28 domestic workers killed, tortured in 9 months: Speakers

Speakers at a seminar on Wednesday said 28 domestic workers were killed and tortured, including 10 mysterious deaths, in the first nine months of this year.

In the nine years between 2011 and 2019, some 547 domestic workers have been killed, they further said while addressing the seminar organised marking the "Prevention of Violence against Women Week-2020" in the city.

The Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) organised the programme on ensuring protection and dignity of domestic workers and resistance to torture.

Speakers at the seminar urged the government to formulate a legal framework for the full implementation of the Domestic Workers Protection and Welfare Policy and the implementation of the policy.

The government should ratify Section-189 of the ILO Convention and recognise domestic workers as workers under the Labour Act, they added.

They also urged the government to bring domestic workers across the country under registration and publish data of them.

They emphasised the needs of training for domestic workers, paying structure and working hours, ensuring opportunities for taking rest and the rights to organise.

Nazma Yasmin, director of BILS, said three domestic workers were forced to commit suicide as they were unable to bear the torture of the landlord. Six others have been raped and seven more have been physically abused.

She urged the government to use print and electronic media to make people aware of the rights of domestic workers.

Speakers at the seminar also urged the government to introduce an informal sector in the national budget to ensure the social security of domestic workers and to provide allowances among Covid-19 affected domestic workers.

The government should formulate a policy for all domestic workers who work 24 hours a day and the employer's assessment of human values ​​to be made mandatory, they added.