A relação entre saúde e trabalho da mulher empregada doméstica

Abstract

Work as a category plays an undeniably important role in the development of a society, including in the meanings of social and collective recognition, in which one of the objects of interest in these aspects is the relationship between health and work, and the investigation of how it unfolds in this context. Therefore, this study aims to give visibility to paid domestic work, which has a marked characteristic of the female gender and, mainly, of black women, encompassing issues such as precariousness, vulnerabilities and inequalities resulting from the social and historical ties of Brazilian society with its dense slavery heritage. The study aims to investigate the relationship between the health and work of domestic workers in the city of Itajubá, Minas Gerais. The research, with a qualitative approach, was conducted with female domestic workers through the use of three methods, the “Discourse of the Collective Subject” (DSC), the semi structured interview and the sociodemographic questionnaire. Women who have double work shifts and work in more than one residence were identified, with a significant portion of these women in an informal situation. The results also indicate that the women in this study consider chemical products and mixtures used to clean the bathroom to be a health risk. Regarding their relationship with their employers, a significant majority reported considering themselves to be friends or family. Since most of the women were brown, there were few reports of discrimination based on skin color, but the vast majority of women reported feeling diminished or discriminated against through looks. Regarding the meaning of domestic work, the women reported feeling grateful and proud of what they do, since for them, the work represents a source of income and independence. It is concluded that domestic work comes from a Brazilian slave owning culture that continues to this day and that, even with some acquired rights, most women still do not have access to these rights, which makes it difficult to recognize this category of workers. At the same time, it was possible to observe that these women see their work as a form of empowerment and independence, but they still understand health from a physical and biological perspective. Finally, the women in this study face health issues ranging from allergies and back pain to exhaustion and fatigue due to heavy workloads. It is therefore important to raise awareness among these women regarding their rights at work, as well as to organize them as a category, in order to promote improvements in their working conditions.