Mariaam Bhatti: Tales of a Domestic Worker
Lately I have been hearing snippets about the upcoming referendum on whether the Seanad should be abolished. I started thinking about what little I knew about the Seanad, let alone how to vote, or if I had any right to do so. I’ve read and listened to arguments both for and against its abolition – but what stands out as most important to me is the support that the Domestic Workers Action Group and the Forced Labour Campaign received from senators.
I thought of people like Senator Katherine Zappone, who I met at the Countess Markievicz Summer School in 2011 and who gave me hope when she spoke in an inspirational way about certain women she knew who had lacked opportunities to access third level education in their early years, and how going back to college as mature students, some with children ready for college themselves, had boosted their confidence and self-worth.
She is also well known in Ireland for being a champion in politics for the rights of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community. That made me think of people like Senator David Norris for his being so outspoken in representing and addressing issues that would probably never be discussed in the Dáil.
I must also add our recent visit to the Seanad to witness the debate on the amendment of trafficking legislation, which previously did not fully cover forced labour. For example, it only acknowledged there was trafficking for forced labour only when the use of force was applied and when the victim was moved across borders, while we who had found ourselves in forced labour situations felt similarly ‘forced’ to stay in work against our will. Though we were threatened with being reported to the authorities if we ran away, or had our passports withheld by our employers, this was not regarded as ‘force’, hence lack of protection by law.
All of us from the Forced Labour Campaign who attended had first-hand experience, some for as long as 10 years living and working like prisoners. I remember how we had sat there, all emotional as we witnessed the debate and the immense support from senators. Seeing not even a single one of them opposing it made me have hope for the respect for human rights some politicians still have.
We also knew that it could be too late for some of us to benefit from the amendment of the law, but we felt proud to be part of a group that changed Irish law, and even more proud that many women that may be coming here to work in the same conditions that we worked in will at least be protected from now on, their unscrupulous employers facing hefty fines or years behind bars. This was a significant achievement; we could not ask for a better reward than that.
I remember how proud and satisfied we felt walking out of the Seanad that day. We shook the senators’ hands to thank them for their support and even posed for a few photos with them. All that time I was amazed at the strength of the domestic workers beside me. I could not believe they were the same women who had been once enslaved behind closed doors of Irish homes. I could see our dream slowly unfolding before us, and also realised it would not have happened without the senators’ immense support. So I ask myself, would we really like to see them go?
Mariaam Bhatti is a member of the Domestic Workers Action Group and Forced Labour Action Group of the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland.
