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Sep 2022
17m 51s

The fight for domestic workers’ rights

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Millions of people, mainly women, sign up for jobs as domestic workers overseas. Yet much of this work is informal, with households enforcing their own terms behind closed doors - leaving the workers vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

In this episode, Laura Heighton-Ginns meets domestic workers who escaped modern slavery.

Jackie was forced to work extreme hours, sleep on a hard floor, and given only leftovers to eat for two years. Grace felt she had no choice but to take a domestic job overseas, but discovered many women who do this work are victimised.

As well hearing their stories, Laura speaks to the newly appointed Philippines Secretary of State for Migrants and UN International Labor Organisation and asks why domestic workers still lack basic protections.

Presented and produced by Laura Heighton-Ginns.

(Image: Grace Nine. Credit: BBC)

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