Slavery in The 21st Century

excluded domestic workers from the protections afforded by most employment
Conventions.”
The lack of knowledge concerning the composition of this workforce has been attributed
to this historical lack of attention and advocacy. Current estimates place the number of
domestics anywhere between 53 and 100 million. The ILO, in 2010, projected the
following distribution of domestic workers throughout the world:
Region Domestic Workers Percentage of women
Developed Countries 3 555 000 73%
Eastern Europe/CIS 595 000 67%
Asia/Pacific 21 467 000 81%
Latin America/Caribbean 19 593 000 92%
Africa 5 236 000 74%
Middle East 2 107 000 63%
Source: Domestic workers across the world: Global and regional statistics
and the extent of legal protection, International Labor Organization. Geneva. 2013
According to a report by the same organization, globally, “83% of domestic workers are
women,” and migrants compose a majority of these. Due, however, to “the
heterogeneity, irregularity and invisibility of domestic and care work," statistics can
never be comprehensive.
Regulations and Conventions
The fact that domestic work is often relegated to the private sphere, coupled with the
sometimes-illegal status of these migrants, has created a sparse regulatory
environment. As cited above, for example, the ILO had purposefully excluded domestic
workers from their labor regulations. However, increasing advocacy, coupled with the
increasingly transnational element of domestic work prompted the drafting of
Convention 189, “Domestic Workers Convention, 2011,” which mandated rest hours, a
minimum wage, some freedom of movement, a clearly worded working contract before
migrating, and a right to live outside of their workplace. Though this convention passed
with a majority of votes, it has thus far only been ratified by Uruguay and the
Philippines, both net sending countries.
The ILO is not the only international organization attempting to regulate this field,
however. The European Parliament drafted a resolution, submitted to the European
Commission, calling for domestics’ inclusion in future labor legislation, to take into
account their unique work environment, and give training, social security, and set work
hours to domestic workers.
This has yet to be adopted or change international regulation, though. As such, the
regulation of migrant domestic labor is left to individual states, which, as will be
examined, has led to abuses.
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