Protect 300 girls from Child domestic work in Peru

Sofía Mauricio, member of AGTR, held a workshop for women in domestic work (and the whole local community) in San Juan de Miraflores, on the outskirts of Lima, with the help of the team of our youth center, Ludoteca. The workshop focused on the relatively new Domestic Workers’ Law (approved in 2020), and on labor and civil rights. One of the topics discussed was the minimum legal age to be employed as a domestic worker, that used to be 14, but has now been raised to 18. This was an important gain of advocacy groups and AGTR has been campaigning for this for a long time!

Over 27 domestic workers took part in the workshop. Most of them were migrant women who moved to Lima from the Andes or the Amazon as young girls, to work as child domestic workers in the capital. Being aware of their rights is crucial to achieve decent employment and livelihoods, so that their children won’t be trapped in child labor as they were.

As always, we thank you for your support over the years, as none of our programs would be possible without you! We take the chance to let you know that AGTR is taking part in GlobalGiving’s #Moveamillion campaign for Giving Tuesday: on November 29, GlobalGiving will give away $1.2 million in matching funds to nonprofits. Your donation will help us unlock a greater share of those bonus funds! Please consider donating and help us spread the word. Thank you!

Dear supporters,

In 2020, a new law regulating paid domestic work was approved in Peru. However, the commitment of local authorities to its enforcement is lacking, which continues to undermine the civil and labor rights of domestic workers. Moreover, 95% of domestic workers are women and 86% of them work informally.

AGTR has launched an advocacy campaign, Play Fair, to raise awareness about the importance of the role of domestic workers and demand actions by authorities.

The response so far has been positive and representatives from the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Women, the National Human Rights Coordinator and the Ombudsman's Office took part in the launch of the campaign. AGTR presented a spot, Play Fair (which you can see in the link attached), that mimics a football match and shows how domestic workers give their best every day, taking care of the families they work for.

Eliana Revollar, a representative of the Ombudsman, said that “The work that domestic workers carry out has a huge impact, as it allows other women to continue developing their professional careers, and that is a contribution to our society, democracy, and the whole country. Without them, many women could not go out to work. Play Fair is a campaign that manifests the need to recognize domestic workers, recognize their rights, respect their employment contract, and protect them from exploitation and any kind of violence”.

We know that the road ahead is still long, but we can achieve change little by little and improve the working conditions of women in domestic work. We invite you to continue supporting us and to spread our campaign. Thank you!

Warm regards,

Rosario Félix

Links:

• Spot "Play Fair"