Speakers at a workshop on Sunday urged the government to ratify ILO Convention 189 to ensure protection of domestic workers.
They said if Bangladesh ratifies the convention, domestic workers will get their dignity and due rights at home and abroad.
The workshop on 'Respect, Recognize and Remunerate, Women Domestic Workers: Ratifying ILO Convention 189' was jointly organised by Bangladesh Nari Sramik Kendra (BNSK) and Migration Forum Asia (MFA) at the Bangladesh Korea Technical Training Center in the city.
Joanna Yu, migration specialist from MFA discussed the necessity of ratification of the convention 189 at the programme.
She said domestic work remains a highly feminised sector with 80 per cent of them women.
The ILO statistics showed that one in every 25 women workers is domestic worker globally.
Ratification of the convention 189 will be a step to advance gender equality in the world of work and ensure women's equal rights and protection under the law, she mentioned.
"Due to the nature of their work many domestic workers are working in isolation, where there is little or no inspection or monitoring of their working condition and vulnerability to exploitation, violence and abuses," Ms Joanna said.
Millions of children around the world are forced to paid work or unpaid in households. Many of these children are in vulnerable situations.
ILO convention 189 requires states to protect children from child labour in domestic work, while ensuring that young workers who can legally work are provided with decent work conditions and do so without compromising their education, she added.
Murshida Akter Nahar, representative from Bangladesh National Domestic Workers Union emphasized the ratification of ILO 189 and said it will help ensure the rights of domestic workers.
Abul Hosain, president of Bangladesh Worker's Party in Dhaka said if Bangladesh does not ratify the convention then it will fail to achieve the result of its demographic dividend.
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