The domestic helpers are exploited in many ways and are often subjected to beatings, abuse, and humiliation. Sexual assaults by the landlords and unwanted pregnancies among the girls and women are not uncommon.
Our partner organisation APSEF carries out important information and education work for the domestic servants, offers accommodation to girls in distress and supports them with medical, legal, and psychosocial help. Over 200 maids benefit from the activities each year: they receive information on sexually transmitted diseases, contraceptive methods and general health issues, and are educated about their rights as employees. At the same time, employers and intermediaries as well as the police are also sensitized in order to better protect the domestic workers.
The project is implemented in the Malian capital Bamako in the municipalities I and IV. Furthermore, the project works in the community of Nyamina in the region of Koulikoro. Many of the domestic servants working in Bamako come from here. Thus, a connection is established between the project work in Bamako and the rural area, the "origin" of the problem.
