If only I
could have access to interview one or two domestic servants, housemaids,
babysitters or House-helps before typing this narration, the article would have
been balanced from the two sides of the divide. Nevertheless, that will not
deter me from shedding light on the phenomenal cause of domestic abuses going
out of fashion between the supposed Domestic Servants (the term I will use
interchangeably for all the aforementioned category of workers) and the
Almighty ‘Oga’ and ‘Madams’. According to Wikipedia, A domestic worker is a
person who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a
variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing
care for children and elderly dependents to housekeeping, including cleaning
and household maintenance. The term Domestic Servants refers generally to all
categories of employees saddled with the responsibility of taking care of house
chores in exchange for remuneration/wages. These House chores could be:
1. Cleaning of the House
2. Baby-sitting
3. Cooking
4. Laundry
5. Gardening
6. Running Errands
7. Elderly Care
8. Pet Care
9. Personal Assistance
10.
General
Maintenance.
This is the
concept of Domestic Servants in the Stone Age era, Colonial and Modern Day
Practice;
Ancient World Slavery
Slavery
seems to have been a common practice in many ancient societies such as Egypt,
China and the Middle East. Most slaves originated from the spoils of war, kidnap
or voluntarily to pay for debts. The treatment of slaves varied in the ancient
world, but in most cases slaves were the property of the master, with little or
no rights or status. This meant that many were treated harshly, although most
ancient societies had some laws to regulate slavery, such as the Babylonian
Code of Hammurabi (1750 BC).
Slavery allowed in the Old Testament.
Some people
are shocked that slavery was an accepted practice in the Old Testament.
However, it must be remembered that the slavery sanctioned in the bible is very
different to the slavery that occurred in the Americas in the 17th and
18th Centuries which is perhaps the popular view of slavery. Old Testament
treatment of slaves was also generally more humane than the slavery practiced
in other ancient civilizations.
In Roman
society the experience of slaves varied depending on their master and the work
assigned to them. Some slaves were made to work hard and could be disciplined
ruthlessly for minor mistakes, whilst others placed in large villas could have
little work to do and were well looked after. Sometimes rich masters kept more
slaves than necessary to display their wealth. It is estimated that at the time
of Augustus, the richest 5 per cent of Roman citizens owned 1 million slaves;
another 2 million slaves were employed elsewhere out of a total population of
7.5 million. Reference…..David
Meager http://archive.churchsociety.org/
In Islamic
law, the topic of slavery is covered at great length.[1] The Quran (the holy
book) and the hadith (the sayings of Muhammad) see slavery as an exceptional
condition that can be entered into under certain limited circumstances.[2] Only
children of slaves or non-Muslim prisoners of war could become slaves, never a
freeborn Muslim.[3] They also consider manumission of a slave to be one of many
meritorious deeds available for the expiation of sins.[4] According to Sharia,
slaves are considered human beings and possessed some rights on the basis of
their humanity. In addition, a Muslim slave is equal to a Muslim freeman in
religious issues and superior to the free non-Muslim.[5]
In practice,
slaves played various social and economic roles, from Emir to worker. Slaves
were widely employed in irrigation, mining, pastoralism, and the army. Some
rulers even relied on military and administrative slaves to such a degree that
they seized power. However, people did not always treat their slaves in
accordance with
