Making the Invisible, Visible: The first step

somebody's sister, daughter, mother

"He saw the pain in my eyes.  

He could see my human.  

He helped me escape."

The domestic workers we see choose to work the way they do. They are treated well, and are working legally. They are visible. The ones we don't see are often physically and mentally abused, forcibly confined, and bonded in a modern-day form of slavery.  Often there is no easy way out for these people, many are tricked into this line of work. The industry that supplies and exploits domestic workers violates many of their human rights. They are invisible.

Many of the people who work or go to this school have a domestic worker at their home, so we encounter domestic workers on a daily basis. While the domestic workers we see may not be abused, Malaysia has hundreds of thousands of domestic workers, many of whom are abused. Through our domestic workers, we are linked to this issue. Those affected are imprisoned, exploited and harmed. This also affects their family: someone they love is being hurt and they are often powerless to stop it. These family members, especially children, are often brought up in conditions that lead them to jobs similar to those held by their parents. If their parents are taken out of these conditions, they are as well.

It surprised me that laws on domestic workers are different depending on their country of origin. The Indonesian government banned all movement of domestic workers to Malaysia in an effort to get more rights for their workers already in Malaysia. A deal was reached and while negotiations are still in process Indonesian workers now have a higher minimum wage, better working conditions and insurance for both workers and employers. However this applies only to Indonesian workers, those who are from Cambodia or Myanmar are not protected under these laws. This is clearly unfair and needs to change. People shouldn't be treated differently because of their nationality.

After conducting only a little research on this topic I feel it is much closer to me than I had originally anticipated. It is close to me not only physically as many of the cases of abuse documented took place in Kuala Lumpur, but also emotionally. I cannot imagine anybody abusing the domestic workers that I see everyday, and I feel I have to play a part in preventing abuse from happening. Due to this I feel it will be much easier for us to have an effect on this issue than on others. Change has to start with us, we have to make a difference close to home by ensuring the domestic workers that we see everyday have adequate pay, working conditions and satisfactory accommodation. Are all of us confident this is the case currently? 

 After reading many articles on the situation, and reflecting, I realized how big an issue this is and how many lives it has affected. The more I read on this topic the more grateful I feel for my lot in life, and the more I feel it is our duty as humans to help those less fortunate than us.