A/HRC/39/52 Convention, 1975 (No. 143) also address the protection of labour rights of migrant workers. The ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) and its accompanying Recommendation No. 201 contain norms and standards for the effective promotion and protection of the rights of domestic workers, including migrant domestic workers. 20. The Domestic Workers Convention defines domestic work as “work performed in or for a household or households”. Domestic work is thus defined by the place in which the work is performed and not by the employer or by tasks. Cleaning, cooking, washing, grocery shopping, taking care of children, the elderly and/or the sick, gardening, driving and guarding the house can all be covered by the definition in the Convention. 11 Article 5 of the Convention requires that “each Member shall take measures to ensure that domestic workers enjoy effective protection against all forms of abuse, harassment and violence”. States are required to ensure that before departure, migrant domestic workers have written contracts that they can understand and that are enforceable in the country of employment (art. 8 (1)). States parties are encouraged to collaborate to ensure the effective application of the Convention to migrant domestic workers (art. 8 (3)) and called upon to regulate the recruitment of domestic workers by private employment agencies and to conclude bilateral, regional or multilateral agreements to prevent abuses and fraudulent practices in the recruitment, placement and employment of migrant domestic workers (art. 15). Article 15.1 (e) states that fees charged by private employment agencies should not be deducted from the remuneration of domestic workers. 21. A number of regional mechanisms and instruments similarly protect the rights of migrant domestic workers, including those in an irregular situation. 22. In addition, all States Members of the United Nations have committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which contain interlinked targets addressing the root causes of contemporary forms of slavery. Target 8.7 commits States to “Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms” and target 8.8 requires them to “Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment”. 23. The positive contribution of migrants for inclusive growth and sustainable development are recognized in the Sustainable Development Goals and States have committed to cooperating internationally to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration involving full respect for human rights and the humane treatment of migrants, regardless of migration status, of refugees and of displaced persons. States need to ensure that those protections apply to all migrant workers irrespective of their migration status. IV. Women migrant domestic workers, economic policies and causes of servitude 24. Paid domestic work is a highly feminized sector, with recent estimates indicating that there are 70 million domestic workers employed by households worldwide, of which 49.2 million are women (70 per cent) and 11.5 million are migrant women. Women domestic workers outnumber men in almost all regions. They constitute almost all domestic workers in the Americas (92.1 per cent), in Europe and Central Asia (88.7 per cent) and in Africa (80.3 per cent).12 25. The steady increase in the overall number of workers, mainly migrant women, seeking employment in the domestic sector is attributed to three main factors: the 11 12 6 Convention, 1957 (No. 105); the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138); the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182); the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100); and the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). See ILO, “Formalizing domestic work” (2016). See ILO, Care Work and Care Jobs for the Future of Decent Work (Geneva, 2018).