We Protect Others Through Our Work and We Deserve the Same Protection in Return By Dannah Ramos

I became a domestic worker in August 2023, stepping into a role I quickly understood as both essential and overlooked. I begin each morning at seven o'clock, ready to give my full attention and care to the household I serve. I do this drawing on my family, my faith, my fellow domestic workers, my knowledge of my rights, and the hope I hold for a better future.

On my hardest days, prayer is what holds me. And when I turn my gaze outward, toward the system that surrounds me and the world I am working within, I speak with the clarity of someone who has thought carefully about what she sees.

I play an important role in society. I take care of children, the elderly, and entire households. I make it possible for families to function, for adults to go to work, for life to proceed with some measure of order and care. And yet, despite this, I remain invisible. Not just overlooked, but actively unprotected. The government has not protected us, even as we domestic workers protect so much of the world around us.

That observation carries both pain and purpose. It is the kind of statement made by someone who sees the situation clearly and has decided not to look away from it.

I am completely hopeful that things will improve, rating that hope at the highest level. When it comes to how much respect domestic workers currently receive from employers and the government, my assessment is stark. Not at all. Both groups, as I see it, are failing to provide the basic recognition that this work deserves. The general public and the media offer a little, but it is not enough, and it has not translated into protection.

I believe all four of VODW's 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. All of these are life-changing. All of them are urgent. I identify the loss of all of them as the most damaging outcome domestic workers have faced.

I rate the government's current protection of migrant domestic workers at the lowest possible level. And I rate the urgency of restoring pre-2012 rights at the maximum. The gap between what exists and what is needed is enormous, and it needs to be closed as a matter of urgency.

Every group has a responsibility here. Workers must speak up. Governments must make laws. Unions, NGOs, and the public must all raise awareness and advocate for change. My voice is part of that collective effort, and it carries the weight of genuine knowledge.

If these rights were restored, it would be great for all domestic workers in the UK. We would be free. We would be treated equally. That image, of every domestic worker in this country finally working within a system that treats us equally, is the vision that drives VODW's work. I arrived in this profession recently, but I already understand exactly what is at stake. And I am already part of the fight.

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