The study reviewed action of several non-government organizations, private groups and government institutions towards their effort on child domestic work. However, despite the existence of good quality research on CDWs, there continues to be lack of quantitative data about the numbers of child domestic workers, where they are and in what conditions.
In the analysis of critical elements in child domestic workers in the Philippines, child domestic work (CDW) seem to be the safest form of work. It is an excuse of recruiters whenever they recruit a child, that the job is domestic work, thus when children turned out to be in different work like prostitution, factory worker or falling to unknown employers in distant households, the blame could not be thrown to them (recruiters) but to the child themselves.
The author stated that the CDW innocently slide into extremely exploitative condition is because of the arbitrariness of socially accepted treatment. Thus, he proposes that a special attention be given to them, like adult domestic workers, CDWs are domestic workers.
From the review of existing efforts on child domestic workers, the author found out that;
1. There is now a massive national recognition of the CDW problem under the two overarching frameworks, the ILO Convention 182 and the proposed domestic workers’ Magna Carta called Batas Kasambahay.
2. Efforts to gain wide public acceptance of the Batas Kasambahay are indeed steps way ahead of the anticipated difficulties in the legislative mill.
3. There are existing efforts to curb trafficking in sending regions, but these are not enough. Licensing recruitment agencies operating in the provinces does not ensure prevention of entry and re-entry of children into abusive domestic work because informal methods of facilitation are more pervasive.
4. Media is supportive of the plight of the CDWs. They have gone so far as providing direct services like legal, telephone hotline and repatriation.
5. The CDW issue offers the opportunity to sharpen the lobby for a broader national and international effort for domestic worker young and old as tribute for their existence and underestimated contribution to national development. Areas to mainstream responses to the domestic workers’ issue include; (1) lobbying for national laws, (2) exercising rights to organize, (3) improving research methods, (4) enhancing direct service provision, (5) developing programs based on effective approaches.
