Stories
Nicaragua: Interview with Andrea Morales
— by IDWFED — last modified Nov 09, 2020 02:15 PM"On the International Day to Eradicate Poverty, we spoke to unionists and domestic worker leaders on their insights of how poverty affects the sector of domestic work and how women bear its disproportionate burden. Full of power, these leaders envisioned a more equitable world, with decent work for domestic workers, free of economic and gendered violence. Hear their voices!"
Argentina: Interview with Ana Núñez
— by IDWFED — last modified Nov 09, 2020 02:40 PM"On the International Day to Eradicate Poverty, we spoke to unionists and domestic worker leaders on their insights of how poverty affects the sector of domestic work and how women bear its disproportionate burden. Full of power, these leaders envisioned a more equitable world, with decent work for domestic workers, free of economic and gendered violence. Hear their voices!"
Namibia: Interview with Nellie Dina Kahua
— by IDWFED — last modified Dec 06, 2020 10:20 PMOn the International Day to Eradicate Poverty, we spoke to unionists and domestic worker leaders on their insights of how poverty affects the sector of domestic work and how women bear its disproportionate burden. Full of power, these leaders envisioned a more equitable world, with decent work for domestic workers, free of economic and gendered violence. Hear their voices!
Global: A Worldwide Movement for Domestic Workers
— by IDWFED — last modified May 24, 2019 12:40 PMIn Hong Kong and throughout the world, domestic workers are creating a political movement to ensure that they can do their important work without sacrificing their rights or human dignity.
Philippines/Hong Kong: My Second Home - Migrant Domestic Workers
— by IDWFED — last modified Jan 25, 2019 02:07 PMInterview of Angelyne Hernandez, Trainee of DGBBW project and Research Team Member, PLUHK.
Philippines: From exploited to empowered - Novelita Palisoc
— by IDWFED — last modified Jan 19, 2019 01:05 AMNovelita Palisoc had no choice but to become a domestic worker. Over the years, she experienced mistreatment & abuse. But her inspiring strength allowed her to fight back & take the lead of a prominent union.
Interview with Judith Hinds, Vice-President of NUDE, Trinidad & Tobago
— by IDWFED — last modified Nov 20, 2018 01:47 PMInterview with Judith Hinds, Vice-President of NUDE, Trinidad & Tobago
Ghana: You sing when you wash when there is happiness in the home
— by IDWFED — last modified Mar 21, 2019 12:10 PMInterview with Esther Kosi, General Secretary of DSWU, Ghana
Malaysia: Chronicles of My Geneva Experience at the 107th International Labour Conference
— by IDWFED — last modified Aug 05, 2018 06:28 PMBy Liezl Galdo - Head of the Organizing Committee of AMMPO, a Filipino migrant domestic workers in Malaysia
Nepal: Film about the life of domestic workers - "In Safe Hands"
— by IDWFED — last modified Mar 08, 2018 10:49 PMThrough Sonu Danuwar Chaudhary's rare, poignant and sometimes painful journey, this film portrays the millions of workers internationally who pick up the care deficit to ensure that more privileged portions of the global population remain "In Safe Hands".
India: Child Domestic Workers - Acting against child labour in domestic work
— by IDWFED — last modified Sep 27, 2017 06:19 PMChild domestic workers have to forego education, they often work in exploitative, harmful and hazardous conditions, hidden from the public and far away from their families. Fortunately, a range of actors in Asia including domestic workers and their organizations have taken action to realize decent work for domestic workers and tackle child labour in domestic work.
Indonesia: Workers, not helpers - Organizing and empowering domestic workers
— by IDWFED — last modified Sep 27, 2017 06:21 PMTwo domestic workers in Indonesia, Ludiah and Hesti, share their thoughts and experiences of joining unions.
India: The flip side of development – displacement and migration
— by IDWFED — last modified Jun 12, 2017 02:35 PMMore and more of us work on migration or with migrant workers these days. We also know that the migrant workers get the worst deal even in sectors where other local workers may have more decent working conditions.
USA: "When there is an extreme power imbalance, people—particularly women—are vulnerable to slavery."
— by IDWFED — last modified Jun 13, 2017 12:35 AMLast month an article entitled “My Family's Slave,” published in the magazine The Atlantic, went viral on social media in the US and Philippines. The article was written by a man whose family enslaved a domestic worker for decades.
Uganda: Ugandan Migrant Domestic Workers - Challenges and organizing successes
— by IDWFED — last modified Jun 12, 2017 11:04 PMIn 2016 HTS-Union (UHFTAWU) ran radio campaigns on domestic workers that was not limited to locals, but also migrant domestic workers. As a result over 67 local domestic workers have contacted the union for assistance and guidance while migrant domestic workers have been rescued from forced labour and abusive employment.
Jamaica: "I slept in the dog house because I wanted to go to school", says Shirley Pryce
— by IDWFED — last modified Aug 16, 2017 04:06 PMShirley Pryce, formerly a domestic worker herself, advocates for domestic workers’ rights in Jamaica and across the Caribbean. Globally The memory of her employers locking her out at night because she wanted to go to evening classes stays haunts her to date. Following Jamaica’s ratification of the ILO Convention on Domestic Workers, Pryce is advocating for a national law to protect the rights of domestic workers.
Kenya: Profile of Ruth Khakame
— by IDWFED — last modified Mar 07, 2016 06:23 PMRuth Khakame is a rising domestic worker leader in KUDHEIHA (Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals, and Allied Workers. She has been a domestic worker for 7 years. She joined the union in 2013 in the Nairobi branch, in 2014 she was elected chairperson of the National Council of Domestic Workers in KUDHEIHA, and she is a board member of KUDHEIHA representing the sector.
Thailand: Profile of Kyan Par
— by IDWFED — last modified Mar 07, 2016 06:11 PMOne will be amazed by how Burmese domestic workers are organized in Thailand. Kyan Par joined the Network of Domestic Workers in Thailand in Dec 2014, and was soon elected as the President of the Network of Migrant Domestic Workers (MDW) in Thailand.
Italy: Profile of Wendy Paula Galarza Quinonez
— by IDWFED — last modified Mar 07, 2016 05:39 PMIDWF is happy to welcome Wendy Paula Galarza Quinonez as a replacement for Giuliana Mesina on the Executive Committee. Giuliana has had to step down from her ExCo role due to other responsibilities and FILCAMS has nominated Wendy.
Mexico: Profile of Ana Laura Aquino Gaspar
— by IDWFED — last modified Mar 07, 2016 05:23 PMAna Laura Aquino Gaspar, born October 23, 1975 in Mexico City to parents from Oaxaca, a southern Mexican state. She began working as a domestic worker at the age of 13 for a 3 member family where she didn’t even have a place to sleep other than the floor of the living room. Ana Laura worked in various household with families that did not treat her well, she faced discrimination, violation of her rights, and child labor exploitation with overwork and very long days.