Title
Vulnerable women in a thriving country: An analysis of twenty-first-century domestic workers in Peru and recommendations for future research
Date Issued
01 January 2017
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Llanos P.
Publisher(s)
Latin American Studies Association
Abstract
Paid domestic workers represent a historically discriminated-against group comprising mostly ethnically marginalized, resource-poor migrant women. In twenty-first-century Peru, social and labor rights have not improved significantly for those in the sector despite more than a decade of sustained economic growth that took off in 2002 and lasted until 2014. Though the present national trend suggests that the absolute number of workers in this sector is dropping and that the tendency of workers to “live in” with their employers is reversing (trends that might signal improved working conditions for those in the sector), significant gaps still exist between the rights of domestic workers as compared to other workers. This article analyzes the intersectionality of gender, ethnicity and/or migration status, and class as one possible explanation for the continued vulnerability of paid domestic workers. We examine statistical information on the present situation in Peru, including a trends analysis of the National Household Survey from 2004 to 2013, and share the results of our qualitative research on the sector for the same period. We conclude with recommendations for future studies.
Start page
552
End page
570
Volume
52
Issue
4
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Sociología
Temas sociales
DOI
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85045953114
Source
Latin American Research Review
ISSN of the container
00238791
Sponsor(s)
As to the work of the labor unions on this issue, two large domestic workers unions exist—the Domestic Workers Union for the Lima Region (Sindicato de Trabajadoras y Trabajadores del Hogar de la Región Lima, SINTTRAHOL), affiliated with the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (Confederación General de Trabajadores del Perú, CGTP); and the National Union of Domestic Workers (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadoras del Hogar, SINTRAHOGARP), associated with the United Confederation of Workers of Peru (Central Unitaria de Trabajadores del Perú, CUT). Although unions participated in the drafting of C189 in Geneva prior to its international adoption by the ILO, interviews with union members and other civil society activists suggest that a key challenge for the syndicates—and, thus, for improving domestic worker rights—is that they do not have an appropriate counterpart, an employers’ union, with which they can collectively bargain. Moreover, relations between the two existing unions are strained. This, combined with the present impossibility of negotiating with an appropriate counterpart and the comparatively more powerful national
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus