Digital Apps Empower Domestic Workers in Latin America

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

Judith Torres has been a domestic worker in Colombia since she was 13. In the past, she was often paid unfairly – given used clothes or food instead of wages. After discovering the Aliadas app, designed by and for domestic workers, Judith learned about her labor rights and how to negotiate effectively. The app, she says, serves as “the perfect key for domestic workers,” enabling access to information that is helping her improve her own life and support her colleagues.

Since 2019, CARE and its partners have been working to empower domestic workers in Latin America through mobile applications and increased digital literacy. The project, entitled “Strengthening the Domestic Workers’ Movement Through Technology and Learning” and supported by the Cummins Foundation, is part of CARE Latin America’s Equal Value, Equal Rights program, which seeks to improve the working conditions of domestic workers by strengthening their knowledge and skills to advocate for and lead action around labor rights. The project builds on the success of Brazil’s Laudelina app, which was a finalist in the 2016 Google Social Impact Challenge and was developed by Themis and the National Federation of Domestic Workers.

Domestic workers in Latin America face frequent mistreatment and discrimination. Because they often work in isolation, many lack access to information about their rights or support networks to claim those rights. Mobile apps put this knowledge at their fingertips and connect them to unions and advocacy organizations, enabling stronger support networks. Features such as wage and benefit calculators are helping workers and their employers understand fair treatment and pay.

For this project, CARE is partnering with local women’s and domestic workers’ rights groups in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru – collectively home to nearly 10 million domestic workers, the vast majority of whom are indigenous, black and Afro-descendant women with precarious working conditions. The project focuses on four apps, each available for free and with information relevant to that country’s domestic workforce: Laudelina app (Brazil), Aliadas app (Colombia), Dignas app (Mexico), and Valora app (Peru).

Through awareness campaigns and training programs, the project has surpassed many of its targets, including achieving over 76,000 app downloads, well above the goal of 52,000. The team also learned that women without a smartphone but who have access to a computer could benefit from the web version of the apps, which yielded nearly 235,000 visits. Communication and marketing initiatives reached 25 million people – more than 20 million over the original goal – contributing to greater knowledge both of the apps and the labor rights of domestic workers.

Including domestic workers in developing and optimizing these digital tools has been one key to success. By taking a user-centric approach, the project team is ensuring apps meet the users’ needs and are easily adopted. Participants overwhelmingly felt this process was an act of empowerment, helping them overcome internalized stereotypes and feelings of inadequacy around digital literacy. In Peru’s Valora app, domestic workers also provided the voice users hear. As one contributor said, “We want you to know the Valora Voice is from one of us, a worker like you.”

As CARE and its partners look to the next phase of the project, the potential for increased social alliances and policy change is strong. The project has already demonstrated a positive influence at the institutional level, including advancing legislation initiatives across all four countries. And on the individual level, it’s unlocking new opportunities. “These classes will open a lot of doors for me,” said one participant in a digital literacy training. “This is only the beginning of something great.”

Mobile apps designed to support domestic workers:

Laudelina | Brazil

Partners: Themis, National Federation of Domestic Workers (FENATRAD)

Legislative Highlight: A cooperation agreement between Themis and the National Federation of Domestic Workers with the Public Prosecutor of Labor works to ensure access to justice and elimination of slave labor, focusing on strong reporting and prevention components.

Valora | Peru

Partners: CARE Peru, National Federation for Domestic Workers of Peru

Legislative Highlight: CARE and Financiera Confianza (a financial service provider) developed an unemployment insurance product that can be accessed through the Valora app as part of compliance with ILO Convention 189 (Decent Work for Domestic Workers).

Dignas | Mexico

Partners: CACEH

Legislative Highlight: Approval of reforms to the Social Security Bill makes social security mandatory for domestic workers and resulted in the registration of more than 60,000 domestic workers in the social security system.

Aliadas | Colombia

Partners: National Union School, Interunion of Domestic Workers

Legislative Highlight: A Labor Inspection Bill was submitted to the Legislative Assembly which provides domestic workers the right to have labor conditions inspected and for the inclusion of domestic work in the National Care System as part of the National Development Plan. This bill is under consideration.