Paper short abstract:

This paper explores different forms of action that female domestic workers in Ethiopia and Tanzania employ, in the absence of institutional social protection, for the improvement of their rights.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper I draw upon ethnographic research in Ethiopia and Tanzania to explore different strategies that female domestic workers employ for the improvement of their rights in both countries. Domestic work is one of the most important sources of employment for women in both countries. Yet the lack of adequate protection leaves them open to several forms of exploitation and abuse. The legislation in the two countries – in one case, Ethiopia, excludes domestic workers, in another, Tanzania, it includes them in umbrella legislation for all workers, yet it falls short of accounting for many of their needs. Labour activists, and associations of female domestic workers, are currently advocating for the ratification of the ILO Convention No. 189 ‘Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers’. In the absence of institutional social protection, domestic workers employ alternative strategies of action outside of formal channels, such as informal gatherings, neighborhood interactions, various forms of emotional, practical and material support. The knowledge of survival strategies employed by women in absence of legal protection - from the intimacy of their work - is vital as, in several circumstances, solutions proposed by formal channels which foster the formalization of hired care work, need to be adapted to the various and complex realities in which women’s lives are embedded.