United Nations: Marking the International Day of Abolition of Slavery, a UN expert has said slavery still exists in the form of domestic workers who are overworked, underpaid and subject to physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
There have been numerous reports by the UN and other human rights organisations that document abusive and unprotected working conditions of domestic workers worldwide,
especially against children, women and migrants.
"Domestic servitude or slavery is a situation when a vulnerable individual is forced by physical and/or moral coercion to work without any real financial reward, is
deprived of his or her liberty and is in a situation which is contrary to human dignity," UN`s Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Gulnara Shahinian said.
"This form of slavery takes places in households all across the world," she added.
The Special Rapporteur said that in order to avoid prohibitions of child labour, employers label boys and girls in domestic service as "trainees".
Young children are most vulnerable to abuse due to their removal from their families, which make them totally dependent on their employer.
Domestic workers are beaten, raped, forced into confinement, denied contact with others. Despite working in these inhumane conditions, they are often trapped due to lack
of information or opportunity to seek help as well as by financial pressures and debts that make them afraid to lose their employment," Shahinian said.
The UN expert also highlighted the plight of migrant domestic workers who are vulnerable because of the "insecure legal status" in the country of work, and noted that policies linking immigration status to individual employers, excessive recruitment fees, language barriers and confiscation of passports expose migrant domestic workers to human rights abuses.
"Domestic service is used as a cover mainly to lure women and girls into employment abroad, while deceiving them about the real nature of their work," she said.
"For many, seeking employment away from home, sometimes across borders is the only means to escape poverty." Even though domestic servitude takes place in private
homes, according to the UN expert, it is the responsibility of the government to protect people from this kind of abuse and exploitation.
PTI
