The Socio-Legal Implications of Women’s Work in the Informal Sector : A Case Study of Women Domestic Workers in Pakistan

The informal sector of economy is a major source of employment in Developing countries such as Pakistan.1 Work opportunities in the informal sector play an important role in providing lively-hood to the poor, unskilled or semi-skilled, less educated and illiterate men and women workers in the society. There has been a significant change in the informal labour market with more women working for wages. However women remain amongst the lower earners of society, as despite performing the same tasks they are paid less compared to their male counterparts and are mostly engaged in part time jobs. Domestic service is one such category in the informal employment sector which provides jobs to women in large numbers. Yet of the eleven labour policies framed by various governments since the creation of Pakistan in 1947 none has addressed the issue of domestic workers, nor are domestic workers covered under the general labour laws of the country.2 In the light of this situation the paper attempts to deconstruct the role of law in empowering women domestic workers by exploring the relationship between law, gender and empowerment in a plural legal society