The Silenced Voices of House-maids: Dehumanized for the Choice of JOB, That I DO

This study examined the lived experiences and perceptions surrounding housemaids in Lusaka Province, Zambia, using a qualitative interpretivist approach with 45 participants, including employers, spouses, and housemaids themselves. Findings reveal that housemaids are widely perceived as lacking initiative, unproductive, and burdensome, which aligns with entrenched occupational stigma. Narratives further exposed recurrent themes of dehumanisation, including low wages, absence of contracts, denial of career prospects, physical and emotional abuse, and sexual exploitation. Employers frequently reinforced negative stereotypes, while housemaids recounted enduring inhumane working conditions, mistrust, and social exclusion. The study advances the Dehumanised Theory, which grounds how domestic workers are devalued not due to ethnicity or ideology, but because of the job they perform, rendering them “less than human.” This study recommendes the formalisation and professionalisation of domestic work through accredited training under TEVETA, enforceable written contracts, mobile-friendly abuse reporting mechanisms, and the extension of legal protections to both trained and untrained housemaids. These measures would restore dignity, promote empowerment, and address systemic silencing within this occupational domain.