Information needs of local domestic workers in the Arab Republic of Egypt
| Published date | 03 August 2015 |
| Date | 03 August 2015 |
| Pages | 643-667 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-01-2014-0012 |
| Author | Essam A. H. Mansour |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Information needs of local
domestic workers in the Arab
Republic of Egypt
Essam A.H. Mansour
The School of Library and Information Science,
The College of Basic Education, PAAET, Kuwait
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to provide rst-hand information regarding domestic labour/
labourers in Egypt. The researcher tries to investigate the information rights and needs of these
vulnerable and marginalized groups in Egypt in terms of its thoughts, perceptions, attitudes,
motivations, techniques, preferences, ways, tools and problems encountered towards using of and
accessing information. The study, therefore, attempts to look at, as possible, the many different
characteristics of local domestic workers in Egypt and affecting their use of and access to information.
Design/methodology/approach – Methodology used here was an adaptive form of snowball
sampling of a heterogeneous demographic group of participants in the local domestic work in Egypt,
used to select focus groups to explore a range of relevant issues.
Findings – Demographically, this study showed that local domestic labour in Egypt, to a great extent,
is occupied and performed by women and children, and the average age of the total interviewed
participants was around 31 years. Over half of participants were uneducated, followed by nearly a
quarter of them were with no formal education and just a small number had some primary education.
This study concluded that a large number of participants were described as illiterate and nonskilled
labourers. Participants’ income proved that it was one of barriers to use of and access to information
where a large number of participants were labelled as low-income workers. The information-seeking
behaviour (ISB) prole of participants indicated a preference for verbal over written, informal over
formal and undocumented over documented information channels and sources to solve problems
relating to everyday existence using some helping tools and devices especially cell phones. The most
popular information sources mentioned and followed by participants were verbal information with
friends, peers and colleagues in neighbouring households either via telephones, especially cell phones,
or face-to-face meeting. TV and Radio, newspapers and magazines were, respectively, the most famous
formal sources participants use. Information related to work, family affairs, security and health issues
was most commonly desired and wanted by participants. Participants mentioned that their priorities of
accessing information were to help in work-related activities such as cooking cleaning and decorating,
to know new kitchen recipes, to assist in the education of the employer’s children. Others added that
they were also seeking for information for getting promoted and having some fun especially through
audiovisual sources like TV and Radio. They were not commonly using libraries due to the fact that
most of them were uneducated, and the education of the some others was limited. However, this study
showed that there was a little and accidental use for some libraries like public and children libraries and
a small number of them was using the employer’s home library. In terms of using technologies related
to the use of information like the Internet, the study found such access was an issue, as a very small
number of participants were using it mainly for personal information. Regarding challenges, concerns
and problems faced by local domestic workers in Egypt during using of and accessing information, the
study found that the most important challenges participants faced in this study were the illiteracy and
lack of awareness about the basic rights and perception of information rights and needs. Other
challenges like the time, psychological burdens, the social image being domestic worker, lack of
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm
Needs of local
domestic
workers
643
Received 20 January 2014
Revised 8 April 2014
Accepted 13 May 2014
TheElectronic Library
Vol.33 No. 4, 2015
pp.643-667
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/EL-01-2014-0012
accessible information channels, lack of training and skills and also lack of money needed to access
information were also an issue.
Research limitations/implications – This study comes to respond strongly to the great global
concern on the neglected and marginalized sector of work/workers in Egypt. It provides information on
invisible forms of domestic labour/labourers, and indicates how their rights, especially towards
accessing information, are violated. Any ndings of this study may generate interest and create
awareness on the needs and conditions of domestic labour/labourers among marginalized labour
advocates, policymakers and the civil society.
Originality/value – The literature on this topic is scarce and, therefore, this paper gives important
and signicant insight into how to assist local domestic workers in Egypt with information needs.
Keywords User studies, Information seeking behaviour, Egypt, Information needs, Domestic work,
Domestic workers
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
No one can deny that information is very important to everyone for every aspect of their
daily life. People, whether literate or not, should be allowed sufcient access to
information to help them to become better informed citizens. The use of and access to
information is considered one of the most fundamental and important of human rights.
The right of information is guaranteed by most of the international charters and
constitutions. For example, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), issued
in 1948 by the United Nations, was adopted to address all the varied issues related to
human rights, including work (United Nations, 2014). Almost all of the UDHR’s articles
cover relevant aspects of human rights challenges encountered by different workers all
over the world, whether they are formal or informal workers. In fact, there are a large
number of studies conducted about formal workers, but few studies have focused on
informal labourers, such as domestic workers. In a serious attempt to shed light on them,
some organizations, institutions and countries adopted pacts and conventions related to
the organization of domestic workers, so-called “informal carers” or “care providers”.
New York State in the USA, for instance, adopted obligatory laws known as the
Domestic Workers Bill of Rights (New York State Department of Labor, 2010). “The
right of access to information”, organized by United Nations Educational, Scientic, and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and adopted in May 2010, refers to ensuring the right
to obtain access to information to assist in decision-making required to participate in
democratic life and to promote equality between all individuals and groups (UNESCO,
2010). It highlighted the importance of promoting public awareness about the right to
information and develops the capacity of each individual in the exercise of this right by
focusing particularly on the many different disadvantaged and vulnerable categories of
people and work groups.
Being one of the most vulnerable and marginalized work groups in society, domestic
workers have not received, unfortunately, any signicant attention, not only by ofcials
but also by scholars and researchers, especially in developing countries, such as Egypt,
though they play a very important role in the life of particular groups of people, such as
the elderly, children and people with special needs by helping them to perform their
daily regimen. The shortage of systematic research on the many different needs of
informal carers, especially their information needs, as stated by Alzougool et al. (2007),
often prohibits the information providers and developers from determining what types
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