Not Just a Worker but a Human Who Needs Respect and the Security to Feel Truly Protected By Stella

I started my work as a domestic worker in July 2025, rising each morning at half past five to begin a day of care and service. From my very first days in this role, I brought with me a conviction that has not changed: I am not just a worker. I am a human being who needs respect and protection.

That clarity of thought is something I have carried from the beginning. I know what this work means and what those of us who do it deserve. And I want the world to know it too.

My family is my strength, and on the hardest days it is the thought of my children's future that lifts me. There is no more honest reason to keep going. I am completely hopeful that things will improve, and I equally believe the world is capable of fully understanding the value and dignity of domestic workers.

I ask that everyone around me, employers, government, young people, and the public, understands one essential truth: I have dignity. That message runs through everything I say. Dignity is not a reward for good behaviour. It is the starting point for every interaction, every policy, and every law that touches the lives of people who do this work.

The right I identify as most urgently needed is the right to renew the Overseas Domestic Worker Visa. I consider all four rights to be very important to the daily lives of domestic workers. That precision matters. I am not describing a nice-to-have. I am describing what is necessary for any domestic worker to operate with confidence and security.

I believe in collective action at every level. Workers, employers, governments, NGOs, and the public all have a role in raising awareness and speaking up together. Change is not a passive outcome. It requires participation.

I report spending no time each week worrying about my job or visa situation. That absence of worry is the kind of peace every worker should feel, free from that particular anxiety entirely.

When asked what it would mean for these rights to be restored, I use a single word. Secure. It is the perfect word. Secure means protected. It means cared for. It means that the systems around me have been designed to keep me safe rather than to leave me to manage risk alone. VODW is building toward that security for every domestic worker in the UK, and my voice, fresh and certain, adds to the momentum of that work.

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