Texting to help child domestic workers

Naba Wangré, manager of the child labour project at the Burkina Faso Red Cross, sends bluntly worded text messages to government officials, employers, traditional leaders, teachers, business owners and housewives several times a year, trying to reduce the widespread exploitation of domestic workers by raising awareness of their rights.

“Employers: domestics have the same rights as your children. Stop under-paying them; stop subjecting them to mistreatment, sexual violence, and long hours”, said a recent SMS from Wangré, who uses lists of phone numbers provided by the local network.

Domestic workers – mostly children – have told Sister Edith a nun who runs a local NGO “Maman à L’Ecoute” (Listen to mother) in the capital, Ouagadougou, that they earn from 3,000 to 6,000 CFA (US$6-$12) per month, sometimes work up to 18 hours per day, and often experience exploitation and abuse.

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