Key documents

IPEC: Helping hands or shackled lives? Understanding child domestic labour and responses to it. ILO, Geneva, 2004. This report brings together some of the most recent research undertaken by IPEC and work done by other organisations in the field. This document is a key introduction to the subject for both specialized and general audiences. (English, French, Spanish)

IPEC: Guidelines for the construction of a holistic care model for children and adolescents in domestic labour. ILO, San Jose, 2005. These guidelines identify and describe practical steps and elements to support practitioners in developing holistic care programmes to protect and effectively withdraw children from domestic labour. (English, French, Spanish)

IPEC: Guidelines on the design of direct action strategies to combat child domestic labour. ILO, Geneva, 2007. These guidelines are intended in particular for those who are implementing programmes and activities to combat child domestic labour. It presents examples of strategies and interventions that are available and possible, based on the IPEC lessons learned. (English, French, Spanish)

IPEC: Hazardous child domestic work: A briefing sheet. ILO, Geneva, 2007. This briefing sheet provides the basic notions, definitions and issues on child domestic labour, including an overview of possible hazards and risks related to it. (English, French)

IPEC: Fichas de seguridad y salud sobre trabajo infantil doméstico peligroso. ILO, San Jose, 2005. This briefing sheet is based on the research studies carried out in Central America on the hazards related to child domestic work. (Spanish)

IPEC: ILO-IPEC Workshop on child domestic labour and trade unions: Report. ILO, Geneva, 2006. Report of the interregional consultation of trade unions active in the field of child domestic labour, organised in Geneva in February 2006. The objective of the workshop was to examine the role of workers’ organizations in the elimination and prevention of child domestic labour. (English, French, Spanish)

IPEC: Good practices: Gender mainstreaming in actions against child labour. ILO, Geneva, 2003. This report assesses a number of initiatives to show ways in which gender mainstreaming may be undertaken more effectively in actions, research and good practices in the abolition of child labour. (English, French, Spanish, Arabic)

Key ILO publications and materials on adult domestic workers

The ILO’s work on the promotion of the rights of domestic workers dates back to the 1930s. Since then, a sound knowledge-base has been built on this particular subject-matter. While this paper does not pretend to be a comprehensive bibliography of all ILO materials on this issue, some key documents covering general aspects of the sector are included.

ILO: Domestic work, conditions of work and employment: A legal perspective. Conditions of Work and Employment Series No. 7. Geneva, 2003. This working paper provides an international comparative legal analysis of the conditions of work and employment of domestic workers in 67 countries. (English)

ILO-MIGRANT: Domestic workers: Little protection for the underpaid, in Migration Information Source. Migration Policy Institute, Geneva, April 1th, 2005. This article looks at the situation of the domestic workers in the Middle East, where domestic work is the single most important category of employment among women migrants. (English)

ILO-MIGRANT: The feminization of international migration, in Labour Education Review 2002/04, No. 129. Geneva, 2002. This article analyses the changes in the migration flows during the last decades, particularly the fact that the stock of female migrants grew faster than the stock of male migrants in the most important receiving countries. (English)

GENPROM: Preventing discrimination, exploitation and abuse of women migrant workers: An information guide. ILO, Geneva, 2003. This Information Guide provides background information, practical guidelines and checklists, case studies and “good” and “bad” practices, as well as reference materials on the issue of discrimination and exploitation of women migrant workers. (English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Indonesian)

Employment Sector: Women and men in the informal economy: A statistical picture. ILO, Geneva, 2002. This report provides useful information about the size, components and characteristics of the informal economy. Such information is essential in formulating policies and programmes at national and international levels to promote decent work as well as contribute to poverty eradication. (English)