Domestic Work/ Servitude

The domestic service industry is a sector largely composed of female and child migrant workers. Trafficked domestic workers may find themselves in exploitative working conditions where their passports are being taken away from them and they are left with very little movement. Threatened with deportation they are being forced to work long hours for little or no payment at all.

Image: Haitian Domestic Work by Alex Proimos, posted on flickr, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2023
Publications
16 January 2023

This year’s World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends provides a comprehensive assessment of current decent work deficits and how these have been exacerbated by multiple, overlapping crises in recent years. It analyses global patterns, regional differences and outcomes across groups...

Using Civil Litigation to Combat Human Trafficking : Federal Human Trafficking Civil Litigation – 2021 Data Update
Publications
01 December 2022

In October 2003, Congress passed a law allowing trafficking victims to recover civil damages from their traffickers in federal courts, 18 U.S.C. § 1595, now known as the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). In the almost twenty years since...

The Prevalence of Domestic Servitude among Child Domestic Workers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Research Findings
News & AnalysisPublications
01 October 2022

It is estimated that there are 17.2 million child domestic workers globally, most of whom are girls (International Labor Organization (ILO), 2013; ILO, n.d.). Despite their large numbers, research related to this marginalised group is extremely limited, with most of...

Lived Realities of Sustained Liberation for Survivors of Trafficking in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
News & AnalysisPublications
01 July 2022

Many women and girls in Ethiopia work as domestic workers in urban cities as well as abroad, particularly in the Middle East. The conditions faced by women and girls in domestic work are well documented (see Freedom Fund 2019 and...

Are child domestic workers worse off than their peers? Comparing children in domestic work, child marriage, and kinship care with biological children of household heads: Evidence from Zimbabwe
Publications
16 June 2022

Child domestic work is a hidden form of child labour driven by poverty and social norms. However, little is known about the situations of child domestic workers. This study aims to describe and analyse gender-specific working conditions, health, and educational...

Data Collection in the Context of Trafficking in Human Beings and Exploitation in Germany
Publications
13 October 2021

The report contains a first evaluation of the KOK data tool with over 700 cases of human trafficking and exploitation entered between January 2020 and the end of June 2021. Compared to the situation report on human trafficking published annually...

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