According to Helen Rahman of Shoishob, domestic labor needs to be included among hazardous work like child workers in lathe workshops, in plastics, chemical and repair shops. Child servants are the ''largest and most open, yet invisible, form of informal child labor,'' she said. A recent Unicef report estimated there are 6.3 million working children in Bangladesh. The association, which will pursue the legal rights of resident servants, said it also knows of seven young maids being forced into prostitution, and over 300 being trafficked out of the country during the same period. Amirul Huq Amin, its co-ordinator, has asked the Hasina Wajed government to bring the services of domestic servants under the labor laws so that domestic labor could then negotiate fixed duty hours, wages matching their services, timely payment of wages, a period of leave, festival bonus and other benefits recognized under the laws.
Households are the biggest employer of girls and women from impoverished families.
Dhaka's garment factories are another major employer, now employing some 70,000 women after being forced to put a stop to child labor. In Dhaka, there are three options for young women. All involve clothes.