A/HRC/39/52 integration of women into the global labour market, which leaves a gap with regard to domestic and care work; demographic shifts, which are reflected in an ageing population and a reduction in the role of the traditional extended family; and increasing reliance on domestic workers related to the insufficiency of public care service provision.13 26. That increase in numbers has occurred within the framework of a neoliberal economic model, as global markets have exacerbated social hierarchies and shaped structural and long-lasting patterns of exploitation. 14 That macroeconomic framework is a key driver for the slavery and servitude of women, especially in relation to forced labour, debt bondage, harmful working conditions and other violations of labour rights. 15 The privatization of public services, structural adjustment programmes and cuts to social welfare schemes have led to the migration of people from rural areas to cities within their countries or overseas.16 27. Indebted States, aiming to appease the global financial institutions pushing for austerity measures and structural adjustment programmes, have actively promoted the emigration of women in order to increase their remittances, without proper guarantees regarding compliance with human rights and labour standards. 17 Some countries have encouraged the migration of domestic workers as part of a deliberate strategy to alleviate poverty, reduce unemployment and generate access to hard currency. 18 28. Domestic work is undervalued, informal and invisible, which leads to poor working conditions and to vulnerabilities which are higher than in other forms of informal employment. 19 It is considered “unskilled” work, despite that fact that many migrant domestic workers are educated and highly skilled. 29. Many marginalized women see domestic work as a way of escaping violence, including domestic violence and forced marriage. Other common push factors for migration include feminized poverty, conflict, and economic and social transformation; also discrimination based on gender, caste, class, age, occupation, language, race, religion or other factors; limited access to landownership; inequality within and between countries; climate change, and an overall lack of choice for women to determine their own lives. That should not discount the agency of women who choose to migrate or those who find “liberation” in the chance to become independent breadwinners and to improve their children’s lives. 30. There are examples of countries which place restrictions on women’s migration for domestic work as a way to prevent trafficking and exploitation. In practice, this has unintentionally pushed women to use irregular migration channels which heighten their risk of sexual and gender-based violence, exploitation and abuse (see A/HRC/38/41/Add.1, paras. 77–78).20 31. An estimated 11.5 million domestic workers are international migrants, representing 17.2 per cent of all domestic workers and 7.7 per cent of all migrant workers worldwide. 21 These figures indicate that household tasks are carried out by migrant workers in many parts of the world and many of them leave their domestic and care responsibilities to 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 See ILO, “Formalizing domestic work”. See Geneviève Le Baron and others, Confronting Root Causes: Forced Labour in Global Supply Chains (openDemocracy and Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute, January 2018). See Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, “Briefing paper on the gender dimension of contemporary forms of slavery, its causes and consequences” (April 2018). See Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women, “Enabling access to justice. A CSO perspective on the challenges of realising the rights of South Asian migrants in the Middle East” (Bangkok, 2017). Center for Women’s Global Leadership, submission for the present report. All submissions available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Slavery/SRSlavery/Pages/DomesticServitudeSubmissions.aspx. Ibid. United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, submission for the present report. See also Anti-Slavery International, submission for the present report. ILO Global Estimates on Migrant Workers, Results and Methodology. Special Focus on Migrant Domestic Workers (Geneva, 2015). 7