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by IDWFED published Feb 11, 2015 08:55 PM

Bangladesh: 398 domestic workers killed in 14 years

by Fish Ip — last modified Apr 28, 2015 05:58 PM

At least 398 domestic workers were killed in the last fourteen years while at least 299 workers were wounded and 100 female workers were sexually harassed in the country.

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My Nepal is not safe, says a Nepali domestic worker

My Nepal is not safe, says a Nepali domestic worker

by Fish Ip — last modified May 13, 2015 04:46 PM

Massive earthquake struck Nepal again on Tuesday 12 May with a magnitude 7.3. The first big earthquake was on 25 Apr and the continuous aftershock has caused loss of lives and injuries. The country is in need of immediate support. "It's terrible", Sonu Danuwar, leader of domestic workers, in Nepal says.

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The First Domestic Workers Union in Philippines Established!

The First Domestic Workers Union in Philippines Established!

by IDWFED — last modified Apr 05, 2017 04:55 PM

On April 26, 2015, history has been made when the first domestic workers' union held its founding assembly to formalize the organizing of the United Domestic Workers' of the Philippines or simply UNITED.

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Red Card for FIFA – Stand Up for Workers' Rights in Qatar

Red Card for FIFA – Stand Up for Workers' Rights in Qatar

by IDWFED — last modified May 16, 2016 05:06 PM

While workers in Qatar risk their lives building stadiums for poverty wages FIFA’s corporate sponsors pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the World Cup. FIFA has publicly stated that without corporate sponsors the World Cup would not be possible. Now is the time to step up our efforts and also target the corporate sponsors of FIFA. They pump millions of dollars into FIFA and without them the World Cup would not be possible. If we can get them to speak up, FIFA and the Qatari Government will have to act.

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USA: Damayan Receives Prestigous Wellstone Award for Organizing to End Trafficking

USA: Damayan Receives Prestigous Wellstone Award for Organizing to End Trafficking

by IDWFED — last modified Apr 22, 2015 05:33 PM

Trafficking of Filipino Domestic Workers Highlighted by Freedom Network USA

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Sissi.fm: Voices, Fights and Feelings, live from Hong Kong

Sissi.fm: Voices, Fights and Feelings, live from Hong Kong

by Fish Ip — last modified Apr 22, 2015 04:32 PM

Hear voices of migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong, documented by SissiFm, an independent online radio from Germany.

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Nepal: Belabouring the obvious

Nepal: Belabouring the obvious

by IDWFED — last modified Apr 14, 2015 06:24 PM

We doubt the zero-cost agreement between Qatar and Nepal this week will come into force because there is too much money to be made on the blood, sweat and tears of Nepali workers by the politically-connected manpower mafia.

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Case Profile: Mary Jane Veloso

Case Profile: Mary Jane Veloso

by IDWFED — last modified Apr 10, 2015 11:04 PM

Mary Jane comes from a poor family in Nueva Ecija. They resorted to picking plastics and other recyclable materials because the pay from Mary Jane’s father as a seasonal worker in Hacienda Luisita was never enough. She is the youngest among 5 children. She only made it to first year high school, married early, and had two children.

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Save the Life of Mary Jane Veloso! Protect All OFWs! Open Letter to HE Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III

by IDWFED — last modified Apr 10, 2015 10:30 PM

Do you know Mary Jane Veloso? You should for she is the Flor Contemplacion of your time. For us, fellow overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), Mary Jane epitomizes the vulnerability of Filipino workers abroad to forces that capitalize on our desperation due to the lack of decent livelihood, opportunities and hope in our home country.

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Open letter to Indonesian President Joko Widodo: Save the life of Filipina Mary Jane Veloso

Open letter to Indonesian President Joko Widodo: Save the life of Filipina Mary Jane Veloso

by IDWFED — last modified Apr 10, 2015 10:32 PM

With hopes still raised high, we humbly and sincerely appeal to Your Excellency that the Indonesian Government spare the life of Filipina Mary Jane Veloso who was convicted in your country for drug trafficking and sentenced to be executed after her judicial appeal was rejected by the Indonesian Supreme Court last March 26.

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Mary Jane Lives! Migrant Worker Action Helps Save the Life of Filipina Mary Jane Veloso!

Mary Jane Lives! Migrant Worker Action Helps Save the Life of Filipina Mary Jane Veloso!

by IDWFED — last modified Mar 02, 2017 05:27 PM

Hours before she was scheduled to be executed by firing squad in Indonesia late on April 28, Mary Jane Veloso's life was saved last minute after a woman who allegedly trafficked her to Indonesia turned herself in to the police in the Philippines. Though Mary Jane is temporarily saved from the death penalty, she still must prove her innocence and there is much more work to be done to save her life and other migrant workers on death row.

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In Cambodia, Domestic Workers Get Organized

In Cambodia, Domestic Workers Get Organized

by Fish Ip — last modified Dec 29, 2015 01:09 PM

Their ranks are small but growing, and they want their government to join an international labor treaty. "If we organize, we can help each other," says a 25-year-old housekeeper who started working when she was 10 and earns $75 a month. - Womensenews writes about Cambodia Domestic Workers Network.

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Hong Kong: a domestic worker's room in a new housing project with just 16 sq feet

Hong Kong: a domestic worker's room in a new housing project with just 16 sq feet

by Fish Ip — last modified Apr 05, 2015 03:08 AM

In a new developed luxury apartment in Hong Kong, the domestic worker's room was not enough for a single bed.

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Canada: B.C. Human Rights Tribunal says ex-domestic worker is "virtual slave"

by Fish Ip — last modified Apr 05, 2015 08:40 AM

A Filipino domestic worker escaped from sexual assault and humiliation by her Hong Kong employer in Canada. The worker filed a case at the British Colombia Human Rights Tribunal with the help of West Coast Domestic Workers Association. The tribunal found the employer guilty and awarded the worker CAD50,000.

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Hong Kong: over 50 local Hong Kong groups support Justice for Elis

Hong Kong: over 50 local Hong Kong groups support Justice for Elis

by Fish Ip — last modified Apr 05, 2015 02:26 AM

15 Mar 2015 Joint Statement

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Sri Lanka: Domestic workers Union move for Standard Contracts signed!

by Fish Ip — last modified Apr 05, 2015 09:14 PM

The domestic workers union has made a new move! It has made a Standard Contract and until now it has been able to get 4 employers signed on this union’s standard contract.

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HOME Singapore survey finds 24% migrant domestic workers suffer from poor mental health

by Fish Ip — last modified Apr 05, 2015 01:42 AM

HOME surveyed 670 employed migrant domestic workers (Burmese, Filipinos and Indonesians) in a study to determine the state of their mental health and also find out more about their working and living conditions.

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Thailand: Open Letter to UN Resident Coordinator in Thailand on violation of Ethiopian domestic worker's rights

Thailand: Open Letter to UN Resident Coordinator in Thailand on violation of Ethiopian domestic worker's rights

by Fish Ip — last modified Nov 20, 2015 05:25 PM

Migrant Working Group in Thailand issued an open letter to the UN officials to urge for protection of domestic workers

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Bangladesh: Cries of domestic workers still go unheard

by Fish Ip — last modified Dec 22, 2015 02:38 PM

Laws are urgently needed for 14 lakh domestic workers in Bangladesh, Daily Sun told

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From Resisting Definition to Resisting Exploitation: The Ongoing Struggle of Domestic Workers in Lebanon

by Fish Ip — last modified Mar 31, 2015 11:35 AM

The dehumanization, both at the legal and the personal level, of these racialized working-class women from the Global South is responsible for the perpetuation and invisibility of their suffering. The Lebanese public should call for an urgent reform of the inhumane "kafala" sponsorship system in which they work.

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2016 Training - Decent Work for Domestic Workers

by IDWFED — last modified Mar 24, 2016 03:02 PM

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Hong Kong: Elis died of slave-like life in agency center

Hong Kong: Elis died of slave-like life in agency center

by IDWFED — last modified Mar 29, 2015 07:39 PM

"Elis didn't just die. She was killed... It was the arrangement agreed by the employer and the agency that placed Elis in that unsafe, unhealthy, unhygienic and unfortunate place at that time." ATKI (Asosiasi Buruh Migran Indonesia di Hong Kong), an association of Indonesian migrant workers described the death of Elis on 16 March 2015 in an agency-operated dormitory as murder. Interviewing domestic migrant workers and volunteer workers, the WKNews is going to show you the slave-like life of living in Hong Kong agency dormitory, and in Indonesian training centre.

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CSW59: At UN Conference, Domestic Workers Push for International Labor Standards

CSW59: At UN Conference, Domestic Workers Push for International Labor Standards

by IDWFED — last modified Apr 05, 2017 05:08 PM

Between March 9 and March 20, member states and global NGOs gathered at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York City to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action, the key international policy document aiming to achieve gender equality. Coinciding with the conference, the Clinton and Gates Foundations released No Ceilings: The Full Participation Report, which traces women’s demonstrable progress in global health and education since 1995, as well as their insufficient gains in economic participation, leadership and security. Dignitaries, celebrities, and philanthropists gave speeches calling for “50-50 by 2030”—meaning full gender equality in the next in 15 years.

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Rest in peace,  Elis Kurniasih, domestic worker in Hong Kong died after crush by concrete block at balcony of agency

Rest in peace, Elis Kurniasih, domestic worker in Hong Kong died after crush by concrete block at balcony of agency

by Fish Ip — last modified Mar 17, 2015 02:00 PM

Another victim of government's negligence of domestic workers' rights! Elis Kurniasih BT Ahi Komarudi, an Indonesian migrant domestic worker in Hong Kong and a mother of two back in Indonesia, passed away at 6:18pm on Monday 16 March 2015. Last Wednesday, on 11th, she was crushed by a 60kg concrete block when she was sleeping at the balcony of Sunlight employment agency.

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CSW59: Elizabeth Tang talks about protection of domestic workers' rights with United Nations Radio

by IDWFED — last modified Oct 31, 2019 06:47 PM

An interview report in Chinese by United Nations Radio with Elizabeth Tang, IDWF General Secretary.

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Taiwan: Ministry of Labor = Ministry of slave-trafficking!

by Fish Ip — last modified Apr 05, 2015 09:04 PM

A press release by Taiwan International Workers Association (MENT)

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Lebanon: Recognize Domestic Workers Union - Add Labor Law Protections for These Employees

Lebanon: Recognize Domestic Workers Union - Add Labor Law Protections for These Employees

by IDWFED — last modified Mar 30, 2015 01:36 PM

Lebanese authorities should recognize a union for domestic workers, who are excluded from the protection of the Lebanese labor code, more than 100 nongovernmental organizations said today. Ensuring the right to freedom of association for domestic workers would help to strengthen the legal protection mechanisms for domestic workers, many of whom experience abuse in Lebanon.

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Former UAE Ambassador to pay former domestic workers €80,000 each for abuse

by Meredith McBride — last modified Mar 09, 2015 11:36 PM

Ireland's Employment Appeals Tribunal demanded that Khalid Nasser Rashid Lootah, a former ambassador from the UAE, pay his three former domestic workers after he was found to have abused them.

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Hong Kong: IDWF Statement on the Verdict of Erwiana Case

Hong Kong: IDWF Statement on the Verdict of Erwiana Case

by IDWFED — last modified Apr 03, 2017 11:09 PM

Today, the former employer of Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment and fined HKD 15,000 for her abusive treatment of Erwiana during the seven months she worked for her in 2013. We are pleased that finally justice is being upheld and Erwiana is now free to return to her normal life. "We admire her for being so courageous and bold in telling her story to everyone to pursue justice which is so important not only to her personally but also to all domestic workers in Hong Kong and worldwide. She is an inspiration to all domestic workers," said Elizabeth Tang, General Secretary of IDWF.

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Hong Kong: FADWU statement on guilty verdict of Erwiana's employer - HK Gov failed to remove discriminatory policies

by IDWFED — last modified Apr 05, 2017 04:54 PM

The Hong Kong judiciary has upheld justice for Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, an Indonesian domestic worker who was abused by her employer, Law Wan-tung. Yet, the government does not remove discriminatory policies that put migrant domestic worker in vulnerable situation.

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