The founding of a global federation of domestic workers is a sign of the growing strength of the movement.
The federation is a key moment to assess progress for workers long excluded from basic labor protections, the International Domestic Workers Network (IDWN), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and Human Rights Watch has said.
There are an estimated 53 million domestic workers worldwide - the majority of whom are women and girls, and many of whom are migrants.
In the past two years, 25 countries improved legal protections for domestic workers, with many of the strongest reforms in Latin America. Some of the biggest challenges loom in the European Union, which has a growing elderly population depending on the services domestic workers provide, and the Middle East and Asia, where progress has been weak and some of the worst abuses occur.
"Even though domestic workers provide critical services that families depend on - cooking, cleaning, and child care - we have faced discrimination and marginalization for generations," said Myrtle Witbooi, chair of the International Domestic Workers Network, adding: "That should end."
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Labor leaders from more than 40 countries met in Montevideo from October 26 to 28 to establish the International Domestic Workers Federation to organize domestic workers worldwide, share strategies across regions, and advocate for their rights.
IDWN, the ITUC, and Human Rights Watch are releasing a new 33-page report, "Claiming Rights: Domestic Workers' Movements and Global Advances for Labor Reform."
The report charts ratification of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Domestic Workers Convention, national labor law reforms, and the growing influence of emerging domestic workers' rights movements.
According to the ILO, almost 30 percent of the world's domestic workers are employed in countries where they are completely excluded from national labor laws, including weekly rest days, limits to hours of work, minimum wage coverage, and overtime pay.
Even when partially covered, domestic workers are often excluded from key protections such as minimum age requirements, maternity leave, social security, and occupational health measures.
On September 5, 2013, the Domestic Workers Convention entered into legal force. This groundbreaking treaty adopted in 2011 establishes the first global standards for domestic work. Under the new convention, domestic workers are entitled to the same basic rights as those available to other workers.
Ten countries have ratified the Domestic Workers Convention: Uruguay, Philippines, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Italy, Bolivia, Paraguay, South Africa, Guyana, and Germany. Several more are completing these processes.
In July, the Council of the European Union adopted a draft decision authorizing EU member states to ratify the Domestic Workers Convention "in the interests of the [European] Union."
"The momentum of ratifications and improved laws in Latin American nations and a number of other countries shows that governments are capable of protecting domestic workers," said Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the ITUC.
"Governments that have lagged - particularly in Asia and the Middle East - need to act without delay," Burrow added.
Despite recent legal advances in some countries (see report map on p.8), many domestic workers are still grossly underpaid and forced to work long hours, seven days a week. Denial of pay is a common abuse.
Many women and girls are unable to leave households where they work, and may face psychological, physical, or sexual abuse.
As the ILO, Human Rights Watch, IDWN, and the ITUC have documented, domestic workers can get trapped in situations of forced labor, including trafficking.
The report discusses reforms in countries as diverse as Brazil, India, Italy, Tanzania, and the United States, and assesses how domestic workers' rights movements, operating at the grassroots, national, and regional levels, have succeeded.
