Ethiopia’s domestic workers, a workforce largely composed of young women, continue to face exclusion from fundamental labor protections, underscoring urgent calls for changes in national labor laws. Recent studies and reports reveal widespread exploitation, including low wages, excessive overtime, and physical and sexual abuse, fueling demand for a more robust legal framework to protect this vulnerable sector.
A multi-year study conducted by the Forum for Social Studies (FSS) highlights the harsh realities confronting domestic workers in the country. Despite being a significant source of employment—especially in urban areas—the sector remains largely unregulated and invisible to labor protections. The study documents ongoing patterns of abuse, revealing a critical gap in Ethiopian labor law that historically excludes domestic work from standard legal safeguards.
In 2005, conservative estimates showed that at least 248,600 people were employed as domestic workers in Ethiopian cities. This predominantly young female workforce often migrates from the Amhara, Oromia, and Tigray regions to Addis Ababa, where between 6,500 and 7,500 child workers reside. The FSS study reports troubling instances of physical abuse, including slapping, kicking, spitting, and throwing objects. According to the findings, female employers or housewives most often perpetrate abuse, sometimes triggered by interpersonal grievances or suspicions about relationships between domestic workers and household members.
Fear of retaliation and job loss discourages many workers from reporting abuse. The historical stigma attached to domestic work is reflected in the derogatory term ‘maid’, which was officially banned after the 1967 revolution but continues to influence social attitudes.
Central to the problem is the complete exclusion of domestic workers from Ethiopia’s primary labor legislation. Current Labor Proclamation No. 1156/2019 does not cover domestic work contracts. Instead, protection is limited to humanitarian provisions in the Civil Code of 1960, which are insufficient to address the sector’s widespread exploitation.
Moreover, Ethiopia has yet to ratify International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 189, a critical international standard advocating decent work and fundamental human rights protections for domestic workers. The absence of such a legal framework has created an environment where exploitation can flourish unchecked.
The government acknowledges this legislative gap as the root cause of abuses faced by domestic workers. The Ministry of Labour and Skills is currently preparing a new legal framework intended to extend labor rights to this marginalized sector, including the establishment of legal contracts and rights protections.
This domestic labor vulnerability parallels on-the-ground challenges faced by Ethiopian migrant workers abroad. Ethiopia is among the largest sources of low-paid migrant domestic workers in the Middle East. According to IGAD Secretary General Workneh Gebeyehu, Ethiopian migrant workers in Gulf countries suffer from contract substitution, wage theft, and exploitation under the restrictive Fala sponsorship system.
Driven by high domestic unemployment and economic hardship, approximately 1.5 million Ethiopians migrate annually to the Middle East and Gulf states—often through informal and dangerous channels. Reports of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse of migrants continue to rise, with many returnees suffering serious mental health conditions, including severe depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and generalized anxiety.
Recognizing these widespread issues, the Ministry of Labour and Skills has announced the completion of its preliminary work on a dedicated legal framework designed to protect domestic workers’ rights and ensure legally binding contracts. This proposed reform offers hope for addressing longstanding abuses and providing greater security to one of Ethiopia’s most vulnerable labor groups.
