Include house helps under labour law

Domestic workers or house helps should be included under existing labour laws to effectively implement the Domestic Workers Protection and Welfare Policy 2015, said speakers at a discussion yesterday.

They also demanded justice for 15-year-old house help Preeti Urang, who died after falling from the eighth floor of a building in Dhaka's Mohammadpur on February 6.

The event, titled "Time is Now for Social and State Recognition of Domestic Work and Workers, Inclusion in Labour Laws," was organised by Mirpur Zone Domestic Workers Regional Forum, under Karmajibi Nari's "Securing Rights of Women Domestic Workers in Bangladesh" project. It was held in the capital.

With financial support from Oxfam GB and Global Affairs Canada, Karmojibi Nari is implementing the project through Dushtha Shasthya Kendra, UCEP Bangladesh, and HelloTask, providing life skills training to 16,000 domestic workers.

Beginning with a minute of silence for Preeti, Zakia Sultana, president of Mirpur Zone Forum, said due to absence of legal protection, employers dare to repeatedly abuse domestic workers and escape accountability through their influence.

Referring to Preeti's case, Zakia said, "If justice is delivered, we can hope to prevent such deaths from recurring."

Farhana Afrin Tithi, programme manager of Karmojibi Nari, said domestic workers lack basic rights such as leaves, fixed working hours, access to health facilities, contracts, or minimum wage, and are subjected to physical and psychological abuse.

"As they are not recognised by law, they have been deprived of these rights," she said.

She also urged for justice regarding violence and abuse, emphasising the need for swift trials in such cases.

Salma Begum, joint secretary of Mirpur zone Forum, said, "Like our employers, we also desire to spend time with our children on weekends, but we are consistently denied this opportunity, despite the policy's provision for weekly leave, among other facilities."

Former lawmaker Shireen Akhtar, founding president of Karmojibi Nari, urged everyone to raise their voices to establish their rights.

"We all need to be aware of our rights mentioned in the policy and fight to achieve them. If we know our rights, we will be able to push for them to become laws," she said.

Jewel Chandra Sarker, deputy programme officer, UCEP Bangladesh; Jahan E Gulshan, assistant director, Department of Women Affairs; Tarek Aziz, Oxfam's programme coordinator, and Jannatul Ferdous, vice president of Domestic Workers Regional Forum (Lalmatia), among others, spoke at the event.