We Have Rights We Have Dignity and the Laws Must Be Changed to Prove It By Ghelai

I became a domestic worker in April 2019. I begin each morning at five, early even by the standards of a profession already built around early starts, and I bring to every day the full weight of my conviction that I and my fellow workers deserve to be treated equally.

My strength is rooted in family. On the hardest days, it is prayer that holds me steady. I am completely hopeful that things will improve for domestic workers, rating that belief at the highest level. I believe the world understands the value and dignity of this profession well. My employers offer a lot of respect, and the media does as well. The government and the general public offer a little, suggesting that public awareness exists but has not yet been matched by legislative action.

What I want everyone to know, employers, governments, and young people alike, is the same across all three groups. I have rights. I have dignity. I am strong. These three statements together form the foundation of everything I believe about my profession and the people who practice it. They are not requests. They are declarations.

I believe all four of VODW's core campaigns must succeed. 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. Every single one of these rights I consider life-changing. Not simply important. Life-changing. And I identify the loss of all of them, collectively, as the most damaging outcome domestic workers have faced.

I rate the urgency of restoring pre-2012 rights at the absolute maximum. The government's current protection of migrant domestic workers I place at three out of five, a middle score that reflects partial effort but serious shortfall.

I spend twelve hours each week worrying about my job and visa situation. Nearly two full working days, every week, absorbed by uncertainty rather than by living. That number should make anyone paying attention stop and consider what it means to carry that weight while also doing a job that requires full emotional and physical presence.

Laws must be made. That is my call to action. I believe every group, workers, governments, unions, NGOs, and the public, must take their responsibility seriously and act. Change is not accidental. It is built, and it requires everyone.

If these rights were restored, it would be very helpful. Real help, the kind that comes from structural change rather than from individual goodwill, is exactly what is needed. VODW works to create that structural change, and my voice, rooted in dignity and driven by conviction, is part of the architecture of that work.

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