• Pushing for Justice for Domestic Workers

    Tens of millions of women and girls around the world are employed as domestic workers in private households. They clean, cook, care for children, look after elderly family members, and perform other essential tasks for their employers. Despite their important role, they are among the most exploited and abused workers in the world. They often work 14 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, for wages far below the minimum wage. They may be locked within their workplace and subject to physical and sexual violence. Children and migrant domestic workers are often the most vulnerable.

    A new international treaty – the Domestic Workers Convention – was adopted in June 2011, providing the first global standards to protect domestic workers.

  • Domestic workers in downtown Lima, Peru demonstrate to demand labor protections, June 15, 2012. The placards (L-R) read, “We all have the same dignity and rights” and “We demand the ratification of the 189 ILO Convention.”
    © 2012 REUTERS/ Enrique Castro-Mendivil
    Pressure Grows to Protect Domestic Workers
    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 whom are women and girls, and many of whom are migrants.
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Reports

  • "I Already Bought You"
    Abuse and Exploitation of Female Migrant Domestic Workers in the United Arab Emirates
  • Hidden Away
    Abuses against Migrant Domestic Workers in the UK
  • Claiming Rights
    Domestic Workers’ Movements and Global Advances for Labor Reform
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Domestic Workers

  • UK: Amend Modern Slavery Bill
    Feb 22, 2015
    The House of Lords should amend the Modern Slavery Bill to restore the right for migrant domestic workers to change employers, Human Rights Watch and the United Kingdom charity Kalayaan said today. The bill is being considered in the House of Lords, the UK’s upper chamber of parliament, during the week of February 23, 2015.
  • Human Rights Watch Submission to the CEDAW Committee of the United Arab Emirates’ Periodic Report, 62nd Session, February 2015
    Feb 17, 2015
    We write in advance of the 62nd Session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and its review of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This submission addresses articles 1, 2, 3, 6, 11, 12, 14, 15, and 16 of the Convention.
  • Human Rights Watch Submission to the CEDAW Committee of Lebanon’s Periodic Report 62nd Session, February 2015
    Feb 1, 2015
    We write in advance of the 62nd Session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and its review of Lebanon’s compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This submission addresses articles 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, and 16 of the Convention.
  • UAE: Repression on All Fronts
    Jan 29, 2015
    The UAE authorities in 2014 aggressively restricted the rights of freedom of expression, association, and assembly, cracking down on dissidents and anyone considered a threat to national security, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2015. The authorities also failed to investigate credible allegations that security forces arbitrarily detained and tortured dissidents.
  • End Exploitation for Domestic Workers in the Gulf
    Dec 18, 2014
    The kafala visa-sponsorship system that is widely, though not uniformly, used across the Gulf bars most migrant domestic workers from moving to a new job before their original contract ends without their employer’s consent, trapping many in abusive situations. The kafala combined with inadequate labor law protections, create conditions ripe for exploitation and abuse of domestic workers.
  • UAE: Protect Migrant Domestic Worker’s Rights
    Nov 24, 2014
  • Gulf Countries: Increase Migrant Worker Protection
    Nov 23, 2014
    Labor ministers from Gulf and Asian countries meeting on November 26 and 27, 2014, should improve labor law protection, reform abusive immigration policies, and increase dialogue with trade unions and nongovernmental groups, 90 human rights organizations and unions said today.
  • UK: Fix Bill to Protect Migrant Domestic Workers
    Nov 17, 2014
    The United Kingdom House of Lords should amend a draft law on “modern slavery” to include protections from abuse for migrant domestic workers. The upper chamber of the UK parliament is scheduled to begin its review of the bill on November 17, 2014.
  • Human Trafficking: It’s Not Just About Sexual Exploitation
    Nov 6, 2014
    Sex trafficking gets a lot of attention, as it should. It’s a horrific crime. But trafficking in forced labor is also a grave abuse that has even more victims.
  • United Arab Emirates: Public Affluence, Private Abuse
    Oct 30, 2014
    In Geneva over the next two weeks, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will play an influential role on the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Yet Human Rights Watch (HRW) has documented how within the UAE migrant domestic workers are exploited by employers and recruiters, while government policies create conditions which foster abuse and forced labour.
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