Exploring the Blurring Boundaries between Domestic Work and Servitude
Although the concept of servitude has been given renewed attention through its inclusion within the international legal definition of « human trafficking », within that context, it remains undefined. This article endeavours to shed greater light on the contemporary meanings that can be ascribed to domestic servitude within international law, and to explore the potentially blurring lines between domestic work arrangements and domestic servitude. This article uses the Canada’s Caregiver Program (CP) as a case study to demonstrate the how those blurring lines may arise, in part, as the result of the legal regulations governing the CP, arguing that the employer-specific work permit, coupled with the isolated and private nature of the workplace, create vulnerabilities that enhance the potential for servitude-like conditions to arise.