A/HRC/15/20* the Special Rapporteur noted with satisfaction that the Fund supported 17 projects that address domestic servitude in 2009. 10. On 15 June 2010, the Special Rapporteur and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights hosted an expert consultation on domestic servitude, which provided valuable input for the thematic focus area of this report. III. Domestic servitude: a global human rights concern 11. In the shadow of global domestic work industry, large numbers of people — in the majority, women and girls — find their dignity denied. They suffer invisibly in domestic servitude, contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 4) and human rights treaty law. A. Domestic work: between opportunity and vulnerability 12. Domestic work constitutes one of the largest, yet least visible service industries in the world. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that between 4 and 10 per cent of the employed workforce in developing countries is engaged in domestic work.1 For industrialized countries, the figure stands between 1 and 2.5 per cent of total employment. Demand for domestic work is spurred by an increase in women’s employment without matching policy measures to facilitate the reconciliation of work and family life and an aging population coupled with a trend to move towards more home care. Furthermore, there is a correlation between an increase in income inequalities in a country and an increase in domestic work.2 In some countries, hiring domestic workers has become a new status symbol signifying belonging to the middle or upper class. 13. Domestic work is work performed in or for a household and includes cooking, cleaning, washing, gardening, being a chauffeur, taking care of children, the elderly and domestic pets. It remains a highly gendered activity. Throughout the world, the vast majority of domestic workers are women. Women’s share of total domestic employment stands at 83 per cent in Switzerland, 93.3 per cent in Brazil and 90.7 per cent in Ethiopia.3 14. Employment patterns vary. In the Middle East and many Asian countries, domestic workers, women in particular, are typically expected to live in the employer’s households. In Europe and a growing number of Southern American countries, a higher proportion of domestic workers live on their own, often working for more than one employer. 15. Domestic workers provide an indispensable contribution to society. If fair labour practices are ensured, the sector can offer domestic workers opportunities to earn an additional salary for their families, to move to and pursue educational options only available in urban settings or, in the case of au pairs, to have the opportunity to experience another country and culture. 16. While it would therefore be inappropriate to stigmatize domestic workers or their employers, the specificities of the sector make domestic workers particularly vulnerable to economic exploitation, abuse and, in extreme cases, subjugation to domestic servitude and 1 2 3 4 ILO, “Decent work for domestic workers”, report IV(1) (2009), para. 20. R. Milkman, E. Reese and B. Roth, “The macro-sociology of paid domestic labour”, in Work and Occupations, vol. 25, No. 4, pp. 483–507. For more comprehensive statistics see “Decent work for domestic workers���, para. 20 (table I.1). GE.10-15169