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86 J.L. Pol'y & Globalization 1 (2019)

handle is hein.journals/jawpglob86 and id is 1 raw text is: 


Journal of Law, Policy and Globalization                                                     w  iLSte.rg
ISSN 2224-3240 (Paper) ISSN 2224-3259 (Online)  DOI: 10.7176/JLPG
Vol.86, 2019                                                                                      IISTE


       Domestic Workers and the Right to Primary Education in

     Ethiopia: Evaluating the Adequacy of the Legal Framework

                                    Enguday  Meskele Ashine (LLM)
 Lecturer in Human rights law and International Law @Wolaita Sodo University, School of Law, Wolaita Sodo,
                                         Ethiopia. P.O. Box 138

DOI:  10.7176/JLPG/86-01
Publication date:June 30th 2019

1. Introduction
Domestic  work is a predominately female-dominated sector that is poorly regulated and often unprotected by
labour law or outside the scope of labour legislation and face serious decent work deficits. Moreover, issues of
gender also come into play heightening the weak bargaining power of domestic workers. Their isolation and
vulnerability as workers is made more complex by their invisibility in private homes and their dependence on the
good will of their employers.' According to the most recent global and regional estimates produced by the ILO,
at least 52.6 million women and men above the age of 15 were domestic workers in their main job. This figure
represents some 3.6 percent of global wage employment.  Women   comprise  the overwhelming  majority of
domestic workers, 43.6 million or some 83 per cent of the in the world.2
     Around 70 per cent of domestic workers across Africa are women. In Africa, 13.6% of all female wage
employees are domestic workers. Being an important entry point for women into the labour market, improving
working conditions in the sector has broader ramifications for greater gender equality in many countries.3 Even if
not an exact count for different factor all over the world, in Ethiopia also women share more than 90% of total
domestic worker in the entire country.' Yet in today's society, domestic work is vital for the economy outside of
the household to function. The current levels of growth and welfare would  not be the same without the
contribution of domestic workers. The massive incorporation of women  in the labour force, the ageing of
societies, the intensification of work and the lack and inadequacy of public policy to facilitate the reconciliation
of family life and work clearly underpin this trend. Most domestic workers come from poor households and have
generally low levels of education and few marketable skills, other than their skills in keeping house and caring
for others. Alongside working long hours for little or no pay, many suffer physical and sometimes sexual abuse,
are denied their right to go to school.5Convention No.  189 and  Recommendation   No.  201, adopted by
International Labour Conference in 2011 and gave a clear message about Domestic workers, like other workers,
have the right to decent working and living conditions. The Convention provides for minimum protection of
domestic workers, this enables domestic worker to develop themselves, including education, in several aspect.6

2. Definition of domestic work
Domestic worker  Convention no 189/2011 defines domestic work under Art. 1(a), as work performed in or
for a household or households. Domestic work may involve a range of tasks, including cooking, cleaning the
house, washing and ironing the laundry, general housework, looking after children, the elderly or persons with
disabilities, as well as maintaining the garden, guarding the house premises, and driving the family car. A
domestic worker also defined in Convention No. 189 under Art. 1(b) as any person engaged in domestic work
within an employment relationship. This definition includes domestic workers engaged on a part-time basis and
those working for multiple employers, nationals and non-nationals, as well as both live-in and live-out domestic
workers. The employer may  be a member  of the household for which the work is performed or an agency or
enterprise that employs domestic workers and makes them available to households. The Convention specifies
under Art.1(c) that a person who performs domestic work only occasionally or sporadically and not on an
occupational basis is not a domestic worker.

3. Protection and recognition to the right to education under international instrument
The  right to education it is unique in nature because it empower individual to exercise other civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights. Education gives people the knowledge and skills they need to live better

'Asha D'souza, moving toward decent work for domestic worker, 17ff, 2010.
2 .www.ilo.org/publns, decent decent work for domestic worker,29 .20 11.
www.au.int, special initiative on domestic worker in Africa. 16,2015.
4Helen Schwenken ET AL, domestic worker count, 10ff, 2011.
.ITUC action guide, decent work, decent life for domestic worker, 4ff, 2010.
6. supra not 2 pp11
Mieke verheyde, commentary on UNCRC of art 28, 49, 2006.


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