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India: Sign petition to urge Indian Government to ratify C189

India: Sign petition to urge Indian Government to ratify C189

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by IDWFED published Jun 10, 2014 12:00 AM
While 13 countries have ratified this convention so far, India has not. Join us in urging the Government of India to ratify the ILO Convention Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (Domestic Workers Convention, C.189) and requesting them to review the national laws in accordance with the new convention and recommendation. YOU can help us in bringing this change. In order to get justice we would need as much support as we can get to ensure that The Government of India is listening and takes immediate action. By signing on this petition, you stand with us in solidarity and help the domestic workers to have access to a life of dignity.

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INDIA -

Please Sign the Petition NOW

Lizia, 42, (working from 30 years) :

“My employers took good care of me. All was well till a 85-year-old male member of the family made sexual advances. I refused. But he feared that I would complain.So, he poisoned the minds of my employers and got me fired.”

Rani, 14, (working from 4 years):

“I wanted to study but my uncle sent me to work as a domestic help in a house in Nelamangala. Now that I am rescued and am also studying. Please give us a chance to be educated.”

Honamma, 29, (working from 14 years):

“They sometimes boil brewed tea leaves again, the ones used to make tea for themselves,to make tea for us or sometimes the baby’s milk that’s leftover is used to make tea.We sometimes feel we are treated like animals.”

Please Sign the Petition NOW

These are just some of the voices of the countless women who work as domestic workers. Most of us are unaware of their stories yet we interact with them on a daily basis and depend on them for the functioning of our homes and routine.Though indispensable to most middle and higher income households nationwide, there is very little value given to the work they do.

According to NSSO-2005 report there are 3.05 million domestic workers in India.The figures show an increase of 220% from NSSO 1999 report, conservative number as the the official data is not recent.

Among the workers, the ones who are live-in or full-time workers are the ones that are most likely to be found in circumstances of bonded labour.They are most likely to have been trafficked and also are most vulnerable to sexual abuse.Considering the nature of the work, one that is carried out behind the closed doors of an employer’s home and being unrecognized as labour under the legal framework, the workers are under no legal protection.Most often they are not registered by the placement agencies neither at the own homes nor at the destination, therefore it becomes very difficult to offer protection and also for the women to assert their rights.

The ILO Convention Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (Domestic Workers Convention, C.189) on June 16th 2011 passed a historic landmark resolution that addressed the discrimination and frequent exclusion from labor laws that domestic workers face and promised better working conditions and better lives for them.

While 13 countries have ratified this convention so far, India has not. Join us in urging the Government of India to ratify the ILO Convention Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (Domestic Workers Convention, C.189) and requesting them to review the national laws in accordance with the new convention and recommendation.

YOU can help us in bringing this change. In order to get justice we would need as much support as we can get to ensure that The Government of India is listening and takes immediate action.

By signing on this petition, you stand with us in solidarity and help the domestic workers to have access to a life of dignity.

Please Sign the Petition NOW

Source: Geeta Menon/Domestic Workers Rights Union

Story Type: News

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