A Critical Analysis Of India’s Child Domestic Workers

Dr. Thippeswamy S, Assistant Professor, Sidhartha Law College, Court Road Kalaburagi, Karnataka

“As a domestic worker, you have no control over your life. No one respects you You have no rights. This is the lowest kind of work.” - (CDW, Indonesia in HRW 2006)

ABSTRACT

Child domestic work is a hidden form of child labour driven by poverty and social norms. Children working as domestics in the households of people other than their parents or close family members constitute a high proportion of child workers worldwide. The global estimates suggest that approximately 17.2 million children work as domestic workers, of whom over half (11.2 million) are aged between 5 and 14 years, and 67% are girls. It is difficult to protect children performing domestic work due to the hidden nature of the work, the work’s place in the informal economy, and the fact that the work, on many occasions, is culturally and socially accepted and perceived to be a safe occupation for girls. Children performing domestic work on many occasions are trapped in child labour. Due to the hidden nature of child domestic work, CDWs are particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation in private households, is denied the protection of national labour laws and legislation, and can suffer various forms of abuse. The paper attempts to explain whether the existing legal provisions are appropriate and adequate for the protection of domestic child workers and how the provisions can be improved to better protect children in domestic work.

Keywords: Child domestic work; child labour; international conventions, and national legislation