about the home alone: end domestic slavery campaign

What was the campaign calling for?

Home Alone, invisible to society and lacking sufficient legal protections, domestic workers are among the most exploited and abused workers in the world. Many are in slavery. Action at the international level is needed to address these gaps in legal protection and end the abuse. Domestic workers need effective laws and regulations which are tailored to the unique nature of their work inside a private household.

Anti-Slavery International has been calling for a new International Labour Organization (ILO) on domestic work, which was adopted at the International Labour Conference in June 2011. The new Convention will set out an international framework to protect the rights of domestic workers worldwide from slavery and exploitation, and ensure they are treated equally and fairly. We will now continue our campaigning work to ensure governments around the world ratify and implement the Convention to their national laws provide this much needed protection to domestic workers.

What is the International Labour Organization?

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the UN agency devoted to labour rights. It is a tripartite organisation, comprised of national governments, workers and employers. It holds some of the most important international conventions on slavery, including on forced labour.

The ILO discussed creating a new international instrument on domestic work at its annual conferences in 2010 and 2011, and officially adopted Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers in 2011.

How would a new ILO convention protect domestic workers?

The new Convention sets out the employment rights of domestic workers. All countries which ratify the convention will have a legal obligation to ensure that these rights are granted.

The new Convention also recognises that domestic work is ‘work’ – addressing perceptions that domestic work is informal ‘help’ and not ‘proper’ work - and that domestic workers deserve the same employment rights as any other worker.

It sets out strict rules to prevent abuse and make it clear that domestic workers deserve respect and dignity. It also provides important guidance to employers of domestic workers, many of whom are currently operating in an absence of rules and regulations.

By addressing issues unique to domestic work, such as live-in arrangements and how to regulate and monitor work that is taking place within a private home, the adoption of a new convention has provided a crucial opportunity to achieve increased legal protections for domestic workers and deliver real change to the lives of millions worldwide. The process will significantly contribute to the eradication of the forced labour, trafficking, debt bondage and child slavery to which many domestic workers are subjected.

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