Mariaam Bhatti: Tales of a Domestic Worker
One of the big things I brought back with me from the Geneva conference was how the experience of meeting people from different NGOs – especially those who came from outside Europe – changed me and richly added to the skills and knowledge I already had.
While in Geneva I was sharing a hostel room with three other women from Greece, Indonesia and Mexico, the latter two of whom lived in Netherlands and the UK respectively. We all had experience of being migrants in different European countries, and on our first night together, despite the fact that we had had a long day and were tired, we spent the evening exchanging those experiences, in particular the situation in Greece for migrants in such tough economic times.
Most of the focus at the conference was on the ILO Convention on decent work for domestic workers, which had been voted to be on the agenda for discussion and adoption at the UN six months prior. Like many other domestic workers had done in their countries, the Domestic Workers Action Group here in Ireland had played a huge role in ensuring Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton was going to vote ‘Yes’ to that.
The pressure we put on the Government as a group had resulted in that vote, and it made me realise that many achievements around the world regarding rights for the oppressed, the vulnerable and the marginalised have been achieved through the hard work of campaigning, which confirms the importance of standing up for what you believe in.
Anyone who knows that it took a good 63 years to get domestic workers’ issues discussed at the United Nations will definitely understand why women broke down in tears and sang for joy with their banners hanging all over the UN headquarters. It was indeed a significant achievement for all the campaigners and organisations that pushed for the issue to be taken seriously. Yet for me, the exchange of information on what had been happening in each country in the six months after the ‘Yes’ vote – to ensure adoption followed the vote – was even more crucial.
Among the development workshops I attended in Geneva, I liked a presentation by a lovely and calm nun from India who said that apart from her missionary work, her organisation provided information to women leaving the country to work as domestic workers. This information sounded like a survival kit aimed at equipping women with the knowledge they need to avoid exploitation. I thought that was a brilliant idea, exactly the kind of ‘starter pack’ I would have needed when I left South Africa a couple of years ago. If I had been that lucky to come across it, I may not have ended up working like a mule and treated the way I was by my first employer in Ireland.
However, I wondered if it would be practically possible for every potential domestic worker to have access to such information before leaving their countries, and whether having such information available for all vulnerable low-skilled workers at ports of entry might be more useful.
To be continued...
Mariaam Bhatti is a member of the Domestic Workers Action Group and Forced Labour Action Group of the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland.
