RABAT: A long-awaited law aimed at protecting thousands of young girls working as housemaids in Morocco took effect on Tuesday, the country’s first such legislation.

The law sets a minimum age of 18 for household work, in a bid to end the exploitation and abuse of young girls working for unscrupulous employers. Passed in 2016 following years of debate, it imposes financial penalties on employers failing to provide contracts, a minimum wage, a weekly day off and annual holidays.

The Moroccan Collective for Eradicating the Exploitation of “Little Maids”, as the young housemaids are known, said the new law fails to provide means to reintegrate them into society. A 2010 study commissioned by NGOs found that between 66,000 and 80,000 girls under 15 years old were working as maids in Morocco.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd , 2018