Child Labor Protection Recommendations for proposed ILO Domestic Workers Convention
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Date of publication: March 16, 2010
Author: International Labor Rights Forum
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Minimum standards for child labor provisions are essential for the
ILO Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers to protect
child workers. Domestic work is, and historically has been, invisible and undervalued. Domestic workers are informal workers who generally are unprotected by national labor laws, which results in their vulnerability to
unfair and often abusive treatment. The nature of domestic work, which takes place in a private household behind closed doors, where workers are isolated, with little access to support networks, inherently increases the potential for labor exploitation and abuse.
Child and migrant domestic workers are particularly vulnerable to abuse and labor exploitation because they are separated from their families, and the lack of health, safety, and overtime regulations governing their work. Child migrant domestic workers’ exposure to potential abuse is two fold when they are in unfamiliar countries or cities, with inadequate resources to escape from abusive environments. The ILO should adopt a Convention concerning decent work for domestic workers to encourage the protection of domestic workers, children in particular, in national legislation schemes.
