Mariaam Bhatti: Tales of a Domestic Worker
As I sat looking through the tiny window at the blank space before me, so many thoughts came to my mind. The more I looked at the white blanket of cloud below and the further my eyes searched for the horizon and the calm blue sky in the distance, the more I thought of the world as a global village. In my mind there was a relationship of some kind between that thought, what I was staring at, and the conference I was heading to in Geneva where many issues were going to be discussed, particularly migration, human rights and domestic work.
Many other women in our group had been to such conferences before to represent the Domestic Workers Action Group (DWAG), but it was going to be my very first visit of that kind, and I was looking forward to it – imagining how exciting and educational it would be to meet other domestic workers groups and possibly domestic workers from across the globe. Plus I had never been anywhere else outside Ireland since my arrival, so maybe that was another reason for my excitement.
I also realised how humbled I was by the work done by people in the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) and other organisations like it. The fact that they support and encourage the people affected by the issues of exploitation to take a stand and fight back in a constructive manner, to give them the space to participate and be part of the road to social change, is incredible to me.
I’d already watched some of the women in our group speak at different events and seminars around Ireland. I saw totally different people in them, people that not so long ago were others’ doormats, slaving away as domestic workers. Their job was to be ordered around and to clean after others. Some were only deemed fit to eat their employer’s leftovers. In my eyes, these are the same women who have become so strong that they now go and stand tall in front of a huge audience, sometimes even in front of people who run countries, not only to share their stories but to be a voice for others and for change – to tell the lawmakers what things needs to change, and that we live in the 21st century, two centuries after modern day slavery was abolished, and long enough for society to have adopted the practices that reflect the era we live in now.
Many lawmakers come from privileged backgrounds and may not have personally met or known anyone in their lives who experienced what we have experienced working in private homes. They may not know of the issues in this line of work, so we take this opportunity to educate them – because nobody knows it better than we do, so we are the experts in our field.
This was exactly what I was going to do in Geneva. I was on my own, pulling my small suitcase, the same one that I was pulling when I set foot on Irish soil for the first time. I looked at my suitcase for a second and thought to myself: ‘Just over a year ago, I was this woman with no self-esteem or confidence working for a harsh and exploitative employer as a domestic worker, with no freedom of movement or freedom to be myself.’
My eyes began to well up as I thought how life had changed, and how I had become tall with pride to fight against abuse and exploitation of vulnerable workers. How I wished we all lived in a selfless world where greed and profit were not considered more important than basic human rights.
My mind came back to me after a few minutes astray and I saw every reason for every domestic worker to be at that United Nations conference, while I whispered to myself: ‘Welcome to Geneva, Mariaam.’
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.
