Hands That Hold Homes: Rights, Resilience and the Future of Domestic Workers is a visual and evidence-based publication that brings into focus the lives, labour, leadership and aspirations of women domestic workers in Bangladesh. It is rooted in a truth: domestic workers make other people’s lives possible, yet their work has long remained largely invisible, undervalued and inadequately protected. 

The book captures the seven-year journey of the Securing Rights for Women Domestic Workers in Bangladesh—SUNITI project, implemented from 2019 to 2026 by Oxfam and partners with financial support from Global Affairs Canada. Through rights awareness, life-skills and occupational training, worker organising, employer engagement, community mobilisation, digital linkages and policy advocacy, the project sought to strengthen women domestic workers’ agency, skills, collective voice and ability to claim their rights. 

But this book goes beyond text. At its heart are the stories of women such as Sharmin, Sumaiya, Parul, Lucky, Shahnaj, Pinky, Salma, Zakia and Nurnahar—women whose experiences reveal journeys of struggle, skill-building, negotiation, confidence, leadership and hope. Through intimate photography and personal narratives, the publication shows how women moved from isolation towards solidarity, from informal experience towards professional recognition, and from being seen as beneficiaries to being recognised as workers, leaders and rights holders. 

With the legal recognition of domestic workers under the Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Act, 2026, the next challenge is to turn recognition into effective protection, fair working conditions, social protection, accessible grievance systems and stronger institutional accountability

Hands That Hold Homes is therefore both a record of progress and a call to action—asking government, employers, worker organisations, civil society, development partners and citizens to ensure that the hands that hold our homes are also protected, valued and heard.