Domestic Workers Organise for their Recognition and Rights: The SEWA Process

Recognizing the need for measures to protect and value the domestic workers as workers, on 16th June 2011, the International Labour Organization adopted ‘Convention 189’. The legally binding document was adopted after a long international struggle by the domestic workers and their advocates. This convention recognises the domestic workers as workers, which didn’t happen before. The convention also sheds light on how unprotected and undervalued the domestic workers are. The convention binds all the countries which ratify the convention to ensure that the domestic workers receive fundamental labour rights.