By Jemimah Wellington, JKNewsMedia Correspondent
NIGERIA’s SENATE has passed a landmark legislation seeking to protect millions of domestic workers, apprentices, and interns from sexual abuse, exploitation, and unfair labour practices across the country.
Promptly reacting via a press statement dated 13 November 2025, the Executive Director of the Centre for Children’s Health Education, Orientation and Protection (CEE-HOPE), Betty Abah, described the move as “a long-overdue step toward justice, dignity, and recognition for millions of hardworking Nigerians, most of them women and girls, whose labour sustains households across the country but whose rights have remained unprotected for decades.”
The legislation, titled the Informal Sector Employment Regulation Bill, 2025 (SB.629), aims to formalise and regulate employment relationships in the informal sector, guaranteeing fair treatment, decent work conditions, and the protection of workers’ rights under Nigerian law.
Presenting the report of the Senate Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity, Senator Diket Plang said the Bill was inspired by the rising cases of sexual assault, forced labour, torture, and non-payment of wages endured by domestic workers nationwide.
He explained that the legislation aligns with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), which mandates governments to safeguard the rights of domestic workers and regulate employment agencies to ensure fair treatment and accountability.
According to the Committee’s presentation, the Bill’s key objectives include formalising the employment of domestic workers, apprentices, and interns; protecting them from sexual harassment, physical abuse, and exploitation; ensuring fair pay and decent working conditions; and establishing mandatory rest periods.
The Bill also provides for the creation of a biometric database for workers and employers under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment. It further seeks to prevent child labour in domestic service and to guarantee access to food, social security, and healthcare for all registered domestic employees.
During a public hearing held on 22 July 2024, the proposed legislation received overwhelming support from key stakeholders including the Federal Ministries of Labour and Women Affairs, the Nigeria Police Force, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), and several civil society organisations.
Stakeholders at the hearing described the Bill as both timely and essential, particularly in addressing widespread abuses such as sexual exploitation, child labour, trafficking, kidnapping, and even murder often linked to unregulated domestic employment.
Following clause-by-clause consideration, the Bill was read for the third time and passed by a unanimous voice vote. It will now proceed to the House of Representatives for concurrence before being transmitted to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for assent.
Reacting further, CEE-HOPE commended the Senate for what it described as a “historic victory for Nigeria’s most vulnerable workforce.”
The organisation said the passage represented an important milestone for millions of domestic workers whose labour has long gone unrecognised within formal legal frameworks.
Abah cited data from the International Labour Organisation showing that there are about 75 million domestic workers globally, more than 80 percent of them women. Across Africa, the ILO estimates at least 10 million domestic workers, while Nigeria accounts for between three and five million – a large portion of its informal workforce.
According to CEE-HOPE’s statement, most of these workers operate without written contracts, fair wages, or social protection, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and forms of modern slavery.
The ILO further estimates that 17.2 million children worldwide are engaged in domestic work, with over half under the age of 14 and about 67 percent being girls.
In Nigeria, several hundred thousand children, mostly girls from poor backgrounds, are believed to be in domestic service, often exposed to abuse, trafficking, and denied education.
Abah emphasised that beyond legislation, lasting protection for domestic workers will require “strong unionisation, collective bargaining, and public awareness.”
She said the new Bill provides an opportunity for Nigeria to align its labour laws with the ILO Domestic Workers Convention (C189), which calls for fair treatment, decent working conditions, and the right to organise.
“CEE-HOPE is committed to supporting the formation and strengthening of a national union for domestic workers,” Abah added.
“We believe that only through collective organisation can domestic workers effectively demand fair wages, safe workplaces, and respect for their humanity.”
She further called on the House of Representatives to expedite passage of the companion legislation, the Domestic Workers (Employment and Protection) Bill, 2025 (HB.1765), and urged President Tinubu to give prompt assent once both chambers conclude the legislative process.
CEE-HOPE also appealed to state governments, civil society groups, and international development partners to begin preparations for robust implementation once the law takes effect.
The statement notes that since 2020, the organisation, which works with at-risk young people and marginalised populations, has campaigned extensively for the rights of Nigerian domestic workers through media advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and legislative outreach.
Its initiatives have included multi-sectoral dialogues involving activists, unionists, media professionals, community leaders, employers, and lawmakers to strengthen public understanding and political will around domestic workers’ protection.
“This is a defining moment for Nigeria’s labour and human-rights landscape,” Abah reiterated.
“By protecting domestic workers, we protect the dignity of our nation.”
She said that the passage of the Informal Sector Employment Regulation Act, 2025 Bill marks one of the most significant legislative steps in Nigeria’s labour reforms in recent years, signalling growing national recognition of the informal sector’s contribution to the economy and the urgent need to uphold the rights of workers within it.
