Book Launch – Human Rights and the Protection of Domestic Workers in Labour and Migration Law w/ Natalie Sedacca
Wednesday 4, November 2026, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm GMT, London, UK
Join us for a panel discussion marking the launch of ‘Human Rights and the Protection of Domestic Workers in Labour and Migration Law’ by Nathalie Sedacca, organised by the Institute for Human Rights
The book examines the legal protection of domestic workers, focusing on four case studies across distinct continents: Chile, the UK, South Africa, and India. It examines how deficits in protection arise both from gaps in formal coverage and from shortcomings in enforcement arising from the isolated nature of the work and vulnerabilities due to migration status, analysing these exclusions using the feminist framing concepts of ‘lack of accountability’ and ‘devaluation.’ The book makes a distinctive and positive case for the role of human rights in extending protection to domestic workers, criticising deficits in protection based on the right to private and family life, the right to work, non-discrimination provisions, and the prohibition on forced labour. It combines doctrinal analysis of domestic legal frameworks and international human rights jurisprudence with detailed and innovative empirical research, including interviews with domestic workers and other experts such as trade union and NGO staff. The book uses its normative critique and empirical findings to make the case for reform of labour and migration law to provide specialist and targeted forms of protection for domestic workers.
Please join us for an in-person launch event on 4 November, with commentary by a domestic worker with lived experience of themes the book raises alongside the author and academic experts in labour law, marginalised workers, and human rights.
Panellists
- Cristy – migrant domestic worker and community member at Kalayaan
- Professor Lydia Hayes, Professor of Labour Rights at the University of Liverpool School of Law and Social Justice
- Professor Tonia Novitz, Professor of Labour Law at the University of Bristol Centre for Law at Work
- Dr Natalie Sedacca, Associate Professor in Employment Law, Durham University
Panellists
Cristy is originally from the Philippines and came to the UK to work as a domestic worker. She is a lived experience member of Kalayaan, an organisation that supports migrant domestic workers. She is also a survivor of human trafficking and exploitation as a domestic worker. Her experience has been difficult, but with the support of Kalayaan, she has found strength, support and a voice. Today, she wants to use her voice to speak up for herself and for other domestic workers who may be experiencing exploitation. She wants her story to be heard, not because she wants sympathy, but because she wants change. Domestic workers deserve dignity, freedom and protection.
Tonia Novitz is a Professor of Labour Law at the University of Bristol Law School in the UK. From 2019 – 2023, she was chair of the steering committee of the international Labour Law Research Network (LLRN). She is currently a UK representative on the advisory board of International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW), and a Vice President of the UK Institute of Employment Rights. She was a founding co-director of the Bristol Centre for Law at Work. Her research interests encompass labour rights, international and EU trade, sustainability and migration.
Natalie Sedacca is Associate Professor in Employment Law at Durham Law School. Her research focuses on human rights and labour law, with a particular interest in marginalised workers and in issues of gender and migration. Natalie’s book ‘Human Rights and the Protection of Domestic Workers in Labour and Migration Law’ (OUP 2026) examines legal protections for domestic workers across four countries. She has also undertaken research on the rights of migrant agricultural and care workers in the UK and of platform workers, and on the regulation of harassment and violence at work. Natalie is a trustee for the migrant domestic worker NGO Kalayaan, an Editorial Board member of the journal Feminist Legal Studies, and a co-editor of the UK Labour Law Blog.
Chair
Professor Virginia Mantouvalou, Professor of Human Rights and Labour Law, UCL Faculty of Laws
About the chair
Virginia Mantouvalou is Professor of Human Rights and Labour Law. She is the author of Structural Injustice and Workers’ Rights (OUP 2023), runner up for the 2025 Inner Temple Book Prize, and co-author or editor of several major works on labour law and human rights, including Human Rights at Work (2024) and Structural Injustice and the Law (2024). Her research appears in leading journals and has been cited by courts including the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of South Africa. She has received multiple awards, including a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship and a UCL Provost Award for Public Engagement for her work with the NGO Kalayaan. Virginia is Articles Co-Editor of the Modern Law Review, sits on several editorial boards, and has held visiting positions at Georgetown, Melbourne, and the Université Libre de Bruxelles. She has also advised the UK Parliament, the Council of Europe, and the ILO, and currently serves as Chair of Kalayaan.
This event is organised by the Institute for Human Rights.
Find more information and book your free place here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/2026/nov/book-launch-human-rights-and-protection-domestic-workers-labour-and-migration-law
This event will be held at University College London Faculty of Laws, 4-8 Endsleigh Gardens, London, UK.