The Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labour is launching a campaign to put a face to one of the most invisible forms of child labour. Carmen Brítez, a former child domestic worker in Argentina who is now a leading advocate for the rights of domestic workers, shares her story to push for change.

When Argentinean Juana del Carmen Brítez was a child, she had to drop out of school to work in other people's homes. For years, she lived in the shadow of a reality that still affects thousands of girls in Latin America and the Caribbean: child domestic labour. Today, as president of the International Domestic Workers' Federation (IDWF), she fights to ensure that no girl has to repeat her story. Her testimony is at the heart of the "Grow Up Working" campaign, which the International Labour Organization (ILO), through the Child Labour Free Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Initiative (Regional Initiative)* with the support of the International Domestic Workers' Federation (IDWF).

Child domestic work in third-party households remains one of the most invisible and normalised forms of child labour. Thousands of girls working in the domestic sector are denied access to education, face constant risks - including sexual violence and exposure to other worst forms of child labour - and are invisible to social protection systems. Yet this issue still receives insufficient attention in the labour, women's human rights and child protection agendas.

"I grew up taking care of others, who took care of me?" asks Juana del Carmen Brítez, who experienced this reality firsthand and is now pushing for changes so that no girl goes through the same thing.

From the Regional Initiative, child domestic work is a priority focus within the Regional Programme for Accelerating the Elimination of Child Labour in Latin America and the Caribbean (PRAETI), 2022-2030. Through research on child labour in the care sector, the Regional Initiative seeks to articulate and advance two key agendas: care and child labour. In this context, the "I grew up working" campaign mobilises key actors in the world of work through first-person testimonies, making visible the experiences of those who have lived this reality since they were children.

That is why the "I grew up working" campaign puts a face to this problem with stories such as that of Carmen Brítez and several adult domestic workers, who managed to break the cycle of child labour and today lead the fight for the rights of domestic workers. Their testimonies challenge society and reinforce a call to action: to take responsibility for eradicating child domestic labour.

"To ensure that no girl child has to repeat my story, we must take mutual responsibility. Employers must stop employing girls, while the state must ensure education for all children and support for working mothers. If I have to go out and take care of other people's children, who takes care of mine?

Through this campaign, the Regional Initiative reaffirms its commitment to the elimination of child domestic labour and the promotion of safe and dignified environments for all children.

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*The Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labour is a space where 31 countries and employers' and workers' organisations work together to achieve the first generation of child labour free people in the region. It operates with the technical assistance of the ILO, which in turn serves as the Technical Secretariat of the Initiative, and the sustained support of its partners, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Andalusian Agency for International Development Cooperation (AACID) and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC).

Currently, the Regional Initiative is made up of: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela, together with the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA).