Rights activists, lawmakers highlight issues of domestic workers

Speakers at a gathering said on Wednesday domestic work was generally undervalued, invisible and mainly carried out by women and girls -- many of whom belonged to disadvantaged communities.

It was discussed at a public hearing titled ‘Gender equality and domestic workers’ rights’, and organised by Shaoor Foundation for Education in collaboration with the Young Parliamentarians (YFP) at a local hotel.

The participants included Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Sindh Child Protection Authority chairperson and MPA Shamim Mumtaz, Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Heero Soho, representatives of civil society and community organisations, members of lawyers’ groups, gender experts and rights defenders.

The objective of the activity was to raise awareness about the domestic workers’ rights and discuss issues pertaining to gender rights. The participants highlighted the gender issues and shared concerns over a slow progress to address them.

Naqvi, who is also a former opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly, discussed how to end all violence against and exploitation of women and girls. He also spoke of ways to eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.

Rahila Raheem, head of the Department of Gender and Development at Hands Pakistan, said women domestic workers faced major problems such as low wages, extra work, long working hours, lack of holidays, harassment, sexual exploitation, physical torture, ill-treatment, lack of welfare facilities, absence of social security measures, lack of rest, development of fatigue, and lack of freedom.

The meeting participants also agreed that a public awareness campaign regarding the law and domestic workers’ rights was a prerequisite as the majority of the workers and employers were not aware of it.