestic workers.[4] The government of Morocco reported to the ILO that it planned a new survey on child domestic workers in greater Casablanca in 2010, with results and data to be extrapolated to the national level.[5] In June 2012, the government reported that the survey was being prepared, but had not yet been completed.[6]

Despite the lack of credible data, the number of child domestic workers in Morocco appears to be on the decline. Virtually all of the actors whom Human Rights Watch interviewed, including local NGOs, UNICEF, ILO, local teachers, and government officials, reported that the practice appears to be less common than when Human Rights Watch published its first report in 2005.

NGOs and other organizations point to several reasons for the decline, including efforts by NGOs, UN agencies and the government to raise public awareness about the dangers of child domestic work; increased attention to the phenomenon by the Moroccan media (including coverage of high-profile criminal cases against employers for abuses against child domestic workers such as the death of a 10-year-old child domestic worker named Khadija in 2011); and government and NGO efforts to expand educational opportunities and keep children in school, particularly targeting poor rural areas that are common sending areas for child domestic workers.

The Moroccan High Commission for Planning, a ministerial entity with primary responsibility for producing economic, social, and demographic statistics, reported a substantial decline in child labor generally between 1999 and 2011. [7] Based on surveys of 60,000 families, it found that in 2011, 2.5 percent of children between ages 7 and 15 were working (a total of 123,000 children), compared to 9.7 percent of the age group (517,000 children) who were working in 1999. [8] The survey found that 91.7 percent of child labor was in rural areas, and that 6 in 10 working children were male. The survey estimated that 10,000 children under age 15 were working in the cities (compared to 65,000 in 1999), and of these, 54.3 percent (or approximately 5,430) were working in “services,” which could include domestic work. [9]

While the High Commission for Planning annual survey suggests a much lower number of child domestic workers than found by the 2001 surveys, both NGOs and UN agencies expressed skepticism about the relevance of the findings for child domestic work. A UNICEF representative said, “We are concerned about the statistics. The survey does not cover all children involved in child labor, such as children in invisible work like domestic work.”[10] UNICEF stressed the need for accurate statistics on child domestic labor, based on clear indicators and methodology that would effectively identify children working in the sector.[11] The president of INSAF said, “If you look at the official figures, they do not correspond to what we have experienced on the ground. We don’t have concrete numbers, but our feeling is that the problem is bigger than the official reports.”[12]  UN and other independent studies have found that household surveys often underestimate the extent of child labor, particularly in the illegal or informal sectors, because of household members’ unwillingness to report such labor.[13]The government, in its 2012 report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, also acknowledged that the “real scale is still hard to quantify due to several reasons: it is “clandestine”; labor inspectors are unable to go inside houses; and thirdly, it is difficult for these young and often illiterate girls who come from rural areas to have access to redress mechanisms.” [14]

Despite evidence that child labor generally and child domestic labor specifically is on the decline, Human Rights Watch’s findings suggest that child domestic labor is still a serious problem in Morocco. Continuing efforts are needed to eliminate it.

Characteristics of Child Domestic Workers: Age, Origin, and Schooling

The vast majority of child domestic workers in Morocco come from poor rural areas to work in larger cities such as Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech, Tangiers, Agadir, or Fes. Some of these girls begin working at ages as young as eight or nine. The 2001 government survey of child domestic workers in greater Casablanca found that 59.2 percent of the girls were under the age of 15. A 2010 study by INSAF surveying child domestic workers under the age of 15 from 299 sending families found that 62 percent were between the ages of 13 and 15, and 38 percent between the ages of 8 and 12.[15] Of the 20 former child domestic workers interviewed by Human Rights Watch, the youngest began working at age 8, and 15 (or 75 percent of those interviewed) began work at ages 9, 10, or 11. (Due to the small number of those interviewed and how interviewees were identified, however, this group should not be considered a representative sample.)

Although Moroccan law requires compulsory education until age 15, child domestic workers typically have little schooling. Of the twenty former child domestic workers interviewed by Human Rights Watch, only two had completed the third grade before beginning to work. Most told us they only attended one or two years of school before going to work, and six (30 percent of those interviewed) had never attended school at all.

Similarly, the 2010 INSAF survey of child domestic workers found that 30 percent of those surveyed had never attended school. Forty-nine percent of the child domestic workers INSAF surveyed had dropped out of school, while 21 percent were still in school but worked during school holidays. While 43 percent of the girls left school for financial reasons, 25 percent cited the distance between the school and their home as a reason for not continuing their education.[16]

Virtually all of the child domestic workers in Morocco are girls. Domestic work is a highly gendered sector of employment, traditionally regarded as “women’s work” because of its focus on cooking, housecleaning, child care, and other tasks carried out within the home. The ILO estimates that domestic workers are overwhelmingly female—83 percent worldwide. [17]  

Reasons for Working

The majority of girls interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they entered domestic work because they believed their family needed the income they could provide. Karima R., who began working at age 10, told Human Rights Watch, “I went to work because my family was poor. I needed to help my family.” [18] In some cases, the parents’ income was not enough to support the family, while in others, girls went to work when a parent died, or their fathers became ill or disabled and were no longer able to work, leaving their children’s domestic work as the family’s only source of income. Nadia R., for example, explained that her father was a farmer, and that “when there was rain there was work, but when there was no rain, there was no work.” [19]

INSAF’s 2010 survey of 299 “sending” families in 5 regions of Morocco found that only 9 percent of the families had any regular income and that 94 percent of the mothers and 72 percent of the fathers were illiterate.[20] 

Although some of the girls interviewed said they were reluctant to leave school, many nonetheless expressed a strong sense of obligation to help their family. Najat S. left school in grade three when she was nine years old. She said, “My father was sick, so my mother asked me and my sister to work. I wanted to continue my studies, but when I saw my father was sick, I wanted to work.” [21] Zohra H.’s father died when she was 10. She said when an intermediary came to their house proposing that Zohra go to work as a domestic worker, her mother initially refused, but Zohra convinced her that she wanted to work in order to help the family. [22]

In other cases, the girls had no desire to work, but felt they had no choice. Amina K. was 10 when she first started working as a domestic worker. She said, “My father asked me to go to work. He didn’t say why. I didn’t want to go and didn’t know where I was going, but my father forced me to go.”[23]

The girls often agreed to work without any understanding of the conditions or treatment they would endure. In many cases, intermediaries approach families with job opportunities, typically promising good working conditions. Nadia R., for example, was told that her prospective employers were teachers and would treat her well.[24] An intermediary told Latifa L. that her employers would be “very kind.”[25] Malika S. said that she knew other girls her age who were working as domestic workers, but that “they were telling me only the good things, not how the treatment really was.”[26] Leila E. said, “I was happy to go to work and I thought that nothing bad would happen to me.”[27]

Recruitment into Domestic Work

The Role of Intermediaries

Intermediaries work as brokers, arranging for girls from poor rural areas to work in the cities as domestic workers, and receiving fees from the employers for finding domestic workers to work in their homes. Once an agreement is reached, the intermediary typically accompanies the girl, often by bus, to the employer’s home.

Of the 20 former child domestic workers Human Rights Watch interviewed, 10 reported that an intermediary arranged for at least 1 of their jobs. Most did not know the amount of the intermediary’s fee, but one girl reported that her employer had paid 200 dirhams (US$23), while another said that in her case, her employer paid 500 dirhams ($57). Local NGOs reported that fees may range up to 1500 dirhams ($167).[28] NGOs report that in some cases, the families of child domestic workers are also expected to pay the intermediary. If the family does not have the money in advance, the girl is expected to work without salary for one to three months in order to cover the fee.[29]

Malika S. described the process in her case: “The intermediary came to my village and came to my house and asked if I wanted to work. He was a man from another place, not from my village. He said the family would take me and treat me well.”[30]

Although most girls knew that they were to be employed as domestic workers, some intermediaries deceived the girls and their families about the nature of their employment. Fatima K. was told that she would only be answering phones, and instead, found herself responsible for household tasks for a family of eight.[31] Hanan E. went to Agadir at age 11, believing that she was going to stay with a family and attend school. When she arrived, she realized she was expected to do domestic work instead. When Hanan told her employer that her father had said she was there to study, the woman replied that “he did not know the arrangement.”[32]

Because intermediaries only receive fees upon the placement of a domestic worker, it is also to their advantage to convince the domestic worker and her family to change employers so that they can collect more fees. Aicha E. worked 14 hours a day for a verbally abusive employer before being placed in a much better situation with an employer who treated her well and did not expect her to work extremely long hours. Aicha said, “The woman treated me like her daughter. I liked working there.”[33] Aicha was only allowed to stay with that employer for a few months, however, before an intermediary convinced her father that she could get a better salary elsewhere. The next employer, like the first, was abusive and forced her to work from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m.

Other Recruitment

Girls may also be recruited for domestic employment through casual or family networks. For example, Najat S. said that a woman from a neighboring village who was not an intermediary approached her family after her father fell sick regarding another family that was looking for a domestic worker.[34] Rabia M. also said she found out about her job from a woman in a neighboring village who was not an intermediary.[35] Fatima K.’s job was arranged by a friend of her father’s.[36] Souad B.’s job was arranged by her older sister, who was already working as a domestic worker in Casablanca, she told us.[37]

In other cases, former child domestic workers said they did not know how their employment was arranged and that the negotiations were typically handled by their parents. The girls often knew little about their employers or working conditions until they arrived at their employer’s household.