Advancing social justice, promoting decent work
ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations
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Rights and protection of domestic workers in India
This video captures the need to promote decent working conditions in India’s domestic work sector. An estimated three to ten million people are employed as domestic workers. However, they are not covered under any explicit legal regulation and are thus vulnerable to severe exploitation and abuse.
Despite domestic work being the fastest growing sector of female employment in India, many workers often face human rights abuses and poor working conditions. The trade unions and membership-based organizations have clearly acknowledged the importance of coming together to promote decent work for domestic workers. The government of India — including state governments — have taken positive steps in this direction. Yet more needs to be done to make decent work a reality for domestic workers. Convention 189 of ILO talks of the rights and protection of domestic workers. So far more than 20 countries have ratified it.
