WUNRN
Human Rights Watch
PRESSURE GROWS TO PROTECT DOMESTIC
WORKERS - WOMEN
The founding of a
global federation of domestic workers is a sign of the growing strength of the
movement, and a key moment to assess progress for workers long excluded from
basic labor protections. There are an estimated 53 million domestic workers
worldwide – the majority of them women and girls, and many of them
migrants.
In the past two years, 25 countries have improved legal protections for
domestic workers, with many of the strongest reforms in Latin America. Some of
the biggest challenges loom in the European Union, which has a growing elderly
population depending on the services domestic workers provide, and the Middle
East and Asia, where progress has been weak and some of the worst abuses occur.
Labor
leaders from more than 40 countries met in Montevideo from October 26 to 28 to
establish the International Domestic Workers Federation to organize domestic
workers worldwide, share strategies across regions, and advocate for their
rights.
Direct Link to Full 36-Page 2013
Publication:
