Agência Brasil

Brasília - Minister Matilde Ribeiro, head of the Special Secretariat of Policies for the Promotion of Racial Equality (Seppir), commented that the Sectorial Qualification Plan - Citizen Domestic Worker, launched yesterday (8) by the Ministry of Labor and Employment, will help correct the historical inequalities suffered by these workers.

The inauguration of the plan, which is intended to valorize and provide professional training for domestic labor, is part of the agenda of the National Encounter of Economic and Social Development with the Inclusion of the Black Population.

According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), there are currently 6 million domestic workers in Brazil. 57.4% of them are black. The Citizen Domestic Worker project will assist 350 workers in six states.

The minister said she hopes the activities of the project will make it possible to give visibility to these workers. "Domestic work is invisible work, which takes place in the sphere of private life, where the government cannot be an overseer. Precisely for this reason, it is important to strengthen the initiative of the institutions linked to domestic workers and thus make it a responsibility of society as a whole," she affirmed.

IBGE data also show that only 25% of domestic workers have signed working papers, which are a guarantee of workers' rights. In the opinion of the director of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Brazil, Laís Abramo, Brazil "is taking a big step to repay a profound historical debt." She went on to say that "there cannot be decent work in Brazil, if important sectors of Brazilian society are unable to be a dignified part of the labor market."

Translation: David Silberstein