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Ailyn was 13
when she became a live-in domestic worker for her teacher
in exchange for an education that she could not afford.
“I usually wake up at 3 am, I do (3) baskets of laundry,
I sleep very late at night, I’m not able to do my homework
because my employer would usually turn off the lights
when it’s late at night”
Domestic workers like Ailyn have struggled to be recognized
for the work they do.
They have been excluded from labor laws
that would protect them from difficult working conditions….
“It’s a little difficult for me in the house,
I don’t eat too well because they (employers) hide the rice,
then in the morning they (employers) don’t let me join them during meals,
I also take care of their child, I take him to school,
bathe him, I do everything what they ask me to do…”
In August, the Philippines National Senate
ratified the ILO’s Convention 189 on Domestic Workers.
Now, domestic workers there have the legal protection of the law
in terms of pay, social security, and protection against abuse,
harassment and violence.
“Domestic workers should be protected under the laws,
not just in the Philippines but throughout the world.”
Philippines’ ratification means
the Convention will come into force internationally
within the year making domestic workers eligible
for the same protections that other workers enjoy.
“I hope that they no longer abuse domestic workers,
I hope they allow them to rest because they are also human.”