For She Speaks, TedX speaker, Self Love Cupid founder and migrant domestic worker Eny Bawse shares what employers should know about the fears surrounding physical, mental and economical well-being that domestic workers face every day
When I heard about the suspected murder of a 25-year-old Indonesian domestic worker in Pok Fu Lam by a British man, I was shocked and angry. It happened at a time when I was mourning the death of other people as well—as it often happens in our community. In October, dozens of Indonesian domestic workers died of illness and fatigue—including some who fainted at their employer’s home shortly before their passing.
Cases of physical, psychological and economic abuse are not isolated in our community, as people think they can take advantage of us. Through my organisation Self Love Cupid, I listen to many of my peers’ traumatic experiences. I’ve heard about employers yelling, threatening to report them to immigration and refusing to provide anything other than instant noodles and leftovers for meals—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
This murder is a brutal reminder of how migrant domestic workers can be treated in Hong Kong and beyond. We’re perceived as inferiors by employers and as not important to society. To this day, I’m still baffled by some employers’ capacity to abuse their family caretaker—because some perceive us as replaceable goods, making them not care about our physical, mental and economic well-being.
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What are the policies preventing domestic workers from feeling physically, mentally and economically safe?
The first one is the live-in conditions policy. As everything happens behind closed doors, it breeds a ground for employers to disregard policies—as they can feel they have the most authority at home.
The second one is the lack of strict regulation for our working hours. Yes, we are entitled to seven hours of rest or sleep every day and 24 hours of rest on our day off. But in reality, everything is at the employer’s mercy. No other breaks are accounted for, included lunch time. In my personal experience, I recall not being able to go to sleep before 12am and having to wake up by 6am.
Third is the job-hopping policy, which is a rule that was set up to prevent migrant domestic workers from breaking their contract before the two-year mark. It creates a situation where domestic workers are scared to change employers, as the Immigration Department has the authority to disapprove their visa application or even blacklist them. In case of mistreatment by employers, domestic workers would rather prioritise their income stability—aka stay in their current jobs—rather than prioritise their safety and risk being sent home.