ILO Convention 189 concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers: background and effects on migrant women

Abstract

This article examines the adoption of ILO Convention 189 on domestic workers adopted in 2011, focusing on the way in which this new framework can affect the lives of migrant women who are domestic workers. The article first overviews domestic work, particularly the situation of female Latin American domestic workers. Thereafter follows an examination of the international law prior to Convention 189 –both in the field of international labor law and in the field of international human rights law– that allowed for the protection of these workers but that did not take into account the specifics of domestic work. Finally, the article examines some of Convention 189’s norms that allow for the targeted protection of this vulnerable group. The article concludes that this Convention moves forward in the protection of the rights of migrant women domestic workers and thus demonstrates the need for States to ratify this new international treaty.