Untapping a Power: How Nuraeni Turned Lived Experience into Strength
- thevoiceofdomesticworkers
- Jul 24
- 2 min read

Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Nuraeni and I am a domestic worker. I was a treasurer of Justice For
Domestic Workers now called The Voice of Domestic Workers and I have an
Indonesian group called Indonesian Muslimat.
I am here today not just with a story, but with a truth that reflects many others like
me—unheard, unseen, but deeply real.
When I first joined this peer research project about the experiences of domestic
workers—specifically within the trafficking advice sector—I didn’t know what to
expect. I was nervous. I wasn’t trained as a researcher. I wasn’t from an academic
background. I just had my experience—raw, lived, and deeply personal.
At the beginning, I thought it would be difficult. And it was. The training stretched
me—it was something new, unfamiliar. But once I started interviewing fellow
domestic workers, something shifted. The fear disappeared. Our conversations
flowed naturally—because I knew what they were talking about. I had lived it. I am
living it.
Those interviews weren’t just questions and answers. They were
mirrors—showing us our shared struggles, our resilience, and our strength. It
wasn’t just research. It was healing. It was empowerment.
All these years, when I looked outside of the domestic work sector—into other
sectors, where I hoped to bring my passion and knowledge—I was often told: you
don’t have enough experience. I was told: you haven’t worked in this field before.
I was told: you can volunteer, but we can’t pay you.
Volunteer? I have a child to support. Rent to pay. Bills to cover. Passion doesn’t
feed families.
It was frustrating. Because I have experience—just not the kind that fits neatly
into someone else's job description.
But lived experience is expertise.
When we talk about supporting survivors of trafficking… when we talk about
helping domestic workers… we need to ask: who truly understands the reality?
Who knows what it's like to be invisible, exploited, and silenced?
We do.
We know what it means to survive systems that fail us. We know what it takes to
rebuild trust. We know how to listen—not from a place of pity, but from shared
pain and shared power.
So today, I ask not for charity—but for recognition.
With the right opportunity, with training, with support—we can do the work. Not
just because we have lived through it, but because we are driven to help others
through it too.
I’m not just a domestic worker. I’m a peer researcher. I’m a mother. I’m an
advocate. And I’m proof that given a chance, we are more than capable—we are
powerful.
Thank you.
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