LSI welcomes the latest report by the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children on “Migrant domestic workers and trafficking in persons: prevention, rights protection and access to justice”.
The report offers a comprehensive analysis of the current challenges faced by domestic workers globally and provides crucial recommendations. It highlights the heightened risk of women and girls in domestic work, particularly migrant women, of exploitation and human trafficking.
Trafficking in persons and human rights violations in the domestic work sector remain prevalent. This is a deeply gendered and racialized problem. Gender inequalities, combined with limited access to regular migration pathways and the use of tied visas, often force women into low-skilled labour migration routes with insufficient protection or to turn to dangerous irregular migration routes.
Undervalued and invisible, domestic work lacks fair recruitment practices and proper labour rights. Exploitation often occurs during recruitment, in transit, or at the destination, particularly when persons have irregular migration status. Migrant domestic workers are frequently excluded from access to social and labour protections, which increases their vulnerability to and fuels fears of reporting.
The UNSR pointed out that migrant domestic workers have the limited access to justice and effective remedies. Legal assistance and information are often unavailable or not provided in a language that is understood by victims, including information on rights to compensation. This, combined with a structural lack of accountability of perpetrators, leaves many trapped in contexts of vulnerability.
LSI praises the Special Rapporteur for amplifying the need for safe migration pathways, for her intersectional approach, her strong stance on the non-punishment principle, and for calling for increased accountability and effective remedies for victims.