Skilled Strong and Seen Why Domestic Workers Deserve More Than Just a Job By Sarah Usman
I have been a domestic worker for more than ten years. I began in February 2011, and in the years since, I have shown up every single day as someone who is skilled, capable, and committed. That is the truth I want the world to hold onto. I am a skilled worker. Not a helper. Not a background figure. I am a person who has developed genuine expertise in running households, caring for families, and maintaining the quality of daily life for those I work alongside.
On the hardest days, it is prayer that carries me through. I find strength in my faith, in my family, in the knowledge of my rights, and in the solidarity of fellow domestic workers who understand what this life truly requires. That network of support, spiritual and human, is what has kept me grounded across more than a decade of this work.
I hold my hope high. I believe things will improve for domestic workers. I also believe the world is fully capable of understanding the value and dignity of this profession. What I see around me, however, does not always match that belief. Employers, government, the general public, and the media all offer only a little respect to workers like me. There is a gap between what we deserve and what we are given, and that gap matters.
The message I want every group to receive is the same. We are strong. Not merely surviving, but strong in character, in skill, and in the knowledge that our work holds real value. I want employers to understand this. I want governments to legislate around it. I want young people to grow up knowing it.
When I reflect on the rights that must be restored, two stand out. The right to renew the Overseas Domestic Worker Visa and the right to stay and settle in this country. Both of these rights, once available before 2012, have been stripped in ways that have left us exposed and uncertain. The inability to renew the visa is the single loss I identify as most damaging, and I rate the urgency of restoring pre-2012 rights at the absolute highest level.
The campaign for visa renewal, at the heart of VODW's advocacy, directly addresses what I and thousands like me face every year. Without the ability to renew the ODW Visa, I am effectively trapped, unable to leave a difficult situation, unable to plan for stability, and unable to build the kind of life that reflects the genuine contribution I make to the households and families I serve.
The right to settlement is equally significant. I consider it life-changing. If I could one day settle in the country where I have spent more than a decade working, that would mean permanence, security, and the legal acknowledgment that my presence here has always been valuable and worthy of protection. Currently, I spend fifteen hours each week worrying about my job and visa situation. Fifteen hours. That is a part-time job in anxiety alone, time and energy that could be given to rest, to family, to everything that makes life more than just endurance.
I believe the government must make laws and that we as workers must have the freedom to speak up. I know that raising awareness across the public is part of the change that is needed.
The word I reach for when asked what restored rights would mean is simple and profound. Freedom. It is the same word many of us return to, because freedom is what has been taken away, and freedom is what this movement is working to bring back.
My voice is part of that work. Strong, clear, and grounded in more than ten years of living this reality, my story is one of the many reasons VODW's campaigns are not just important. They are necessary.
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