Letters | On International Women’s Day, show your appreciation for your domestic worker

Readers discuss equity for migrant domestic workers in our midst, gig workers’ rights, and the Myanmar situation

Reading Time:3 minutes

A senior citizen is accompanied by a domestic worker to a garden in Jordan in 2022. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Published: 11:30am, 8 Mar 2023

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The theme of International Women’s Day this year, #EmbraceEquity, encourages everyone everywhere to work together to ensure equal rights and opportunities for all women.

At PathFinders, we embrace equity every day as we seek to protect migrant worker mothers and their children, so this theme resonates strongly with us.

I’m incredibly proud that we at PathFinders are strong participants in this effort. Over the past 15 years, we have been at the forefront of enhancing public awareness of, and care for, the migrant domestic worker community. We believe that without greater respect for migrant domestic workers, we will not be able to protect their children.

Domestic workers, or “helpers”, are among Hong Kong’s most marginalised communities of women. We often hear heartbreaking stories of these workers encountering racial or gender discrimination. They’re working women just like you and me, yet often they do not enjoy respect, fair treatment and access to rights in society.

Being a working mother myself, I just can’t imagine how I would carry on with my career and take care of the family without our amazing domestic workers. These workers are part of our families, and have enabled thousands of working women in our city to carry on working and have families, but how often do we really acknowledge their personal challenges?