Panel says child domestic work an unacceptable form of abuse which can longer continue

Cooking, cleaning, and taking care of families that are not their own, it is children who make up nearly 30 per cent of domestic workers worldwide.

These findings and others from a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) on child labour in domestic work were presented on the occasion of the 2013 World Day against Child Labour on 12 June in New York.

Photo:  Panelists discussed findings of the new ILO report on child labour in domestic work.

Joined by the Permanent Missions of Italy, Uruguay and the Philippines, Human Rights Watch and the Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General (SRSG) on Violence against Children, the ILO renewed calls for the ratification of its Domestic Workers Convention and for the strengthening legal protections for the 15.5 million child domestic workers worldwide.

Delivering opening remarks, Ambassador José Luis Cancela of Uruguay and Ambassador Cesare Maria Ragaglini of Italy detailed some of the progress made and challenges that remain in their respective countries to eliminate child labour in domestic work.

Jo Becker, Advocacy Director of the Children’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch who moderated the evening’s panel discussion said, “To eliminate child labour, governments cannot ignore the children working in private homes,” said Becker.

“Many of these children are paid a pittance, if at all, and often suffer abuse and overwork. Governments can help these children by ratifying the Domestic Workers Convention.”

On the panel was Telma Viale, ILO’s Special Representative to the United Nations and Director of the ILO’s Office for the United Nations in New York. “We are witnessing an unacceptable form of abuse which can longer continue,” said Viale.

“We are here today to raise our voices in unison to call for the elimination of child labour in domestic work … To better understand and combat this terrible form of child labour, the ILO has been actively working with communities, organizations and listening to the children themselves on what gives rise to this terrible situation that denies them basic rights.”

Others on the panel included, Lilibeth Masamloc, a former child domestic worker from the Philippines, Eileen Muirragui from the U.S. Department of Labour, and Joost Kooijmans from the SRSG on Violence against Children.