Islamabad: January 20, 2014. (PCP) A historic bill was moved in the Senate of Pakistan today to protect the rights of domestic workers. The Domestic Workers (Employment Rights) Bill 2013 envisions legal protection for “domestic workers” resident in private households, such as cooks, drivers and maids. Pakistan has a large and growing population of Domestic Workers, who migrate to cities usually from rural areas, in search of household work. Their circumstances are unique, as they often live in the homes of their employers without written employment agreements and clear employment terms, and their employment falls outside the scope of existing labour laws. Resultantly, domestic workers are some of the most vulnerable in society. The mover of the bill, Senator Osman Saifullah Khan, was elected to the Senate in 2012 from Islamabad, and is a member of the Pakistan People’s Party. He is a graduate of the University of Oxford and the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. The Private Member’s Bill is expected to have wide ranging support from all political parties, and will now be put before the Senate Law Committee for review. The Domestic Workers (Employment Rights) Bill 2013 entitles all workers to have a written contract with their employers include specific terms of employment, predefined working hours, dignified working conditions and a social security net. The statement of objects and reasons for the bill is: "No accurate figures exist for the number of domestic workers employed in Pakistani households, but the figure is certainly in the hundreds of thousands if not the millions. Domestic work provides many Pakistanis with the opportunity to earn an honest living, but the conditions under which these men and women work are highly variable. There is a need to ensure that these domestic workers are provided at least a minimum level of benefits and facilities. Furthermore there is a need to regulate their terms and conditions of employment to ensure that they are treated with respect and dignity, while ensuring that excessive regulation does not create an impediment to the hiring of such workers. The present bill is being moved in pursuance of these objectives." The International Labor Organisation’s (ILO) Convention on Domestic Workers 2011 has been ratified by 10 member states. Pakistan has not ratified the convention and the ILO reports that Pakistani domestic workers are excluded from the scope of the country’s labour laws. The Domestic Workers (Employment Rights) Bill 2013 will cover only the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) as labour related laws are a provincial subject under the 18th Constitutional Amendment. It is expected that the provinces will follow with their own legislation once the bill passes for the Capital Territory. Recently, the plight of domestic workers has been brought to light in both the domestic and international press. This month, according to press reports, employers in Lahore allegedly beat a 10-year-old female domestic worker to death, and another 16-year-old female domestic worker was allegedly raped and killed, also by her employers. The mistreatment of a domestic worker by an Indian diplomat in New York was widely reported in international press. Few countries around the world have specific laws to protect Domestic Workers, and if passed, the proposed laws will put Pakistan at the forefront of protection of rights for Domestic Workers.