DOMESTIC workers, mostly women and children, continue to work without any legal and policy protection in Bangladesh. A 12-year-old who was allegedly raped by her employer and is currently being treated at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital brings to light the issue of a legally unprotected workplace for domestic workers. This is, however, not an isolated incident. In fact, according to a study by the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, more than half of the live-in domestic workers have encountered some form of harassment at their workplace. The study further reported that 67 per cent of women domestic workers face mental torture and verbal abuse. In 2001-2020, as the BILS reported, 1,560 domestic workers faced various forms of abuse, including sexual violence, and 578 of them died at their workplaces. Meanwhile, domestic workers remain legally protected, generally employed through verbal agreements and their wages and work hours are arbitrarily decided by their employers. It is quite evident that addressing the legal vacuum is the stepping stone in protecting the domestic workers鈥� rights.
The Domestic Workers Protection and Welfare Policy 2015, meant to safeguard the workers鈥� rights, remained unimplemented because of successive governments鈥� negligence and the lack of will. The policy was expected to fill this vacuum and empower workers with legal entitlements and bring their employers under the purview of legal monitoring. It requires the enlistment of domestic workers, timely payment, leave with pay when needed, medical treatment of the domestic workers by their employers and compensation in case of accidents. However promising the policy sounds, it is pointless until translated into action. A 2021 study by Oxfam revealed that the policy鈥檚 implementation is almost non-existent. There are also High Court directives asking the government to develop an effective monitoring mechanism under the labour ministry. In this context, rights activists urged the government to ratify International Labour Organisation Conventions 189 and 190 concerning the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work and decent work for domestic workers.
In the prevailing policy vacuum, the government, in a promising move, has recently proposed to develop a complaint mechanism for domestic workers, but it must ensure that the promise is turned into reality. Along the same line, the government should take early steps to implement the national policy in this regard and consider amending the existing labour law to include domestic labour under its legal purview and ensure employment status and trade union rights. Legal measures alone cannot bring about fundamental changes and a social movement is necessary to bring about ideological change among employers and in society.
