Roughly 40 percent of domestic workers globally are employed in Asia, yet the region has been slow to enact reforms despite major progress in other parts of the world.
The revelation was made by the International Domestic Workers Network (IDWN), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and Human Rights Watch.
The groups are releasing a new report assessing progress since the 2011 adoption of the Domestic Workers Convention, a groundbreaking treaty entitling domestic workers to the same basic rights as other workers.
More than 25 countries have improved legal protections for domestic workers, with many of the strongest reforms in Latin America.
In Asia, the Philippines adopted comprehensive legislation protecting domestic workers in January 2013 and is the only Asian country to have ratified the Domestic Workers Convention.
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"The momentum of ratifications and improved laws in Latin American nations and a number of other countries shows that governments are capable of protecting domestic workers," said Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the ITUC.
"Governments that have lagged - particularly in Asia and the Middle East - need to act without delay," Burrow added.
The 33-page report, "Claiming Rights: Domestic Workers' Movements and Global Advances for Labor Reform," charts ratification of the Domestic Workers Convention, national labor law reforms, and the growing influence of emerging domestic workers' rights movements.
The report was launched at an October 26-28 meeting of labor leaders from more than 40 countries in Montevideo to establish a new International Domestic Workers Federation that will help domestic workers share strategies across regions and advocate for their rights.
As Human Rights Watch, IDWN, and the ITUC have documented, many domestic workers within Asia and those migrating from Asia to the Middle East experience a wide range of abuses, including unpaid wages, restrictions on leaving the households where they work, and excessive work hours with no rest days.
Some may face psychological, physical, or sexual abuse and can get trapped in situations of forced labor, including trafficking.
"Domestic workers from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Cambodia experience horrific abuses," said Nisha Varia, senior women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.
"These governments should pick up the pace of reform to introduce long overdue protections for both domestic workers at home and those migrating abroad," Varia added.
There are an estimated 53 million domestic workers worldwide - the majority of them women and girls, and many of them migrants.
Recent International Labour Organization (ILO) research found that while child labor in other sectors has declined in recent years, child domestic labor increased by nine percent between 2008 and 2012.
According to the ILO, almost 30 percent of the world's domestic workers are employed in countries where they are completely excluded from national labor laws, including weekly rest days, limits to hours of work, minimum wage coverage, and overtime pay.
Even when partially covered, domestic workers are often excluded from key protections such as minimum age requirements, maternity leave, social security, and occupational health measures.
Under the new convention, domestic workers are entitled to the same basic rights as those available to other workers.
Ten countries have ratified the Domestic Workers Convention: Uruguay, Philippines, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Italy, Bolivia, Paraguay, South Africa, Guyana, and Germany. Several more are completing these processes.
In Asia, the region's domestic workers, trade unions, and migrants' rights groups have focused on building awareness and political will to lay the groundwork for future ratifications. The most active dialogue is taking place in Indonesia, India, and Nepal.
The report notes incremental reforms in India, Singapore, and Thailand. India extended a health insurance scheme to domestic workers in May 2012 and included them in a 2013 law prohibiting workplace sexual harassment.
