Exploring the limits of law: Women domestic workers in Pakistan and their struggle for empowerment

Abstract

Domestic work is a major source of employment in the informal labour market that provides lively-hood to the disadvantaged social groups across the globe. Domestic work is considered to be as an unregulated, under-valued, unorganized and underpaid form of work performed by the disadvantaged social groups of society. It is perceived as work with low economic value and an extension of unpaid household duties that hardly gets any recognition for the work performed. Historically domestic work for others' households has remained a principal way of earning a living for women. Not only affluent families in the developed world engage both local and migrant women domestic workers but women domestic workers are also found in developing countries working for upper and middle-class echelons of society. Pakistan is one such country where large numbers of women are employed as domestic workers. Yet of the eleven labour policies framed by various governments since the creation of Pakistan, none has addressed the issue of domestic workers, nor are domestic workers covered under the general labour laws of the country.