Authors/editors: CARE Ecuador, CARE LAC, UN Women Ecuador, National Council for Equality, and Plan International
This research analyzes the situation of girls and adolescents who perform paid domestic work (HRW) and unpaid domestic work (UNWH) from three perspectives: the colonial legacy of slavery and servitude associated with this work; the patriarchal culture and, consequently, the feminization of domestic work; their age-related status; and the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of their human rights.
For its conceptual analysis, the study uses an intersectional approach to human rights that addresses the multiple identities that may emerge in the subject of child domestic workers, including socioeconomic status, sex, ethnicity, cultural origin, and other specific conditions, in order to establish the broadest standard for the protection of their human rights.
From a methodological perspective, this research is based on three analytical strategies with a historical perspective: the normative analysis of the human rights protection framework, the analysis of quantitative data, and the analysis of qualitative data through a brief ethnography based on the testimonies of girls, adolescents, and women domestic workers.
The rights protection framework analysis examines the relationship between the right to work and the limits imposed in accordance with child rights protections (including age and comprehensive development) to determine the broadest standard of protection for child and adolescent domestic workers.