Domestic Workers Are Fighters and the Freedom We Are Asking For Has Always Been Ours By Lor
- thevoiceofdomesticworkers
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
I begin each day just after seven in the morning, a domestic worker for one to five years whose story is one of conviction from the very start. I draw my strength from my family, my faith, my fellow domestic workers, and my knowledge of my rights. On the hardest days, prayer is what steadies me. And through all of it, I hold onto something I want the world to understand: I am a fighter.
That word, fighter, carries a particular kind of dignity. It does not describe someone in conflict with the world. It describes someone who has decided that her rights and her worth are worth standing up for, and who has the character to keep standing even when the fight is long.
I am completely hopeful that things will improve for domestic workers, giving that hope the highest possible rating. I also rate the world's understanding of domestic worker dignity and value at four out of five, a high assessment that suggests I see genuine awareness around me, even if it has not yet fully translated into the protections I need. My employers offer a little respect. The media offers a lot. The government offers nothing at all.
I want the world to know that I have rights. I say this equally to employers, to governments, and to young people. All three groups need to hear it, and all three have a responsibility to act on it.
The rights I believe must be restored are all four: the right to change employer without restrictions, the right to renew the Overseas Domestic Worker Visa, the right to stay and settle in this country, and the right to apply for British Citizenship. I consider all of them life-changing. The one I identify as having hurt domestic workers most is the inability to change employer, which tells you that the freedom to leave a harmful situation is not a secondary concern. It is central to everything.
VODW's campaign for the right to change employer without restrictions speaks directly to this. When I cannot leave my employer without jeopardising my visa, I lose the most fundamental protection available to any worker. Restoring this right restores that protection, and with it, the basic conditions of a fair working relationship.
I spend over eight hours each week worrying about my job and visa situation. Workers must speak up. Governments must raise awareness. NGOs and advocates must do the same. The change that is needed requires everyone.
I expect the government to deliver. That expectation is not passive. It is the expectation of a fighter who knows what is possible and insists that those in power use their power well.
If these rights were restored, I say simply: it would bring me freedom. Not a complicated answer, but a complete one. The freedom I speak of is the freedom that has always belonged to me, the freedom to work without fear, to move without restriction, to build a life without the constant shadow of uncertainty. VODW stands with me in the fight to bring that freedom back. And fighters do not stop.
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