Extract 1: Literature review
The main concerns for female MDWs are human trafficking, abuse from employers and poor working conditions (Islam and Cojocaru 2015). These problems are addressed through each article, however, are shown with different objectives in mind. Goh et al. (2017) have chosen to focus on a specific state – Singapore and further research the industry of private recruitment agencies for MDWs, wanting to understand if their work is useful in combating the common difficulties faced by MDWs. They achieved this by conducting interviews with recruitment agents, industry association members, non-governmental organisations (NGO) and Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in Singapore. “…agents are held responsible for ensuring the workers’ legal entry into Singapore, and are threatened with warnings or the revocations of their licenses should they fail” (Goh et al. 2017, 417). Their research highlighted the need for these agencies to be used in all states concerned with MDWs as the process of being hired from a different state can be difficult to navigate and adds a layer of responsibility to a third party, ensuring the MDW is employed legally and safely (Goh et al. 2017, 416). In Islam and Cojocaru’s (2015) article the objectives are also clear; expose the transnational variations of MDWs, including the work, legal identity, hours worked and compensation (48) by providing details on a variety of states affected, as well as address policy concerns like data on MDWs, working conditions and exploitations (49). The authors from both texts agree recruitment agencies are necessary for change; “present flow of the MDWs will be an important business, where the private recruitment agencies will play a vital role” (Islam and Cojocaru 2015, 60) They also both note that the highest priority is that MDWs must have a single international regulatory body that creates law and enforces them, and that this has to be created by a respected, international body that will be able to enforce the law and regulate it (Goh et al. 2017, 419).
This work is my own work and does not represent the views of Macquarie University staff or students.
Zoe Caruana 