Migrant domestic workers, most of whom are women, have long been
subjected to overwork, underpayment and modern slavery. During the
COVID-19 pandemic, when governments all over the world urged the public
to stay at home, it means something different to those domestic workers
who are required to live with their employers, as their so-called �homes� in
a foreign society are actually their workplace. This book invites us to hear
the voices from domestic workers in Hong Kong. Apart from sharing their
stories as migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong, they also shared their
work experience in Singapore, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and the UK, which
indicates that their vulnerability is across borders.
Through joining domestic workers� Sunday gatherings, informal observation,
and conducting multiple in-depth informal interviews with more than 20
Filipino and Indonesian domestic workers in Hong Kong amid COVID-19,
Novia Bin traces these domestic workers� life trajectories, documents their
experiences, struggles, opinions and wishes, aiming to present their untold
stories as well as activism. This book discusses how poverty and social
exclusion lead to migrant domestic workers� powerless situation, and how
many of them are persistent in fighting for their human rights and labour
rights. Beyond that, it also explores other identities of the domestic workers
who could be artists, photographers, writers, union leaders, gifted language
learners and activists. Without using any theories and jargon, this book
tries to include readers from outside of academia. Anyone who cares about
universal human rights could be a potential reader of this book.