Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights
Newsletter No.21
Project 189 team member Roxanne
Heuschkel prepares for a panel discus-
sion on the current situation of mi-
grant domestic workers in Kuwait
Dear colleagues,
You are reading the 21th newsletter
of the Research Network for Domestic
Worker Rights, including information
on the implementation process of
the ILO Convention, campaigns, and
news from the world of research.
1.
Updates on the
Convention and
Campaign News
Bahrain: Project 189 - Protect-
ing the rights of domestic work-
ers in the Middle East North
Africa (MENA) Region
Project 189 was invited to Manama,
Bahrain in October to participate in a
2-day workshop promoting the rights
of domestic workers in the MENA
region, organized by the International
Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF),
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), and
the General Federation of Bahrain
Trade Unions. The workshop brought
together domestic workers groups,
trade unions, and civil society organi-
zations who work to bring sustained
change to the MENA region. Project
189, represented by Roxanne Heuschkel
shared key updates of the situation of
migrant domestic workers (MDWs) in
Kuwait, and the development of laws
and policies in the region. Conference
participants gained a collective under-
standing of the situation of MDWs, and
to collaborate on key strategies for a
future action plan (see picture above).
Czech Republic: Domestic work
project named good practice
A project of the Association for In-
tegration and Migration (SIMI), in
cooperation with People In Need, the
media agency Oglivy & Mather and
the Economics Institute of the Czech
Academy of Sciences focusing on
migrant domestic workers rights has
been selected as an example of good
practice on the website of the European
Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).
The project advocated for equal
opportunities for migrant women
domestic workers, for improvement
in their working conditions and often
difficult position in society. The project
focused on: migrant women domestic
workers in providing direct counsel-
ling and workshops; employers in
promoting standards for fair working
conditions; the general public in raising
awareness through a communication
campaign; and policy makers in seek-
Dec 2016
Content
1. Updates on the
Convention and
Campaign News
2. Research
2.1 Research News
2.2 Research
Question
3. Conferences and
calls
4. Publications
The Newsletter includes
contributions from Adelle
Blackett, Eva Cech Valen-
tov, Simel Esim, Petra
Ezzeddine-Luikov, Valerie
Francisco-Menchavez, Mary
Goldsmith, Maya Halatch-
eva-Trapp, Patricia Yocie
Hierofani, Claire Hobden,
Abigail Hunt, Raffaella
Maioni, Paloma Mor, Fairuz
Mullagee, Sarah Schilliger,
Sabrina Schmitt, Ekaterina
Porras Sivolobova, Aoife
Smith, Alissa Tolstokorova,
Pictures: Raffaella Maioni,
Acli Colf & Ekaterina Por-
ras Sivolobova, Project 189
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Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights
ing their support to put in place the
legal conditions necessary. Research
was carried out on the situation and
experience of migrant women domestic
workers to develop a knowledge base
to inform the change needed. Infor-
mation online: http://eige.europa.eu/
gender-mainstreaming/good-practices/
czech-republic/equal-opportunities-
threshold-czech-households
Europe: European Federation of
Service to Individuals (EFSI)
The European Federation of Service
to Individuals (EFSI) held its 7th an-
nual European Conference on Per-
sonal and Household Services on
Nov. 7. The conference discussed the
role of information and communica-
tions technologies (ICT) in personal
and household services, as well as
the role and regulation of companies
that provide personal and household
services, and the role of organizations
in achieving decent work in the sector.
http://www.efsi-europe.eu/events/7th-
european-conference-on-personal-and-
household-services-7-november-2016/
Members of Project 189 and officers from the Fili-
pino embassy meet to organize classes for the wards
at the Filipino embassys domestic worker shelter.
European Union (EU)
The European Economic and Social
Committee released its opinion on
the rights of live-in care workers. It
recommends to bring EU directives
in line with C189 and to promote
the reform of live-in care arrange-
ments within the framework of the
EU Platform on Undeclared Work.
Ireland: Au Pair Covered by Em-
ployment Legislation in Ireland
In Ireland, there have been huge suc-
cesses in campaigning for employment
rights for au pairs to be recognised and
enforced. The Irish government now
recognises the employment rights of
all domestic workers in Ireland, includ-
ing au pairs. All workers including au
pairs must be paid minimum wage. The
Labour courts have upheld this and in
February 2016 awarded a Spanish au
pair 10,000. The term au pair cannot
be used in Ireland to deny a worker her
rights. The Labour Inspector investi-
gates breaches of employment in au
pair cases. In July, politicians intro-
duced an Au Pair Placement Bill, which
attempted to underpin the Au Pair as
a cultural exchange program. This Bill
was defeated with a broad spectrum of
opposition from across political par-
ties, showing strong support to ensure
the employment rights of au pairs are
upheld and protected. The Migrant
Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI)s legal and
advocacy team has represented 53 cases
involving both EU and non EU au pairs
in the last 16 months. Working with au
pairs, MRCI is supporting au pairs to
take employment cases and advocate
for stronger enforcement of the law.
For more information on the au pair
campaign visit: http://www.mrci.ie/
blog/au-pairs-in-ireland-facts-myths/
Jamaica: Ratification of C 189
Jamaica ratified the ILO Convention
C189 in September of this year.
Kuwait: Arfaj A new program
by Project 189 to empower do-
mestic workers in Kuwait.
In 2016, Project 189 started the pro-
gram Arfaj, named for a local flower
found in the deserts of Saudi Arabia
and Kuwait, blooming every April
despite the harsh conditions of its
environment, serving as a metaphor
for the communities of women Pro-
ject 189 supports. Arfajs mission is
to bring skills-based volunteerism to
the domestic worker communities
through education workshops, health
counseling, art and music therapy,
entrepreneurial opportunities, and
education scholarships. The program
seeks to address the issue of marginal-
ized workers by enabling them through
education initiatives to have a wider
range of economic opportunities and
to practice self-healing for an empow-
ered lifestyle (see picture this page).
Project 189, guest at the Gulf Uni-
versity of Science and Technology
On the Nov. 6, the Gulf University of Sci-
ence and Technologys student union
invited Project 189 to speak to students
about the organizations work. This was
the first time university students from
all departments were invited to attend
a talk involving domestic and migrant
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Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights
worker rights. Lama Ghannam from
Project 189 introduced the basic princi-
ples of domestic and migrant work-
ers rights, laws, and ways to promote
positive change (see picture this page).
The students were fully engaged
and intrigued by the information. The
majority were not aware of any issues
regarding migrant workers in Kuwait
nor the Middle East. During the Q&A
session at the end and after the presen-
tation, the students asked how they can
get involved and how to start cam-
paigning and begin a student club to
promote awareness at their university.
Mexico
In Feb. 2016, there was the historic
registration of the first national domes-
tic workers union in Mexico, Sindicato
Nacional de Trabajadores y Trabajadoras
del Hogar (Sinactraho). With over 2,3
million domestic workers nation wide,
Sinactraho faces several formidable
challenges; increasing their member-
ship, convincing employers to sign the
collective agreement that they propose
and and exercising their albeit limited
rights. The union also is pushing for
ratification of ILO Convention189.
Project 189 at
the Gulf Univer-
sity of Science
and Technology
South Africa: Domestic
Work into the future
Over a million domestic workers are
in South African households every
day. Most are women, nearly all are
black, with a steady increase in migrant
domestic workers. Research indicates
that laws designed for the organiza-
tion and protection of workers in
industry and commerce are difficult or
impossible to apply in the domestic
work sector. The results are evident a
hard-to-organise sector with weak,
if any, worker organisation exposes
domestic workers to numerous vul-
nerabilities. All the evidence points at
the need to put in place a process for
sustainable and appropriate organisa-
tion and regulation within this sector.
On Nov. 26 2016, the Social Law
Project (SLP), University of the Western
Cape and the Commission for Concilia-
tion, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA),
co-hosted a dialogue for building
socially just co-operation in the domes-
tic work sector. SLP presented a sector
update while the CCMA presented on
the successful recent court challenge
for changing the rules of representation
at the CCMA which now allows for cred-
ible non-union representation. This is a
victory for all precarious and non-stand-
ard workers, most of whom are not
members of registered trade unions.
Domestic workers were drawn from the
Domestic Workers Empowerment Pro-
gramme (DWEP), trade unions and Gov-
ernment. There are no employer bodies.
In an attempt to include employers
in the dialogue, a number of agen-
cies were invited but did not attend.
A number of key opportunities
were identified for developing the
sector. Education and skills develop-
ment were among the most important.
There were also calls for educating
employers about the rights of domes-
tic workers to dignity and respect,
among other and their obligations as
employers. Perhaps a more ambitious
but all encompassing recommendation
was for establishment of multi-purpose
walk-in centres for precarious workers.
Spain: First National Confer-
ence on Domestic and Care
Employment in Spain
Make visible to transform (Visibilizar
para transformer) was the slogan of the
first National Conference on domestic
employment and care in Madrid, Oct
1 and 2, 2016. Organised by the Torino
Groups activists and supported by the
left-wing local government, this event
was a forum for workers organisations
from the whole country encountering
politicians, unions and civil organiza-
tions. They had the opportunity to
present their activities, claims and pro-
posals for the improvement of working
conditions and social recognition for
domestic and care employees. Having
a clear success in respect to attendance
i.e. the seating capacity was filled
almost a month before the starting
date this meeting put together very
serious and ambitious claims with
a festive and exciting ambience.
The objective was twofold: one the
one side top place care and domestic
work in the political agenda of political
parties and unions; on the other side, to
put in common successful experiences
of workers organisations and politi-
cal measures from Spain and abroad.
The International Congress
on Domestic Work, Madrid
Raffaella Maioni and Federica Suar-
di (members of the National Committee
of the Acli Colf - Association of domestic
and care workers in Italy), participated
in the first Congress on Domestic Em-
ployment and Care in Spain with about
300 workers. This congress developed
out of the Torino Group (a platform to
promote debate in the domestic work
sector that has born in 2011). The event
was organized by women who have
decided not to be victims but take an
active part in changing their work.
At the Congress, the participants
gave voice and visibility to the prob-
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Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights
lems that domestic workers face such
as social security, unemployment,
migration legislation, occupational
health and safety. ACLI COLF were
invited to study the situation of the
protection of rights in Italy and collec-
tive bargaining, the forms of support
for those who become unemployed,
and the process of ratification C189
by the Italian Government (2012).
Trinidad and Tobago: ILO Work-
shop and Consultative Meet-
ing with Service Workers
Centre Cooperative (SWCC)
Trinidad and Tobago has an estimated
number of 30,000 domestic work-
ers, one of the most undervalued,
underpaid and under protected
group of workers in the country.
The ILO Port of Spain Office, with
support from the ILO COOP Unit,
has been working with the National
Union of Domestic Workers (NUDE) in
strengthening their cooperative, the
Service Workers Centre Cooperative So-
ciety Limited (SWCC) which aims to pro-
vide services, improve livelihoods and
advance the overall social and econom-
ic well-being of its members. This coop-
erative enterprise of domestic workers
generates job opportunities for domes-
tic workers by seeking more and better
contracts for cleaning and maintenance
of private homes and small businesses.
The International Congress on Domestic Work, Madrid
In May this year, an initial con-
sultation was undertaken toward
conducting a needs assessment of the
domestic workers union and coop-
erative toward supporting the rights
of domestic workers and improving
their terms and conditions of work.
From Nov. 11 to 12, the ILO and
NUDE organized a workshop and con-
sultative meeting with SWCC members
to engage in dialogue on the economic
viability of employment and other
services to be provided through the co-
operative. The next steps in the collabo-
ration between ILO, NUDE and SWCC
will include the development of a new
businessplan for the cooperative as well
as a wider national implementation
strategy for the development of domes-
tic workers cooperatives in the country.
United Nations
The UN High Level Panel (HLP) on Wom-
ens Economic Empowerment, assem-
bled on request of Ban Ki Moon to drive
progress towards achieving the SDGs,
has elected to promote ratification of
C189 as one of its priorities. Institutions
with representatives on the HLP, some
of which have long-standing campaigns
to promote C189 and decent work for
domestic workers, have joined forces
to strengthen efforts towards this end.
These currently include the ILO, as
the guardian of the convention, the
International Trade Union Confedera-
tion, International Domestic Workers
Federation, IUF, WIEGO, and UN Women.
Uruguay
On December 1, the Sindicato Unico de
Trabajadoras Domsticas conmemo-
rated the 10 year anniversary of Law
18.065 that regulates domestic work.
Although they recognize that there
have been significant achievements
over the past decade, including higher
wages, more widespread registration
in social security, their inclusion in the
wage council, four collective agree-
ments, the implementation of measures
to enforce the law and the ratification of
ILO Convention 189, the union leader-
ship still feels that much still needs
to be done. They continue to fight
for recognition of their right to union
leave and extension of social security.
2. Research
2.1 Research News
Ireland
The aim of the project was to iden-
tify equality concerns, labour market
disadvantage and employment issues
experienced by workers in the home
care sector. It builds on previous re-
search carried out by the Migrant Rights
Centre Ireland (MRCI) which identified
poor terms and conditions of employ-
ment experienced by migrant care
workers in Ireland, some of whom were
employed in home care. Recognising
that home care workers themselves are
often excluded from decision-making
structures on quality care provision, this
project sought to empower workers
by engaging them in the develop-
ment of employment guidelines for
the sector to improve their conditions.
A partnership approach was used
to ensure an inclusive approach and
facilitate collaboration across multiple
groups including family carers, migrant
workers, trade union movement and
employer bodies. Project partners used
their established relationships with
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Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights
International Congress on Domestic Work, Madrid
home care workers to identify workers
to participate in the project. The Carers
Association employs over 600 home
care workers, SIPTU (trade Union) mem-
bership comprises over 10,000 home
care workers, and MRCIs Domestic
Workers Action Group (DWAG) has over
500 members, many of whom are em-
ployed as elder care providers in private
homes. Following on from this project,
MRCI is now working with a group of
migrant home care workers to develop
a social enterprise initiative in home
care provision that will implement
the employment guidelines which
recognise the relationship between
decent work and quality care provision.
Information on the project: http://www.
mrci.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/
HomecareReportfinal.pdf
2.2 Research
Question
Valerie Francisco-Menchavez
As the Baby Boomer generation con-
tinuing to need specialized care in their
golden years and the care crisis bal-
loons in the United States, the demand
for cheap care workers is at an all-time
high. Filipinos/as are among the ethnic
migrant groups who have answered
this call. In the beginning stages of for-
mulating the research aims and design,
Valerie Francisco-Menchavez seeks
to examine this query: what are the
physical and mental health conditions
of Filipino/a migrants as attributed to
their occupations as caregivers to the
elderly in the San Francisco/Bay Area?
I would like to invite any colleagues
in the Research Network for Domestic
Worker Rights to be in conversation
with me about current research project
or seminal literature on this topic.
Please send me your suggestions for lit-
erature and resources at vfm@sfsu.edu.
3.Conferences
and calls
Event How technology is chang-
ing womens working lives Overseas
Development Institute, London,
UK, on Dec. 14, 2016, 10.30am
Marking the launch of new ODI
research on mobile technology and
domestic work, this public event
explores the impacts of technology
on womens working lives. It considers
how technology can enable womens
paid work and secure livelihoods, and
the implications of this for womens
unpaid care and domestic work.
Panellists also reflect on how technol-
ogy may exacerbate inequalities in
womens economic opportunities and
outcomes as well as the strategies
that can overcome these challenges.
More information here: https://www.
odi.org/events/4442-how-technology-
changing-womens-working-lives
11th International Doing Gender
Seminar and 13th Womens Worlds
Congress, Florianopolis, Brazil
The Institute of Gender Studies of the
Federal University of Santa Catarina
will host the 11th International Doing
Gender Seminar and the 13th edi-
tion of the Womens Worlds Congress
from July 30th to Aug. 4th, 2017 in
Florianopolis, Brazil. The theme is
Transformations, Connections, and
Movements. This will provide a forum
for global debate beyond the North-
South perspective, about innovative
feminist study proposals and dynamic
activism. The official languages will
be Portuguese, Spanish and English.
Proposals for debate forums, work-
shops, mini-courses and posters will
be received until February 13, 2017.
The deadline for papers in thematic
symposia is December 17, 2016.
There are two thematic symposia
dealing directly with paid domestic
labor and care work in Latin America:
Care, paid and unpaid domestic work
in Latin America: an intersectional
approach (no.16 ) and Migration,
gender and care work: emerging
challenges in Latin America (no.
89). Some others are related to the
topic of domestic work. Further in-
formation: http://www.en.wwc2017.
eventos.dype.com.br/apresentacao
16th Colombian Anthropology
congress and 5th Congress of the
Latin American Anthropological
Association, Bogota Colombia
The 16th Colombian Anthropology
Congress and the Fifth Congress of
the Latin American Anthropological
Association will be held at the Pon-
tificia Universidad Javeriana Bogota,
Colombia, June 6-9, 2017. The overall
theme is Politics of Knowledge and
Anthropological Practices in Latin
America and the Caribbean. The official
language is Spanish. Paper propos-
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Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights
als for inclusin of symposia will be
received through January 31, 2017.
There are a few symposia about care,
work and political and social transfor-
mation: Further information: http://
www.asociacionlatinoamericanadeant-
ropologia.net/congreso2017/index.php
13th National Womens History
Conference Revolutionary Horizons.
Voices and bodies in conflict and the
Eighth Ibero-american Gender Stud-
ies Congress, Buenos Aires, Argentina
The 13th National Womens History
Conference Revolutionary Horizons.
Voices and bodies in conflict and
the Eighth Ibero-american Gender
Studies Congress will be held in
Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 24-27,
2017. Further information: http://
historiadelasmujeres2017.filo.uba.
ar/pagina/mesas-temticas
Workshop Regulating do-
mestic service: household work-
ers labor rights in the twentieth
century Latin America and the
Caribbean, Hempstead, NY, USA
Ins Prez is organizing the work-
shop Regulating domestic service:
household workers labor rights in the
twentieth century Latin America and
the Caribbean as part of the 17th Berk-
shire Conference on Womens History
which will take place at Hofstra Univer-
sity, Hempstead NY, June 1-4, 2017.
4.Publications
Ageing, Care and Migration (2016). The-
matic Issue.In: Lid msta/Urban People
18(2). Online: http://lidemesta.cz/ar-
chiv/cisla/18,-2016,-2/ and https://www.
ceeol.com/search/journal-detail?id=722
The Faculty of Humanities at
Charles University, Prague and non-
profit organization SIMI issued a
thematic issue of the anthropological
magazine Urban People to focus on a
blank spot in migration studies the online: https://alhim.revues.org/5406
issue of ageing in the process of migra-
tion. In the field of migration studies,
academic interest has focused mostly
on the connection between migration
and the ageing of the recipient socie-
ties and the influence of migration on
the ageing of the population in the
country of origin (demographic stud-
ies), in other words, on situations where
those migrating are mostly of produc-
tive age. When studying the connection
between gender, ageing and migration,
the issue of care for migrants arises as
well. This is the thematic axis of all the
studies included in this monothematic
issue. The presented empirical studies
from the field of social anthropology
and sociology use qualitative data from
surveys migrants concerning, from vari-
ous perspectives, the theme of old age.
Alemani, Claudia; Maioni, Raffaella;
Marchetti, Sabrina; Sarti, Raffaella;
The International Congress
Turrini, Olga; Vianello, Francesca
on Domestic Work, Madrid
Alice; Zucca, Gianfranco (2016).
Viaggio nel lavoro di cura. (in Ital-
ian, A Journey through care work). American Women and Migration. The
The carers who work in Italian nine articles approach migration in
families: who they are, what they do relation with a variety of topics, in-
and how they live is the title of the cluding domestic employment and
research and the publication promoted care work from different research
by the ACLI COLF, with the collabora- and disciplinary perspectives.
tion of the Iref (institute of research)
and Patronato ACLI (institute for the Ariza, Marina (2017). Vergenza, orgullo
social protection of workers and y humiliacin: contrapuntos emocion-
citizens). The book aims to understand ales en la experiencia de la migracin
the changes that have affected the laboral femenina. In: Estudios Sociolgi-
field of domestic work and care: from cos 35(103): 65-86. Online: http://
changes in family structures on flows estudiossociologicos.colmex.mx/
migration, the transitions underway in index.php/es/article/view/1510/1504
welfare systems to new relationships On the basis of 12 in-depth
interviews with Dominican immigrant
between genres and generations.
The publication also contains workers in low level reproductive sec-
tors in Madrid in 2014 (domestic service
a documentary (DVD): In twenty
years time. The life, dreams, hopes of and care), Marina Ariza analyzes the
place occupied by shame, pride and
colf and migrant cares assistants.
humilliation as key social emotions.
Amrique Latine Histoire et Mmoire
(ALHIM). Femmes latino-amricaines Durin. Sverine; de la O, Mara Eu-
genia & Bastos, Santiago (2014,
en contextes de migrations: partir,
rester, revenir (2016) 31. Available coord.) Trabajadoras en la sombra.
Dimensiones del servicio doms-
Coordinated by Virginie Baby- tico latinoamericano. Coleccin Casa
Chata. Mexico City: Centro de Inves-
Collin y Anna Perraudin, this is AL-
HIMs second thematic issue on Latin tigaciones y Estudios Superiores en
Antropologa Social y la Escuela de
6
Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights
Gobierno y Transformacin Pblica,
Tcnolgico de Monterrey. Available
through difusin@ciesas.edu.mx
The 24 chapters that compose this
outstanding book about paid domes-
tic work in Latin America address a
broad range of topics: the labor market,
regulation and citizenship; relations be-
tween workers and employers; gender
and maternity; ethnicity and racism;
the globalization of domestic work.
Many of the authors use innovative
paradigms to analyze often invisible di-
mensions and forms of domestic work.
For example Aura Cumes argues that
the dynamics of servitude in Guatemala
between workers and their employ-
ers are the product of colonialism and
patriarchy. Mirna Aguilar suggests that
Mexican au pairs become entangled
in a web of marketing in which they
become complicit with racialized, heter-
onormative and feminized stereotypes.
Echeverra, Rebeln (2016). Mujeres
indgenas rurales trabajadoras do-
msticas: exclusin social en el es-
pacio urbano de Mrida Yucatan. In:
Nesis, Revista de Ciencias Sociales
y Humanidades 25 (49): 93-110.
On the basis of 12 semi-structured
interviews, the author examines how
domestic workers are excluded not
only from their rights, but economi-
cally and socially as well. He sustains
that they face multiple exclusions
because they are women, indig-
enous and domestic workers.
El trabajo domstico: Entre regula-
ciones formales e informales. Miradas
desde la historia y la sociologa (2015).
Cuadernos del IDES (Instituto de Desar-
rollo Econmico) y Social y el Consejo
Nacional de Investigaciones Cientficas
y Tcnicas (3). Online: http://ides.org.ar/
wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Cuader-
nos-del-IDES-N-30-Octubre-2015.pdf
The Institute for Economic and
Social Development and the National
Council for Scientific and Technical
Research of Argentina published
this anthology about formal and
informal regulation of domestic work.
Articles are based upon research in
Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Spain.
Fassi, Marisa N. & Lerussi, Romina
(2016). La retrica de la feminidad entre
lo econmico y lo jurdico. Bordes. In:
Revista de Poltica, Derecho y Socie-
dad 1(1). Online: http://revistabordes.
com.ar/trabajo-sexual-trabajo-do-
mestico-la-retorica-de-la-feminidad-
entre-lo-economico-y-lo-juridico/
Fassi and Lerussi ask what rheto-
rics of femininity are inscribed in the
configuations of work. They argue
that the rhetoric of femininity feeds
into gender and class stereotypes
which justify women workers lack of
access to economic and legal justice.
Garavito, Cecilia (2016). Trabajado-
ras del hogar en el Per y su oferta
de trabajo. Working Paper No. 420,
Lima: Pontificia Universidad Catolica
del Per, Economics Department.
Online: http://files.pucp.edu.pe/de-
partamento/economia/DDD420.pdf
In this report, Garavito analyzes
the supply functions respectively of
live in and live out domestic workers
in Peru. On the basis of government
household surveys, she finds that live
in workers have declined compared
to live out workers. The author also
discovered a correlation between
higher wages and longer work hours
and between more dependent chil-
dren and more extended work hours.
Goldsmith Connelly, Mary (2015). La
organizacin de las trabajadoras del
hogar remuneradas: una respuesta a
mltiples opresiones. Avances de las
Mujeres en las Ciencias, las Humani-
dades y Todas las Disciplinas, Libro
Cientfico 2, Mexico City: Universidad
Autnoma Metropolitana, 226-237.
Online: http://mujeresenlasciencias.
azc.uam.mx/documentos/Libro%20
Cientifico%20II%202015.pdf
Halatcheva-Trapp, Maya & Schmitt,
Sabrina (2016). Live-In-Pflegekrfte
als transnationale Care-Ressource
im Wohlfahrtsmix. Vortrag auf der
Tagung Selbstorganisierte und pro-
fessionelle Alltagsuntersttzung fr
ltere Menschen Kooperation und
Konkurrenz im sog. Wohlfahrtsmix.
Arbeitstagung an der Hochschule
Mnchen, Fakultt fr angewandte
Sozialwissenschaften, im Rahmen des
BMBF-Projekts BUSLAR, 02.12.2016.
Herra, Miriam Moya (2015). Situacin
de las trabajadoras remuneradas del
hogar y su organizacin (Tema cen-
tral). In: Ecuador Debate, 94: 81-97.
Hierofani, Patricia Yocie (2016). How
dare you talk back?! Spatialised Power
Practices in the Case of Indonesian
Domestic Workers in Malaysia. PhD
dissertation, Uppsala University, Swe-
den. Online: http://uu.diva-portal.org/
smash/record.jsf?aq2=%5B%5B%5D%
5D&c=3&af=%5B%5D&searchType=L
IST_LATEST&query=&language=en&
pid=diva2%3A1038814&aq=%5B%5B
%5D%5D&sf=all&aqe=%5B%5D&sort
Order=author_sort_asc&onlyFullText
=false&noOfRows=50&dswid=8708
How dare you talk back?! of-
fers an analysis of spatialised power
relations between Malaysian employ-
ers and Indonesian migrant women
in the context of paid domestic work.
Despite the transnational mobility,
these women are rendered immobile
in the home of the employers without
any day off. The home is central in their
experience as they work and live in the
same living space of the employers.
By recognising that domestic work is
a space-based employment, the study
argues that the exercise of power the
employers manifests spatial forms,
such as immobility and isolation of
the workers in the home, or surveil-
lance over the workers behaviour and
whereabouts in the home. The bodily
proximity of the workers to the employ-
ers, along with gender, class and racial/
7
Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights
national/ethnic stereotypes, justifies
the latter to discipline the workers
bodies and their embodied attributes
such as hair and clothing, including
altering the bodies without the work-
ers consent. In doing so, the employers
create the workers to be deferentnot
only to reinforce the superiority of the
employers and the inferiority of the
workers, but also to exploit the work-
ers using techniques such as exhaus-
tion of physical and emotional labour,
maternalism, paternalism and heaping
blame on undocumented workers.
ILO (2016). Formalizing domestic
work. Online: http://www.ilo.org/
travail/whatwedo/publications/
WCMS_536998/lang--en/index.htm
Journal of Latino / Latin American
Studies (Omaha Nebraska, University of
Nebraska), vol. 9, no. 1, 2017. Thematic
issue about comparative perspectives
on domestic work in Latin America,
Lerussi, Romina (2016). Empleo
domestico y violencia laboral. No-
tas criticas desde una posicion
sociojuridica feminista. In: Estudios
Socio-jurdicos 18(2): 147-174.
Romina Lerussi, a legal philoso-
pher, analyzes domestic employment
and workplace violence from a feminist
pespective. She argues that despite
new regulation in Argentina, problems
such as exclusin, inequality, invis-
ibility and the historic devaluation of
paid domestic work will persist until
there is a radical redefinition of do-
mestic work relations. In this sense
she stresses that an individual em-
ployer, not a family, hires a worker
Magliano, Mara Jos; Perissinotti,
Maria Victoria & Zenklusen, Denise
(2016, coord.) Los nudos ciegos de
la desigualdad. Dialogos entre mi-
graciones y cuidado. Buenos Aires:
CONICET - Consejo Nacional de In-
vestigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas.
Online: https://www.academia.
edu/27440729/Los_nudos_ciegos_
de_la_desigualdad._Dilogos_en-
tre_migraciones_y_cuidado
This anthology presents the
results of a study about migration,
care work and inequality in Argentina,
Chile and Brazil. This book deals with
three main issues: the legal framework
and parliamentary debates about
the regulation of domestic work; the
interplay between racialization, femini-
zation, inequality and work trajectories;
and subjectivities and resistance.
Medici, Gabriela & Blackett, Adelle
(2016). Ratification as International
Solidarity Reflections on Switzer-
land and Decent Work for Domestic
Workers. In: Connecticut Journal of
International Law 31, 187-215.
Messina, Giuseppe M. (2016). Las
condiciones del trabajo domstico
remunerado en Argentina: la pro-
visin de cuidados. In: Cuadernos de
Relaciones Laborales 34(1): 11-13.
Messina developd a quantitative
study about levels of precarity, infor-
mality and wage inequality in domestic
work in Argentina and analyzes the
results of legal reforms and gover-
ment policy aimed at reducing leg-
islative inequality and increasing the
formalization of domestic workers.
Perez, Ins & Canevaro, Santiago (2016).
Entre lo publico y lo privado: emple-
adores y trabajadoras domesticas frente
al Tribunal de Trabajo Domestico
de la ciudad de Buenos Aires. In:
Politica y Sociedad 53(2): 169-186.
The authors discuss how paid
domestic work is located in the inter-
stices between the public and private
realms. They observe how this comes
into play during labor lawsuits at the
Council of Domestic Work in Buenos
Aires, as arguments on both sides
can gravitate strategically and con-
textually towards either domain.
Poblete, Lorena (2015). Empleo y
protecciones sociales, dos caras
de la misma moneda? Reflexiones
en torno a la regulacion del servicio
domestico en Argentina. In: Revista
Latinoamericana de Derecho Social
(22): 153-180. Online: http://www2.
juridicas.unam.mx/2015/12/10/
empleo-y-protecciones-sociales-dos-
caras-de-la- misma-moneda-reflex-
iones-en-torno- a-la-regulacion-del-
servicio-domestico-en-argentina/
Poblete places under scrutiny
the new law for domestic workers in
Argentina, which recognizes all domes-
tic workers as such and grants them
social protection regardless of the
number of hours that they work. The
author analyzes the consequences of
this new law for the social protection of
domestic workers. She suggests that
the lack of a specific employment status
and the continuation of the previous
social security scheme are detrimental
to full extensin of social protection
and rights to domestic workers.
Rodrigues da Costa, Ksia & Moreira
Gomes, Ana Virginia (2016). A
fiscalizacao do trabalho domestico:
um possivel conflito entre a in-
violabilidade do domicilio do
empregador e a protecao do tra-
balho. In: Revista de Direito do
Trabalho 168(42): 123-144.Online:
https://juslaboris.tst.jus.br/bitstream/
handle/1939/97103/2016_costa_kesia_
fiscalizacao_trabalho.pdf?sequence=1
The authors examine the chal-
lenges of domestic work inspection.
One of the foremost of these is the
often cited conflict between the the
employers right to the inviolability of
his/her home and the workers labor
rights. On the basis of their analysis
of obstacles to the enforcement of
domestic work inspection in Brazil, the
authors propose reasonable and effec-
tive ways to inspect working conditions.
Rodrguez Romero, Casimira & Lpez
Silva, Coni (2015, eds.). Camila: Me-
8
Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights

morias de la militancia poltica en el
trabajo asalariado del hogar. Cocha-
bamba: Grupo editorial Kipus. Available
through: ventas@editorialkupus.com
In 2009 the former Bolivian Min-
ister of Justice, ex Secretary General
of the Latin American and Caribbean
Confederation of Household Workers
and former Secretary of the Bolivian
Federation of Household Workers,
Casimira Rodrguez embarked upon a
mammoth project: her memoirs. The
result is a formidable publication. The
first part covers her childhood, experi-
ences as a domestic worker and union
activist, the creation of the National
Federation of Household Workers, her
participation in the Latin American
and Caribbean movement of domestic
workers, and her political experience in
Evo Morales cabinet. The second part
of this volume is dedicated to what
she calls Collective Memories, her
thoughts about her encounters and
relationships with other household
workers, activists and union leaders.
Schilliger, Sarah (2016). Self-organised
struggles of migrant care workers. In:
Open Democracy (September). Online:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/
sarah-schilliger/self-organised-str
Schwenken, Helen (2017): The emer-
gence of an impossible movement:
domestic workers organize globally. interaction, interview, interpreta-
In Gosewinkel, Dieter & Rucht, Dieter tion 11, 44-60 (in Russian).
(eds.): Transnational Social Move- The main goal of the paper is
ments. Berghann Books, 205-228. to identify strategies and tactics of
The conditions for domestic resistance used by Ukrainian migrant
workers to collectively improve their women-domestics aiming to coun-
working conditions used to be unfa- teract social inequality, hierarchy
vourable. The chapter shows how a and domination on the part of their
global domestic workers movement employers. The paper draws from the
invented itself over a short period of results of field research. The following
time and together with allies managed strategies and tactics of resistance of
in 2011 to get the International Labour women-domestics have been identi-
Organization to adopt a convention fied: tactics of silent resistance; Freken
that guarantees them equal rights like Bokk strategy; care marriage strategy;
other workers. Important mechanisms strategy from hostel life to solo-living.
were the ability to build transnational The paper introduces the notions of
coalitions across groups of actors and gold fish philosophy, Lopakhin infe-
relations across various external fields riority complex, Hulliver syndome.
and to frame their struggle as one for
recognition. This explains the emer-
gence of the global movement that ul-
timately made the impossible possible.
Sobre acesso cadastro categorias
pesquisa atual anteriores pagu sub-
mission indexadores (2017, forthcom-
ing). No. 28. Forthcoming dossier
about care workers in Argentina
Tolstokorova, Alissa (2016). Ukrain-
ian Gold Fish: Strategies of resist-
ance to inequality in the relationship
between migrant women domes-
tics and their employers. In: INTER:

Contacts: Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights

Contact to the coordinators: Claire Hobden (ILO), Prof. Dr. Helen Schwenken and LisaMarie Heimeshoff (Universi-
ties of Osnabrck, IMIS and Kassel, ICDD), Raffaella Maioni (Acli Colf ): coordinator@domestic-work-research.org
Asia: Sonal Sharma, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, India (for South Asia):
southasia@domestic-work-research.org
Europe: Prof. Dr. Sabrina Marchetti, Ca Foscari University of Venice, Italy: europe@domestic-work-research.org
Latin America: Prof Dr Mary Rosaria Goldsmith Connelly, Universidad Autnoma MetropolitanaXochimilco, Mexico:
latinamerica@domestic-work-research.org
North America: Prof Jennifer N. Fish PhD, Old Dominion University, United States:
northamerica@domestic-work-research.org
Editor of the Newsletter: Lisa-Marie Heimeshoff, University of Osnabrck, coordinator@domestic-work-research.org