Women and girls turn to domestic work as one of the few options available to them in order to provide for themselves and their families. Instead of guaranteeing their ability to work with dignity and free of violence, governments have systematically denied them key labor protections extended to other workers. Domestic workers, often making extraordinary sacrifices to support their families, are among the most exploited and abused workers in the world.

In New York State, there are 200,000 nannies, housekeepers and eldercare workers. They provide primary care including healthcare to many people. Virtually all of them are immigrants, the vast majority of them undocumented, and mostly women of color – which makes it all too easy for employers to exploit them, wittingly or not. Workers usually achieve rights through strength in numbers, but when you work in 200,000 places it’s hard to organize. They have never been protected by state labor laws. Things are getting worse. Labor advocacy groups are hearing from household workers that abuses are increasing as their employers face strain in their own lives. Increased violence, lay-offs, unjust firings or wage cuts and workers given additional responsibilities for the same pay.

Abuses against domestic workers, in private homes and hidden from the public eye, includes physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. In the worst situations, women and girls are trapped in situations of forced labor or have been trafficked into forced domestic work in conditions akin to slavery.

In New York State, both the Assembly and Senate Labor Committees have passed the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights out of committee. It’s up to the New York State legislature now to pass the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights (A1470/S2311).

The New York Domestic Workers Bill of Rights is the first legislation of its kind nationally and will set a precedent for labor standards for domestic workers around the country. Contact Domestic Workers United at http://www.domesticworkersunited.org and help make this happen in NYS so other states can follow in legislating laws to protect the millions of domestic workers nationally.