BACKGROUND

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared corona virus commonly referred to as COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11^th 2020 a virus that first surfaced in a Chinese seafood and poultry market in the late 2019[1] . Governments across the globe have undertaken robust measures in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus. Uganda registered the first positive case of COVID-19 on March 21, 2020, and as of 27th May 2020, the cases had risen to 28 1; 69 recoveries and no deaths[2].

Upon registering the its first case and the subsequent rise in the number of cases of COVID-19, restrictive measures in addition to those already issued on 18^th March 2020 were issued including suspending of all public transport means including buses, taxi, coasters, passenger trains, tuku tuku and all boda boda were; suspension of the sale of non-food items in markets and acreds, introduction of curfew hours.

These measures have since affected the populations diversely and differently. According to the International Labour Organization, the crisis has already transformed into an economic and labour market shock, impacting not only supply (production of goods and services) but also demand (consumption and investment).[3] The economic impact of the movement restrictions, lockdown, and halting of economic activities has both immediate and lasting implications for Ugandan families, particularly for the poorest and most vulnerable[4].

Despite the pandemic creating similar public health and economic concerns across the country, not everyone is equally susceptible to being infected or suffering the consequences of the crisis. DWs face a disproportionate vulnerability towards the virus, in addition to the economic burdens and risks in the wake of COVID-19.

According to a 2017 PLA Survey Profiling Domestic Work and Its Socio- Economic Contribution at Household Level and Economic Development of Uganda, Domestic Workers (DWs) are a constantly growing section of workers in the informal sector of urban Uganda representing 93% women between 15 to 30 years. They work in private spheres and thus they are invisible and often susceptible to violence. Migrant DWs are often mandated by the live-in arrangement. Live-in domestic workers face increased abuse, often gendered. It comprises assault and harassment, sexual exploitation, physical abuse, denial of resources, opportunities, and services.

INTRODUCTION

Domestic workers have and are suffering significantly from COVID-19. Starting from a weakened position, they find themselves among populations most vulnerable to the crisis. Engaging in domestic and care  works puts DWs at the forefront of maintaining livelihoods and economies, and at a higher risk of both being  affected by the pandemic and the policy responses to the pandemic, such as border closures, lockdowns, and curfews.

Recognizing that the pandemic has social, economic, and legal impacts, this brief lays out the contexts that DWs are currently navigating.  It assesses how they have been affected by the spread of the virus and government responses. Finally, it provides recommendations aimed at improving the situation of DWs which would alleviate longer standing labour and gender inequalities within the domestic work sector.

HOW COVID-19 HAS AFFECTED DOMESTIC WORKERS

Generally domestic workers are now faced with multiple vulnerabilities and battles in the wake of COVID-19;

1. Domestic workers face or have been terminated from their employment and unpaid leaves, as they are no longer allowed within the households of their employers. With lockdowns and curfews, live-out domestic workers cannot easily travel to and from work.
2. Salary cuts or nonpayment of wages: Even when DWs remain employed, they are suffering from salary cuts just like other workers and denial of payment. DWs have been given hard options by some employers during this period to remain at the employer’s home without pay or to go back to their home and in the absence of public transport; the latter is not an option for them. The decrease of income is met with an increase in the price of goods and services. DWs find themselves ill-equipped to endure the pandemic in the absence of radical changes to their situation.
3. Live-in domestic workers face increased and uncompensated loads of labor, and sometimes violence. The spread of COVID-19 increased the forced and excessive load of domestic work due to the domestic confinement and social distancing. While the ILO on Forced Labour Protocol of 2014 requires the prevention of forced labour, and recognizes that “certain groups of workers have a higher risk of becoming victims of forced or compulsory labour, especially migrants, “it is difficult to ensure that DWs are not forced to work under the lockdown. It is especially difficult as their workplace is a “private” household.
4. High risk of infection: DWs are often not provided with protective gear by their employers. Worse, they are at risk of contracting the virus from their employers who do not respect quarantine measures.
5. Forced quarantine of DWs with their employers; Some DWs have been forced to quarantine with their employers and others have been locked out of their countries given the movement restrictions internally and globally. The logic of the quarantine assumes the availability of accommodation, means of sustenance, and safety of households, all of which are often unaffordable to DWs. In countries like the Middle East, where majority of Ugandan women and youth are employed as domestic workers violence must have escalated, violation of rights well knowing that the movement restrictions cannot enable the domestic worker to leave the household.
6. Awareness campaign and services oftentimes do not reach DWs due to language and technical barriers especially during this time when their employers are at home and thus they are unable to access and use information channels like Radio and Television. Social media platforms that would have served in the alternative are also not an option for them because they cannot afford to pay for data given that they are not being paid or receiving less which are using to maintain their dependants at the moment.
7. Most DWs cannot access governmental relief packages and subsidies, depending on multiple factors such as the governments’ recognition of the informal sector, regular/irregular employment, and the documentation status of the workers.
8. Domestic workers are also not provided with medical care and neither are they insured by their employers against occupational injuries and diseases. The employment contracts, if existent, do not consider sickness an occupational hazard or disease. Their contracts are terminated under COVID-19 because of the suspected or feared and non-confirmed infection; In any event that the domestic worker due to lack of protective gears contracted COVID-19 at the work place and subsequently succumbs to it, there will be no compensation.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The Government needs to actively work to alleviate the systemic inequalities for DWs, which are now intensified by the pandemic. The need to regulate the sector is very critical moving forward. The Ministry o Gender Labour and Social Development and parliament should ensure that the domestic work sector is regulated in a manner to reinforce the security and rights of domestic workers.
2. Awareness raising on the pandemic and the health concerns need o categorically target vulnerable invisible groups like the DWs. The information needs to be translated in the different languages. This could be through mobiles SMS awareness targeting all the registered mobile numbers.
3. Employers are called upon to provide sanitizing materials and protective gears to domestic workers as well as respect the measures in place so as not to contact the virus and pass them over to their workers at home as well as the family members.
4. The Domestic Workers Association needs to support fellow domestic workers to convening interactive sessions with the members so as to counteract the psychological and emotional effect caused by COVID-19.

[1] European Center or Disease prevention and Control, Rapid risk Assessment 2020

[2] Ministry of Health Press release Coronavirus updates 27^th May 2020

[3] International Labour Organisation, Why are labour markets important?The Great Recession and other crises have shown that we can prevent the risk of a vicious downward cycle only through large-scale, coordinated and decisive policy measures.

[4] UNDP  Social economic impact of COVID-19  in Uganda Scenarios for short, medium, and longer-term socioeconomic impacts April 2020

Rape figuratively refers to the sexual intercourse that is non-consensual (not agreed upon), or the act of forcing another person to have sex against their will and/or consent. While the names, times and contexts may differ, men, boys, women and girls of the different age divide across the world experience rape. This despondently happens in both the peaceful and violent settings and is overtly executed by strangers, friends and sometimes family members.

And whereas rape is shunned, unacceptable and regarded as one of the felony offences (those among the most serious crimes committed), multiple studies show that the media as well as the general public universally have continued to consciously or subconsciously sexualize it.

Could it be because it is the women who mostly fall victim to this brutal and undeservedly behavior or are the statistics of the reported cases further marginalized by the fact that most of the victims are closest and dear to the Mother Nature.

As the world prepares to commemorate the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, from 25 November to 10 December 2019, under the global theme, Ending GBV in the World of Work” Ugandans should explore practical means to fight this silent epidemic with the contempt it deserves.

According to the recent Uganda Police Force’s Annual Crime Report, Gender-Based violence cases that were reported and investigated increased by 4% (from 38,651 to 40,258 cases) between 2015 and 2016.

In addition, the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 2016 revealed that up to 22% of women aged 15 to 49 in the country had experienced some form of sexual violence. Also the report further revealed that each year, 13% of women aged between 15 to 49 experience sexual violence. This translates to more than 1 million women exposed to sexual violence annually which also includes rape. Furthermore, the phenomenon of the children having sex with fellow children has also not been addressed and yet it predisposes many of these them to diseases, early marriages and deaths, threatening their development opportunities.

However, what ought to be of concern as Ugandans should not be limited to the above statistics that solitary reflectthe authoritatively reported and investigatedcases but instead our attention to detail should be directed to the countless cases and the scores of victims that are either shy away or are intimidated against reporting their predicament of this shameful act. How about the cost and the permanent socialand the psychologicaleffects to the victims that interface with this ugly act?

And this should also be in cognizant of the fact that as much as the country has some laws in place such as the Penal Code (Amendment) Act 2007, the Domestic Violence Act 2010, to deal with the perpetrators, their enforcement has been to less fruition and sometimes that have failed to primarily address the key aspects of violence against women, later on its adverse effects and yet corroboration of evidence in these matters has also remained futile over the years.

In the recent past, the few times the debate to criminalize rape made its way through the public domain or on the floor of Parliament, the women have ended up being victimized and the debates habitually soiled with multiple accusations and all sorts of allegations of the subtle intentions of the women to deny their male counterparts sex, as if the denial is only the preserve of the men.

The debate on the Marriage and Divorce Bill, 2009 was also prematurely halted in the 9^th Parliament in a bid to avert the negative stigma it had attracted and yet the Bill only seeks to consolidate the laws relating to the celebration and dissolution of marriage in Uganda. But the fact that the Bill also sought to address issues to do with marital rape, it has ended up where it is today due to the apprehensive rhetoric that was developed against it mostly by our male counterparts.

Another Bill that has failed to see the light of day; including having been thrown out of business to follow in the 10^th Parliament is the Sexual Offences Bill 2019, formerly, tabled in 2013. Like the latter, this Bill also seeks to consolidate all laws related to the sex offences. However, since it carries provisions that relate to rape, aggravated defilement, sexual harassment among other issues, this Bill has also faced similar and untimely demonization which is atypical whenever any debate related to rape and defilement comes about in this country.

Should we continue to hide our heads in the sand and remain subtle and devoid of the fact that rape is committed in our homes, workplaces, places of worship and in the unthinkable places or shouldn’t we stand out and fight to see to it that this ‘big elephant’ ; is and condemned and fought with bare knuckles? This is over to you my fellow activists, duty bearers and the government of Uganda.

The writer is Betty Iyamuremye-Communications Officer-Platform for Labour Action

Theme: End Child Labour – Let's Speed Up Action

On 12th June 2025, Platform for Labour Action (PLA), alongside fellow civil society organizations in Uganda, joined the global community in commemorating the World Day Against Child Labour. This year’s theme is a powerful call to accelerate efforts to eliminate child labour, especially as the 2025 deadline for Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 approaches.

📊 The Reality in Uganda

Uganda continues to face a high prevalence of child labour, with over 6.2 million children aged 5–17 engaged in work, and more than 1 million in hazardous conditions. The most affected sectors include agriculture, domestic work, mining, and informal trade, especially in regions like Karamoja, Busoga, and Northern Uganda.

🚨 Why Action is Urgent

Despite progress in legislation and policy, implementation remains slow and underfunded. The informal economy, where 90% of child labour occurs, is largely unregulated. Economic pressures, including rising living costs and post-COVID-19 challenges, have worsened the situation.

📣 PLA’s Call to Action

PLA urges all stakeholders; government, parliament, development partners, private sector, and communities to:

1. Strengthen Legal Frameworks: Amend laws to explicitly ban hazardous child labour in informal sectors.
2. Invest in Social Protection: Expand child-sensitive programs like SAGE and school-linked incentives.
3. Rebuild Enforcement Structures: Increase staffing and funding for labour and child protection officers.
4. Ensure Access to Education: Address hidden school costs and support second-chance learning.
5. Adopt National Case Management Systems: Improve coordination for child labour and trafficking cases.
6. Integrate Child Labour Prevention into Development Plans: Align with national poverty reduction strategies.
7. Engage the Private Sector: Promote child-labour-free supply chains.
8. Empower Communities: Raise legal awareness and challenge harmful social norms.

💬 Final Word

“Child labour is not inevitable; it is preventable. It is a choice society makes, and today, we call upon all of us to choose differently.”
— Grace Mukwaya, Executive Director, PLA

Let’s act now. Let’s protect childhood. Let’s end child labour.