Draft not yet approved prepared by govt in 2010 142 workers died in 3 months across the country Rate of torture is higher in capital's posh areas
Labour rights workers demanded on Monday the draft 'Domestic Worker Protection and Welfare Policy-2010' be approved immediately to ensure the rights of domestic workers and protect them from repression, reports UNB.
Labour rights organisation Jatiya Garhasthya Nari Sramik Union came up with the demand at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity in the city.
Speaking on the occasion, general secretary of the organisation Murshida Akhter said domestic workers face various types of repressive treatments every day at their workplaces as there is no law or policy to protect them from such acts.
She said the domestic workers do not get legal protection under the existing criminal laws as the oppressors are influential. "Though the government has prepared the draft of the Domestic Worker Protection and Welfare Policy in 2010 but it has not yet approved it," she added.
Murshida claimed that the rate of torture on domestic helps is higher in the capital's posh areas like Gulshan, Banani, Uttara and Dhanmondi than other parts.
Citing newspapers reports, coordinator of International Domestic Workers Federation in Bangladesh Abul Hossain said around 142 domestic workers died in the last three months across the country due to various types of torture inflicted on them.
The worker leaders also urged the government to ratify the ILO Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers and to enact a law and frame policies in accordance with the convention.
Jatiya Garhasthya Nari Sramik Union president Anjuman Ara Begum and Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) director (Programme) Kalpana Rani also spoke at the programme.