Overseas and migrant domestic workers are foreign nationals who move to perform remunerated work in or for a private household and suffer deeply behind closed doors. Many experience physical and emotional abuse, restricted freedoms, as well as low wages, informal employment without contracts, having their passports confiscated, and forced labour.
This issue has steadily increased over the years. Some of the main problems domestic workers face include abuse and violence. According to the University of Nottingham, 42% of workers reported experiencing threatening behaviour from their employer and a third reported physical abuse. Another main factor is wage theft. Again, according to the University of Nottingham, 41% of workers in high-risk sectors have reported that their income is either being withheld or drastically undercut, falling well below the minimum wage.
Lastly, forced labour, in nations utilising tied-visa or sponsorship contracts, for example in the Middle East, workers can be criminalised if they attempt or are caught fleeing from their abusive employer, according to the Guardian.
Now, many organisations, big and small, have attempted to contribute to ending injustice for domestic workers, including the Baroness Elizabeth Butler Sloss. She is a retired English judge and was the first-ever female Lord Justice of Appeal, considered the highest-ranking female judge till 2004. She chaired the inquests of famous figures, including the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Fayed until 2007, eventually standing down. She advocated for justice for migrant domestic workers (MDWS) and recently attended a parliamentary committee meeting discussing research and firsthand accounts as MDWs serving as examples of her engagement on the issue.
To conclude the in-depth research compiled by the University of Nottingham and SEEAWA funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the UK’s ODW (Overseas domestic workers) visa system structurally increases the risk of abuse and undermines the protective intent of modern slavery and domestic abuse legislation.
By restoring the right to change employers, strengthening employer accountability and providing alternative routes to regularisation, it would aid in aligning immigration policy with the UK’s commitments to combat modern slavery and violence against women and girls.