Gabriela Poblet: "Women who work as live-in domestic workers are bought, objectified, and hypersexualized."

BarcelonaIn Handmaids of globalization (Icària, 2024), Gabriela Poblet, PhD in social and cultural anthropology, director of Europe Without Walls and currently a professor at the University of Valladolid, examines domestic service in Spain and Catalonia through interviews with women who work as live-in caregivers for the elderly or children. Today, they are primarily women from Latin America, many awaiting residency permits, who have migrated alone and are facing challenges. It is very difficult to escape abusive situations and claim rightsWith the complaints of sexual assault, harassment, and workplace abuse from two former employees of Julio Iglesias' mansionsThe Poblet experience serves to highlight the conditions in which these women work.

Were you surprised by what the investigation revealed?'Eldiario.es and Univision on Julio Iglesias's behavior?

— From the details I'm reading, it all sounds familiar, but logically I've never come across such a serious case, because it appears there is workplace harassment, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

Why does she talk about the maids?

— I speak about domestic workers because there is a neoliberal system that allows for their exploitation. In this case, they are servants treated as if they were prostitutes.

You've spent years researching and talking to these women. What do they tell you about being locked up in the houses where they work?

— Domestic workers and live-in domestic workers in general are the more exposed to abuse and violations Labor rights are disregarded because their work takes place in a private setting. Homes are inviolable, and there is no law that considers them workplaces. There are no inspections of what happens in homes.

And without contracts?

— There are verbal agreements that can be broken, and nothing can be done if they are fired overnight. And the way they are paid involves an appropriation of the person, an appropriation of the worker, whom they objectify. In the book's introduction, I include the story a Honduran woman told me about caring for an elderly woman in the summer of 2023. The woman went on vacation, and her children told her to paint the fence around the house while she was there. She refused, and the response was that she was the servant and they could order her around. They consider her a servant for everything; they don't see her as a worker or a caregiver. Furthermore, in the case of live-in domestic workers, losing their job means losing their home.

The rule of whoever pays the piper calls the tune, taken to the extreme.

— It's coercion by someone who's paying you. In the private sphere, they demand the service they're paying for, and this proves they're buying the person's services. And if Julio Iglesias tells you to lick his anus Or they ask you to paint the fence, you do it. That's why we talk about handmaids, because of the appropriation of the person. The person is bought.

Do you understand why women endure unbearable things and don't report them?

— This appropriation of a person is possible because a system of coercion exists. They are told, "You can leave," but these women know that if they leave, they won't receive the wages they are owed or they won't get their papers. So they stay. With Julio Iglesias, the system of coercion is worse because he is a powerful man, and these women were surely told that if they dared to say anything, it would be their word against his. "I'm Julio Iglesias, who do you think will cross you?"

Given the feelings of vulnerability among some, does the feeling of impunity among others apply?

— The women live in isolation, they are very alone, and they don't know where to turn to report the abuse they suffer. And yes, the families believe they are above the law because everything happens in their home; the domestic workers are infantilized, their word carrying no weight. Families exercise a very obvious form of guardianship, for example, when the women speak about health or labor rights. They are never believed, even if they are well-informed and right. It is deeply ingrained in the collective consciousness that the servant is at the service of the person who employs them. This guardianship is also exercised through paternalism and good intentions.

In homes more typical than Julio Iglesias's, do women suffer sexual assault?

— Among those who care for elderly men with dementia, yes. They are groped, men try to kiss them, but they learn how to handle it because they don't want to lose their jobs. But they often find that the family excuses this behavior, arguing that it's just old people being old, but older women don't do that, of course. They find themselves objectified, as I said, or hypersexualized, and in these extreme cases, they can be abused. Or, without resorting to physical aggression, the man of the house might walk around the house naked or in his underwear in the presence of the caregiver, or tell her, when the woman isn't there, that it's their turn now, that they also need to be cared for. It's very violent. A high percentage of the ads seeking domestic workers are looking for sex. The men are aware that these women lack legal status and are vulnerable.

Are abuses common across social strata that employ caregivers?

— Yes, the exploitation of working from morning till night, the restrictions on food, invisibility, or total indifference are very common in both wealthy and impoverished households. Often, domestic workers eat the leftovers, and families don't consider them when dividing up the food. They cease to be seen as people. Moreover, these are deeply ingrained behaviors. Let's think about Mr. Ramón is chasing the maids, a popular song that leaves it unclear whether it is the normalization of the objectification of female workers or a protest.