{"id":7504,"date":"2021-08-23T07:49:57","date_gmt":"2021-08-23T06:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.cov19chronicles.com\/?p=7504"},"modified":"2023-11-23T18:15:46","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T18:15:46","slug":"locked-in-the-invisibility-of-migrant-domestic-workers-during-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cov19chronicles.com\/locked-in-the-invisibility-of-migrant-domestic-workers-during-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Locked In: The (In)Visibility of Migrant Domestic Workers during Covid-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Dr Amy Charlesworth is a Lecturer in Art History at The Open University. Here, she talks to Marissa Begonia, founder and director of the charity, Voice of Domestic Workers (VoDW). Every year the organisation rescues up to 90 workers who are escaping abusive employers. During the pandemic, in 2020, the number went down to just 6. Amy picks up on research she carried out previously with VoDW and with the help of Marissa they track the changes and the difference the pandemic has made to domestic workers and to the vital \u201csocial reproductive labour\u201d they carry out often out \u2013 mostly invisible to society.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Between the years of 2013-2016 I worked closely with \u2018Justice for Domestic Workers\u2019, a grassroots campaign group which sought to provide practical, emotional and educational support to undocumented migrant domestic workers in the UK. One part of our collective work involved making film to raise awareness about the impact of the decision, by then Home Secretary, Teresa May, to change the oversees domestic workers\u2019 visa to one which tied the employee to their employer. This new visa regulation<\/a> meant that if domestic workers had to leave their employment for any reason, including abuse, they were left undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n