The Magnitude of Domestic Violence: Physical, Sexual and Emotional Aspects, among Housemaids in Gondar City, The Case of Maraki Sub-city

Abstract

The challenges and violence which are being faced by the housemaids in Gondar city is rapidly growing. The objective of this research is to investigate the magnitude of domestic violence: physical, sexual and emotional aspects facing housemaids. This study employed mixed method research by which explanatory sequential design was employed. The target study participants, housemaids were selected using convenience sampling technique. Self-administer questionnaire, focus group discussion and interview were data collection methods. The magnitude of physical, sexual violence and emotional violence were analyzed by one sample t-test. The level of employers’ demographic variables and domestic violence on housemaids were computed through one way ANOVA. Independent sample t-test was used to analyze the difference between sex of employers and extent of domestic violence. The major findings of the study included that there were high physical, emotional and sexual violence occurring on housemaids. From this, it is possible to conclude that housemaids were being abused and affected. The study also found that higher magnitude of physical violence occurred on housemaids with the age of below 10 and between10-19. It was also found that when the age of the housemaid increases, emotional violence was tended to decrease. The study has found that the degree of sexual violence was found higher among male employers than females and it was highly committed from among employers who had lower level education and large members of family sizes. Based on the findings of the study and conclusions, implication for social work practice include social workers should support housemaids to make legal contract with the employers before they begin to work as a maid. They should also help housemaids and brokers to clearly aware of proclamation number 377/96 focusing on realizing employees and employers relationship. Keywords: Housemaids, Servants, Brokers, Employers