Watch The Heartbreaking Trailer For Upcoming Documentary, ‘Housegirls’

In many Nigerian households, it’s not strange to see domestic staff performing a variety of household services for an individual or family. The issue, however, is that domestic work is poorly regulated, with a lot of the workers suffering serious abuse. This is what the upcoming documentary, Housegirls tackles.

Created by Salt & Truth TV, Housegirls aims to delve into the common practice of hiring and exploiting children for these jobs. The documentary seeks to find out where these children come from, who profits from their work and why it has become so normalised. 

Speaking to Konbini about the inspiration, Jola Ayeye, creative director of Salt & Truth TV, said: 

“When we were creating a production company we agreed to create 2 types of stories; stories that help people escape their reality, and stories that hold a mirror up to society. Housegirls was borne from the latter.”

The abuse that young children face in the homes of their employers is no secret, however, there’s not a lot done to curb or eradicate it. The general attitude amongst Nigerians (especially the older generation) is that this is their lot in life, and that all fingers are not equal. 

Addressing this, Jola continued, saying: 

“I had a long list of things I felt were wrong with Nigeria and nobody was saying anything about it. So I brought it up again in a roundabout way and my co founder said ‘nobody is holding our mouth, we can tell the story’. So we did.”

In this documentary, they take a look at all the “economic and social elements that have made the exploitation of children a staple in homes across Nigeria”, where these children come from, how they manage their lives and the societal attitudes to this well-known abuse.

Check out the trailer right here: