By Joy Baba-Yesufu
The Nigerian Senate has said it is working to ensure the implementation of policies that safeguard the right and dignity of domestic workers adding that this will be a new era of protection and empowerment for them.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio gave the assurance at the public hearing of a bill for an act to provide for documentation and protection of domestic workers and the employers, and for other matters connected there with 2024 (SB. 272)
He further assured that the Senate under his leadership will give utmost considerations to the proposed bill and work tirelessly to ensure swift passage since the time for action is now.
In his welcome address, chairman of the Senate committee on employment, labour and productivity, senator Diket Plang said domestic workers in Nigeria are mostly children and girls under the age of 18 noting that despite their invaluable contributions, they are often subjected to exploitation, abuse and discrimination.
He said this bill seeks to address these issues by providing a legal framework for the documentation and protection of domestic workers and their employers.
“It will require employers to register their domestic workers with appropriate authorities, provide them with a written contract that outline their rights and responsibilities. Likewise, the employers are also being protected from some domestic workers that may cause havoc to the families they are employed to take care of” he added.
Plang further said the bill will establish a mechanism for resolving disputes between domestic workers and their employers, also provide for the enforcement of Labour laws that protects them.
He said ” by passing this bill, we can ensure that domestic workers are treated with dignity and respect they deserve, and that their employers are held accountable for any mistreatment or exploitation. The bill equally protects the employers from the domestic workers with bad intentions”.
In her address, founder of CEE-HOPE Foundation, Betty Abah called for the unionization of domestic workers as prescribed by International Labour Organisation (ILO) ‘Convention 189’ which Nigeria is yet to accept.
She said by belonging to a union with similar interest,being aware of their rights and articulating same and being part of the country’s mainstream labour movement will go a long way to in achieving their human and labour rights.
“This will enable them be in position of reporting cases of abuse, asserting their human and labour rights, bargaining fair wages and benefiting from other rights and incentives enjoyed by other categories of workers”.
“For someone running a shelter, I see first hand, the impact of the abuse and dehumanization of domestic workers in Nigeria. We started running a shelter in 2020 as a result of the fall out of domestic abuse, our target was for women that suffer domestic abuse but most of the people we see over time are are young children, teenagers that have been abused by their employers especially, sexually” Abah said.
