NAWOJ, CEE HOPE Want Speedy Passage Of Domestic Workers Bill

In a Swift resolve to restore dignity and protect the rights of Domestic Workers, a Non Governmental Organisation, CEE HOPE in collaboration with the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Zone D, has called on the National Assembly to expedite action towards the passage of the bill.

This will provide Documentation and Protection of Domestic Workers and Employers and other matters connected there with 2024.

According to them, passage of the bill will help address the growing cases of sexual assault, forced labour, torture and non-payment of wages suffered by domestic workers across the country as well as guarantee the rights of workers and their employers.

Speaking at a one day Consultative meeting with the Media on Domestic Workers right campaign in Abuja, the Founder and Executive director of CEE HOPE, Betty Abah, while calling for unionisation of this group of people, noted that domestic workers are among the most violated groups in Nigeria, lamenting that many suffer abuse without access to justice thus the need for a legal framework

Abah also commended the senate for passing the bill and urged the house of Representives to follow suit towards restoring the dignity of domestic workers.

“In Nigeria, many domestic workers work round the clock, including children as young as seven. Unionisation will significantly reduce abuse and exploitation,” she said, urging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to assent to the bill passed by the Senate.

On her part, the Vice President of NAWOJ, Zone D, Mrs Chizoba Ogbeche, reiterated the commitment of NAWOJ
in promoting the campaign and amplifying the advocacy across its chapters in the North Central states and the Federal Capital Territory.

This is as she pledged continued media engagement to ensure domestic workers are treated with dignity.

“Women are the perpetrators, thus the reason why NAWOJ is fully involved, societal mindset and weak enforcement of laws were fuelling abuse of domestic workers, especially underage girls.”

She decried the practice of overworking domestic workers while employers’ children enjoy privileges, warning that such behaviour entrenches a cycle of abuse in society.

The one-day meeting focused on critical examination and the need for media collaboration in the quest for upholding the human and labour rights of Domestic Workers in Nigeria including the possibility of their unionisation and positioning as part of the mainstream labour movement in the country among other pertinent issues.

Nkiruka Okeke, Edited By Grace Namiji