Help end domestic slavery

Women, girls, and men leave their homes every day to find jobs as domestic workers in the cities of your country.

But when they show up for their first day of work, some find out they’ve been deceived. Locked inside the homes of strangers — no contact with their families, and often beaten and sexually abused — they are caught in the nightmare of modern slavery.

For the first time ever, there’s a global standard to protect domestic workers. It’s called Convention 189.¹ 28 key countries have already signed on² and momentum is growing for an international surge of support. If your country ratifies now it can push other countries to take action.

Call on the Government of your country to ratify Convention 189 immediately and help end domestic slavery.

Around the world, there are at least 67.1 million domestic workers – millions of them children. Women make up 81% of national domestic workers and 73% of migrant domestic workers³ If all domestic workers worked in one country, this country would be the tenth largest employer worldwide.

Domestic work is an important source of employment but the people behind these numbers are too often invisible behind the doors of private households and unprotected by national legislation. This allows for the worst types of abuse often amounting to modern slavery.

Tougher rules to protect domestic workers are long overdue. By sending a message to the Government of your country today you can help start a domino effect until all countries take action.

28 countries have already taken this step – will yours be next?

Countries that have ratified (as of April 2019):

Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Grenada, Guinea, Guyana, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay