Securing the rights and health of domestic workers: the importance of ratifying the ILO’s C189

Liem et al. Globalization and Health (2024) 20:58 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-024-01065-5 CO R R E S P O N D E N C E Globalization and Health Open Access Securing the rights and health of domestic workers: the importance of ratifying the ILO’s C189 Andrian Liem1* , Sabina Satriyani Puspita2 , Fajar3 and Lita Anggraini4 Abstract This commentary highlights the critical importance of ratifying the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Domestic Workers Convention No. 189–2011 (C189) to secure the rights and health of domestic workers (DWs) worldwide, particularly in light of the World Health Organization’s World Health Day 2024 theme ‘My Health, My Right’. The ILO’s C189 represents a significant advancement in labour rights, offering protection to a highly feminised sector where women make up 80% of the estimated 50–100 million DWs worldwide. The ILO’s C189 aims to address the marginalisation and exploitation that DWs have historically faced by ensuring that they receive the same protections as other workers. This encompasses measures against abuse, harassment and violence, and the establishment of a secure and healthy working environment, as outlined in Article 13. The commentary emphasises the urgent need for the enactment of legal frameworks in countries such as Indonesia, where many of the approximately 10 million DWs encounter shocking abuses both within the country and abroad. The ratification of the C189 and the enactment of national laws, such as Indonesia’s Draft Law on the Protection of Domestic Workers (RUU PPRT), are essential for the safeguarding of the rights and health of DWs. The commentary compares Indonesia with the Philippines, as the latter has been a signatory to the C189 since 2012 and has enacted its National Domestic Workers Act in 2013. The ratification of the C189, therefore, is imperative for igniting the protection and advancement of labour rights for DWs globally. This ILO’s C189 represents a significant first step in addressing the long-standing and complex issues of marginalisation and exploitation prevalent in this predominantly female sector. It is also essential that the potential obstacles and concerns related to the ratification and implementation of the ILO’s C189 are addressed collaboratively by stakeholders and not viewed as justifications for inaction. Keywords Health equity, Social justice, Migrant workers, Heath services, Global health *Correspondence: Andrian Liem 1 Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia 2 Sabina Satriyani Puspita Public Policy and Management, Monash University Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia 3 Gabungan Tenaga Kerja Bersolidaritas (GANAS), Taipei, Taiwan 4 National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy (Jaringan Nasional Advokasi Pekerja Rumah Tangga / JALA PRT), Jakarta, Indonesia © The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it.The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.To view a copy of this licence, visit http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. Liem et al. Globalization and Health (2024) 20:58 Introduction The World Health Day 2024, organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) and themed ‘My Health, My Right’, underscores the importance of universal health coverage and aligns with the objectives of the Domestic Workers Convention No. 189 (C189). The ILO’s C189, adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) on the 16th of June 2011, is an international treaty that extends basic labour rights and protections to domestic workers (DWs) worldwide [1]. The Convention has created a significant opportunity for the improvement of the status of DWs, ensuring that they are entitled to the same rights and protections as other workers and reducing the marginalisation they face. Domestic work is a highly feminised sector, with women comprising 80% of the estimated 50–100 million DWs globally [2]. Prior to the Convention, DWs were often excluded from national labour laws and faced deplorable working conditions, exploitation, and human rights abuses. Ratifying the ILO’s C189 by both sending and receiving countries (e.g., Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc.) is essential for improving the health and access to healthcare services for DWs, especially migrant DWs. Their vulnerability is undeniable as governments still do not recognise domestic work as a critical sector worth protecting as much as “formal economy jobs” and, in turn, DWs often work in isolation with little monitoring of their working conditions. Physical, verbal, and sexual abuses, lack of rest, and non-payment of wages are frequent experiences that can severely impact the physical and mental health of migrant DWs [2, 3]. Existing studies have shown that DWs including migrant DWs are commonly subject to constant muscle pain, weakness, and depression among other health issues [3, 4]. The global pandemic serves as a reminder that healthy and safe households necessitate all household members to remain healthy and safe. Therefore, not only countries that send migrant DWs but also countries that receive migrant DWs need to ratify the ILO’s C189 to provide a nationwide legal framework for safeguarding the health and rights of DWs as a vulnerable population working in these countries [2]. For example, Italy and Germany were among the first European Union member states to ratify the ILO’s C189. While both countries had some existing legal protections for domestic workers, the ratification process led to further improvements [1]. In Italy, ratification resulted in expanded social security coverage and clearer terms of employment for domestic workers. In Germany, it led to enhanced labour inspection mechanisms and stronger protections against abuse and harassment. However, detailed information on the history and impact of the ratification of ILO’s C189 by host countries is beyond the Page 2 of 6 scope of this commentary and will not be discussed further here. The C189 and the health of domestic workers The ILO’s C189 sets forth a number of obligations for countries that have ratified it, (...truncated)