Domestic Workers

Facing Common Struggles, Domestic Workers Mobilize Across Borders

Michelle Chen | Posted 05.21.2012

Read More: Women, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Latin America, Migrant Workers, Globalization, Immigration, Labor Unions, Feminism, Human Trafficking, Labor, Human Rights, Slavery, Domestic Workers, Asia, Health Care, Video, World News

Creative protest through film and media are forming a common language for a dialogue on migrants' rights, breaking their silence with one collective voice.

Read Post

Maid in Lebanon: Ethiopian and Lebanese Reactions to the Death of Alem, and Slavery in Lebanon

Kumera Genet | Posted 04.13.2012

Read More: Ethiopian Maid Suicide, Domestic Workers, Human Rights, Ethiopian Housemaid Suicide, Alem Dechesa-Desisa Suicide, Slavery, Alem Dechesa-Desisa, Alem Dechassa, DC News

"It has been empowering to see the international outcry against the death of Alem Dechassa. This is the right response to the stories that we have been hearing from Lebanon and the Gulf for years. But more needs to be done, and the time is now."

Read Post

Diplomat's Servant Exposes Modern Day Slavery in the U.S.

Erwin de Leon | Posted 05.05.2012

Read More: Hillary Clinton, Domestic Workers, State Department, Diplomats, Human Trafficking, Trafficking, Slavery, Shanti Gurung, Modern Day Slavery, Crime News

The diplomat brought Shanti Gurung to New York in 2006 with the promise of paying her $100 a month to do light cooking and a few chores. The 17-year-old ended up working 16-hour days, cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, grocery shopping and giving massages.

Read Post

'The Help' Brings Domestic Workers Wage Campaign To Spotlight

Posted 02.27.2012

Read More: Oscars 2012, Video, Octavia Spencer, The Help, Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Oscars, Domestic Workers, Ai-Jen Poo, Domestic Workers Rights, Impact News

For the millions of domestic workers who leave their families behind for jobs that don't even pay minimum wage, Octavia Spencer's Oscar win was a boon...

Read Whole Story

#BeTheHelp on Oscar Night

Gayle Kirshenbaum | Posted 04.24.2012

Read More: Oscars 2012, The Help Movie, Octavia Spencer, Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, The Help, Academy Awards, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Association, Domestic Workers, Viola Davis, The Oscars, La Impact, Bethehelp, Los Angeles News

This year, there will be Oscar parties where The Help's Aibileen and Minny won't be the only domestic workers in starring roles.

Read Post

Migrants Struggle in the Shadows of Asia's Rising Tide of Inequality

Michelle Chen | Posted 04.16.2012

Read More: Thailand, South Asia, Workers, Undocumented Immigrants, Migrant Workers, Immigration, Philippines, Labor, Human Rights, Singapore, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Libya, Domestic Workers, Asia, Kuwait, World News

In both the "developed" and "developing" worlds," migrants' labor struggles are deepened by social alienation. In Malaysia, exploitation of Filipino and Indonesian migrants is rampant in sectors such as domestic work.

Read Post

Harold Perrineau and Other Hollywood Parents and Children Support Today's "Help"

Danielle Feris | Posted 03.24.2012

Read More: Slidepollajax, Chris Cowles, Kathleen Robertson, Be the Help, Octavia Spencer, Elisabeth Rohm, Laurence Fishburne, Ann Lopez, Harold Perrineau, Domestic Workers, Ai-Jen Poo, Lost, Ndwa, Gina Torres, Los Angeles News

After jamming to a live band and enjoying glitter tattoos, children at the party painted large fabric panels with images and words that expressed their love for the nannies in their lives.

Read Post

Grandmas For Hire: L.A.-Based Childcare Firm Offers New Career For Mature Women

Posted 10.12.2011

Read More: Domestic Help, Video, Childcare, Los Angeles California, Domestic Workers, Grandparents, Los Angeles, Grandmothers, Grandmas for Hire, Fifty News

Women of a certain age who are struggling to find work now have a new option, as a Los Angeles-based employment agency is offering what some are calli...

Read Whole Story

The Scholar and the Stripper

Kalia N. Baker | Posted 12.07.2011

Read More: Black Women, The Help, Sex Workers, Black Strippers, Domestic Workers, Sex Work, Strippers, Black Women Sex Work, Stripper, Black Voices News

Looking around the long cherry wood rectangular tables, I waited anxiously to raise my hand. This particular day in our "Women in Literature" course l...

Read Post

Historians Respond: Who Needs The Help?

Jim Downs | Posted 10.28.2011

Read More: u.s. History, The Help Movie, Domestic Workers, The Help, Race, Kathryn Stockett, Race Relations, Civil Rights, Slavery, Culture News

The Help has stirred up a controversy.

Read Post

'The Help' And The Lives Of Today's Nannies

HuffingtonPost.com | Rebecca Carroll | Posted 10.19.2011

Read More: The Help Movie, Domestic Workers, Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, The Help, New York Nannies Bill, Nannies, Caribbean Domestic Workers, New York Nannies, Brooklyn, Black Voices News

The high-profile success of the movie "The Help" has thrust nannies into the center of the American conversation, while projecting the notion that tak...

Read Whole Story

The Hidden Victims of Human Trafficking

Nisha Varia | Posted 08.29.2011

Read More: Women's Rights, Domestic Workers, Human Rights, Asia, Middle East, Maids, State Department, Labor Standards, International Labor Organization, Human Trafficking, World News

Being forced into domestic servitude is one of the most common forms of human trafficking. Yet it remains one of the most invisible, including meager media coverage and law enforcement efforts.

Read Post

Why We Need To Think Of Our Mothers As Caregivers

Tiffany Williams | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Domestic Workers, Caregivers, CLASS Act, Mothers Domestic Workers, Mother's Day Caregivers, Mother's Day. Mother's Day 2011, Mothers as Caregivers, Motorsports, Mother's Day, Healthy Living News

Beyond the vases of roses, the boxes of chocolate, even the spa gift certificates, we can do more for the caregivers in our families.

Read Post

Bringing Rights for Domestic Workers Out of the Closet

Eileen Boris | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Wokers Rights, Elder Care, Domestic Workers, Women's History Month, Unions, Health Care, Business News

Workers hired by families are using the state to transform private labors into public work. But one group of household laborers remains apart -- those paid by governments to care for needy elderly and disabled people.

Read Post

Dozens Of Reportedly Abused Maids Flown Home From Lebanon

Yahoo! News | – | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Women's Rights, Domestic Workers Abuse, Lebanon, Human Rights, Maids, Madagascar, Domestic Workers, Camille Vital, Physical Abuse, World News

ANTANANARIVO (AFP) -- Madagascar's government early Thursday flew home 86 women domestic workers from Lebanon who had been subjected to abuse, amid co...

Read Whole Story

Help for Sri Lanka's Abused Maids

Catholic Relief Services | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Kuwait, Domestic Workers, Abuse, Caritas, Middle East, Maids, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, World News

"I was ironing and one of the little girl's dresses got burned," says Daya*, a Sri Lankan woman working as a live-in maid for a wealthy family in Kuwa...

Read Post

Human Rights Watch Kuwait Exhibit Sheds Light On Migrant Workers

Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Migrant Workers, Arabic State, Kuwait, Middle East, Domestic Workers, Human Rights Watch, World News

Recent history has given Kuwait a violent, albeit highly-monied, reputation. However, those unfamiliar with the tiny Arab state's class structure may ...

Read Whole Story

Domestic Workers' Rights Bill Passes In N.Y.

AP | MICHAEL VIRTANEN | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: New York Workers' Rights, New York Workers Rights, Domestic Workers' Rights, Workers' Rights, Domestic Workers, Domestic Workers Rights, Workers Rights, New York News, New York News

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York domestic workers will be the first in the U.S. guaranteed overtime pay, as well as time off and protections against sexu...

Read Whole Story

Bold Changes, Great Leaders, Big Movements

Ambassador Swanee Hunt and Adria D. Goodson | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Food Movement, Rachel Lloyd, Social Justice, Learning Disabilities, Sexual Exploitation, Prime Movers, Human Trafficking, Mark Hanis, Genocide, Social Movements, Domestic Workers, Social Entrepreneur, David Flink, Social Capital, Youth-Food-Movement, Anim Steel, Ai-Jen Poo, Josh Viertel, Impact News

Our country is facing a glut of complex problems that no single politician, political party, or other organization can solve in a lasting way, without help. For shifts of this magnitude, we need social movements and compelling leaders.

Read Post

Middle East/Asia: Partial Reforms Fail Migrant Domestic Workers

Human Rights Watch | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Jordan, Migrant Workers, Kuwait, South Asia, Asia, Middle East, Bahrain, Domestic Workers, World News

Despite recent improvements, millions of Asian and African women workers remain at high risk of exploitation and violence, with little hope of redress.

Read Post

NanniesTo Get Mandatory Paid Holidays, Overtime Wages Under New Bill

AP | MICHAEL VIRTANEN | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Domestic Workers, New York Nannies Bill, Nannies, New York Nannies, Nannies Overtime, New York News

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York lawmakers have passed bills to require overtime pay after eight-hour workdays and at least one day off weekly for more t...

Read Whole Story

About Time: New York's Domestic Workers May Finally Get Rights on the Job

Amy Traub | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: New York State Senate, Domestic Workers United, Housekeepers, Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, Workplace, Nannies, Labor Rights, Domestic Workers, Diane Savino, New York News

Is scrubbing somebody else's floor "work"? How about staying up all night -- every night -- with another person's colicky baby? Or helping their elderly mother shower and use the bathroom?

Read Post

The Nanny Diaries: A Caribbean Version

Arlene M. Roberts | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Housekeepers, Caribbean Nannies, Caribbean Women, Gloria Steinem, Caribbean Caretakers, Domestic Workers United, Exit Cuckoo, Barbara Ehrenreich, Caribbean Domestic Workers, Latina Nannies, Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, Lisa Ramirez, Hector Figueroa, Kevin Powell, Gov. David Paterson, New York Labor Relations Act, Nannies, Domestic Workers, African Nannies, Jonathan Tescini, Rules-for-Nannies, Women's Rights, Governor David Paterson, Domestic-Workers-United, Healthy Living News

There are more than 200,000 women in New York working as nannies, companions and housekeepers, whose lives are typified by long hours, meagre wages, drudgery, and worse.

Read Post

Local Politics: The Rich Get Richer

Warren Goldstein | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Charles Rangel, Campaign Contributions, Drug Companies, Health Care Reform, Hiram Monserrate, Pedro Espada, Single Payer Healthcare, Domestic Workers, Health Insurance, Single Payer, Insurance Companies, Same-Sex Marriage, New York News

"All politics is local," the late Speaker of the House Tip O'Neil opined famously. And New Yorkers have been getting a large dose of the maxim in rec...

Read Post

Celebrate Human Rights Day by Honoring the Human Rights of Domestic Workers

Priscilla Gonzalez and Rebecca Smith | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Legal Rights, Protection, Domestic Help, Human Rights, Nannies, Economy, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Domestic Workers, Housekeepers, Labor Standards, Caregivers, Politics News

Many domestic workers have no legal right to overtime pay or a day off. Should they fall ill, suffer injury, or become unemployed, the vast majority do not qualify for benefits.

Read Post