About Us

Why was it founded?

The motivating reason for the founding of the Filipino Domestic Workers Association is the difficult predicament of many migrant domestic workers. Because our work is confined to the domestic setting and given the history of invisibility of this kind of work, domestic workers are particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. We saw the urgent need to form an organised group to launch the campaign against the tied visa, which has been dubbed the “slave visa.”

For more information on the slave visa, read these articles in The Guardian and ABS-CBN.

We help victims of human trafficking and victims of abusive employers. Please reach out to us if you or someone you know is a domestic worker who is experiencing problems with her employer.

We are also urging the British Government to sign the International Labor Organization’s Domestic Workers Convention. For more information on the importance of the ILO convention, .

Our aims and objectives

We aim to provide support and advice to migrant domestic workers in the UK. We also strive to demand the return of the concessions, such as the right to change employer and the right to a minimum wage. Our main objective is to raise awareness about the abuse and exploitation of domestic workers in the UK. We likewise work towards educating and informing migrant domestic workers about their rights.

• To assert and recognize the rights of undocumented domestic workers.
• To campaign for the ratification of the ILO Convention- the recognition of domestic work as WORK.
• To oppose labor export policies which institutionalize the commodification of labor and consequent abuse of migrant workers (domestic workers).
• To demand socio-economic reforms that will create decent jobs in our home country.
• To oppose unjust and discriminatory health policies and demand access to appropriate health information and services.

Programme of Action

We will uphold and promote the rights and welfare of the “documented” and “undocumented” domestic workers. The Association will endeavor to empower ourselves through self-organization, training and education, mobilization and to struggle for our rights and welfare.

Working with other migrant and community organisations

The Filipino Domestic Workers Association or FDWA is an active member organisation of Kanlungan Filipino Consortium, an alliance of different community organisations working together to uphold and defend migrants rights and welfare in the United Kingdom. We are also affiliated with Migrante Europe and Migrante International, the larget global alliance of progressive Filipinos overseas.