Surviving Life as a Woman: A Critical Ethnography of Violence in the Lives of Female Domestic Workers in Malawi

Abstract

A common form of employment for low-income third world women is domestic work. The power dynamics in this type of employer–employee relationship may place women at risk for abuse. Our aim in conducting this qualitative inquiry was to describe the experiences of violence in the lives of young female domestic workers in Malawi, a small country in South East Africa. Forty-eight women participated in focus group and individual interviews. “Surviving” was the main theme identified, with women employing creative ways of surviving the challenges they met at various points in their lives. This study provides information that health care professionals could use in assisting women through the process of surviving.