Migrant domestic workers are one of the most vulnerable and invisible groups of workers in the UK. A participatory video project and exhibitions run by the University of York Management School’s Joyce Jiang have helped them to articulate their needs to politicians and public audiences.
Each year, the Home Office issues approximately 19,000 visas under its "Domestic Workers in Private Households" scheme, which allows foreign families to bring domestic workers to the UK.
Migrant domestic workers (MDWs) live and work in environments where class relations are often enmeshed with gendered and racialised structures of oppression. They experience greater exploitation than workers in most other occupations. They are subject to long working hours and are often paid below the minimum wage. They also face verbal, physical and sexual abuse.
The problems of MDWs are compounded by their legal precarity, since the government introduced restrictions in 2012 which removed the right to renew their visas. MDWs face difficulties in articulating their social and political will and struggle to participate in public forums.
Giving migrant domestic workers a voice
Joyce Jiang of the University of York Management School has been using participatory art to support the voice of MDWs. Her project explores how art practices can undermine dominant structures and challenge cultures which impair the lives of migrant women workers through sexualisation, racism and labour exploitation.
In collaboration with The Voice of Domestic Workers (a grassroots campaigning and advocacy organisation in London), and a filmmaker from Goldsmiths, she ran a 12-week series of participatory video workshops for 12 MDWs. Together they produced a film, which offers a glimpse into the everyday work and life of MDWs.
The co-produced film Our Journey was screened alongside a self-curated exhibition of the artefacts from the lives of MDWs: family photographs, letters from children back home, employment contracts and work uniforms.
It has been shown in a number of galleries and museums including L’etrangère, the Stephen Lawrence Gallery, Cubitt, Unite the Union, Goldsmiths in London and the Norman Rea gallery in York. The exhibitions gave a unique and intimate insight into a hidden world of exploitation, abuse and, ultimately, strength - in solidarity and community. Through the exhibitions, the MDWs have communicated a collective narrative in the public sphere, articulating who they were, what they stood for and what they stood against.
The video has informed a campaign to change visa rules, led by The Voice of Domestic Workers, Unite the Union, Kalayaan and Anti-Slavery in the UK. It has also raised parliamentary awareness of the plight of MDWs.
For interviews or more information, contact Harry O'Neill at Insight Media: