Exploited, Undervalued - and Essential

Tens of millions of domestic workers world-wide, and hundreds of thousands in South Africa, suffer exploitation and abuse. Confined within an invisible and poorly regulated segment of the labour market, they are mainly unorganised and without knowledge of their legal rights. The Social Law Project at the University of the Western Cape is hosting a conference in Cape Town on 7-8 May 2010 under the banner ‘Exploited, Undervalued - and Essential’ as part of an international initiative towards promoting more effective legal protection, decent work and empowerment in the domestic employment sector.

Domestic workers form a vital link in the economic chain world-wide. By looking after homes and children, they enable millions of people (mainly women) to take jobs outside their homes. And yet they are often deprived of their basic rights and subjected to exploitation and ill-treatment. In 2008 the International Labour Organisation (ILO) set in motion a process towards the adoption of a Convention and/or Recommendation on decent work in the domestic sector by 2011. The conference is aimed at supporting this process in the context of broader strategies for the organisation and empowerment of domestic workers.

Call for Papers: Click Here.

For more information, click here.