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. 2021 Dec 31;19(1):427.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19010427.

Child Domestic Work, Violence, and Health Outcomes: A Rapid Systematic Review

Aye Myat Thi  1 , Cathy Zimmerman  2 , Nicola S Pocock  2   3 , Clara W Chan  4 , Meghna Ranganathan  2
Affiliations

Child Domestic Work, Violence, and Health Outcomes: A Rapid Systematic Review

Aye Myat Thi et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

This rapid systematic review describes violence and health outcomes among child domestic workers (CDWs) taken from 17 studies conducted in low- and middle-income countries. Our analysis estimated the median reported rates of violence in CDWs aged 5-17-year-olds to be 56.2% (emotional; range: 13-92%), 18.9% (physical; range: 1.7-71.4%), and 2.2% (sexual; range: 0-62%). Both boys and girls reported emotional abuse and sexual violence with emotional abuse being the most common. In Ethiopia and India, violence was associated with severe physical injuries and sexual insecurity among a third to half of CDWs. CDWs in India and Togo reported lower levels of psycho-social well-being than controls. In India, physical punishment was correlated with poor psycho-social well-being of CDWs [OR: 3.6; 95% CI: 3.2-4; p < 0.0001]. Across the studies, between 7% and 68% of CDWs reported work-related illness and injuries, and one third to half had received no medical treatment. On average, children worked between 9 and 15 h per day with no rest days. Findings highlight that many CDWs are exposed to abuse and other health hazards but that conditions vary substantially by context. Because of the often-hidden nature of child domestic work, future initiatives will need to be specifically designed to reach children in private households. Young workers will also benefit from strategies to change social norms around the value and vulnerability of children in domestic work and the long-term implications of harm during childhood.

Keywords: child domestic worker; health; low-income countries; middle-income countries; violence.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funder had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flowchart of the CDW violence and health study selection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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