"Ministry supports domestic workers", 17 June 2019

The Women’s Affairs Ministry ... highlighted the plight of domestic workers, noting that they are vulnerable and are in need of social protection services.

More than 250 domestic workers, government officials and members of civil society gathered ... to mark International Domestic Worker’s Day.

Soth Sithon, director of the Women Affairs Ministry’s economic development department, said during her speech that Cambodia has seen a boom in its labour force. Ms Sithon said eight out of ten women aged between 15 and 64 are in the Kingdom’s labour force...

“There are more than 240,000 domestic workers and the majority are women,” Ms Sithon said. “..., but we can see they are often in vulnerable situations because they are made to work overtime, without a contract, for low wages.”...

Von Samphors, president of the Cambodian Domestic Worker Network, ... said despite improvements made to empower domestic workers, progress has been slow.

“Overall, the situation is still bad, but [domestic workers] dare to speak up,” Ms Samphors said. “Before they did not speak out or not willing to negotiate with homeowners because they feared losing their job.”...

According to the International Labour Organisation, there are 67 million domestic workers worldwide, noting that the number steadily increases in developed and developing countries...

Keo Roeun, 31, said she works as a domestic worker for a family in Phnom Penh. Ms Roeun said during the three years she has worked with the family, her wage has not substantially increased...