Justice for Migrant Workers? The Case of Foreign Domestic Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore 1

2005 ◽  
pp. 196-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Bell ◽  
Nicola Piper
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Foreign Domestic Workers

scholarly journals “We also deserve help during the pandemic”: The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid D. Lui ◽  
Nimisha Vandan ◽  
Sara E. Davies ◽  
Sophie Harman ◽  
Rosemary Morgan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Employment Status ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Foreign Domestic Workers ◽  
Additional Support ◽  
Local Transmission ◽  
Blind Spots

AbstractThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses particular challenges for migrant workers around the world. This study explores the unique experiences of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in Hong Kong, and how COVID-19 impacted their health and economic wellbeing. Interviews with FDWs (n= 15) and key informants (n= 3) were conducted between May and August 2020. FDWs reported a dual-country experience of the pandemic, where they expressed concerns about local transmission risks as well as worries about their family members in their home country. Changes to their current work situation included how their employers treated them, as well as their employment status. FDWs also cited blind spots in the Hong Kong policy response that also affected their experience of the pandemic, including a lack of support from the Hong Kong government. Additional support is needed to mitigate the particularly negative effects of the pandemic on FDWs.

Better a Friend Nearby Than a Brother Far Away? The Health Implications of Foreign Domestic Workers’ Family and Friendship Networks

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 765-783
Author(s):  
Jing Ye ◽  
Feinian Chen
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Protective Effects ◽  
Personal Network ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Daily Contact ◽  
Foreign Domestic Workers ◽  
Reported Health ◽  
Migrant Domestic Workers

Migrant domestic workers provide essential services to the families they live with, but they are not considered a part of the family. As a group, they are not well-integrated into the society and often suffer from social isolation. In this article, we explore the potential health buffering effects of their personal network, in terms of family and friendship ties in both the local community and their home country. Existing literature provides inconsistent evidence on who and what matters more, with regard to the nature, strength, and geographic locations of individual personal networks. Using data from the Survey of Migrant domestic Workers in Hong Kong (2017), we find that family ties are extremely important. The presence of family members in Hong Kong as well as daily contact with family, regardless of location, are associated with better self-reported health. Only daily contact with friends in Hong Kong, not with friends in other countries, promotes better health. We also find evidence that the protective effects of family and friends networks depend on each other. Those foreign domestic workers with families in Hong Kong but also maintain daily contact with friends have the best self-reported health among all.

scholarly journals On the Same Skywalk in a Time of Pandemic: How a vulnerable group copes with the new conditions in Hong Kong

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (17) ◽  
pp. 33-48
Author(s):  
Caterina Villani ◽  
Gianni Talamini ◽  
Zhijian Hu
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Publishing House ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
High Density ◽  
The Public ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Pedestrian Network ◽  
International Publishing

The public space plays a crucial role in providing adequate infrastructure for vulnerable social groups in the context of high-density urban Asia. In this study, a well-known elevated pedestrian network in Hong Kong emerges as a revelatory case for the comparative analysis of the pattern of stationary uses before and after the COVID-19 pandemic out-break. Findings reveal a significant decrease (-20 %) in the total number of users and a shift in the pattern of activities, comprising a significant shrinkage of socially oriented uses and a vast increase of individual behaviors. This study advocates a responsive policymaking that considers the peculiar post-outbreak needs of migrant workers in Hong Kong and in high-density urban Asia Keywords: Covid-19; public space; migrant domestic workers; behavioural mapping eISSN  2514-751X © 2020 The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians / Africans / Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ajebs.v5i17.374

Correlates of life satisfaction among Southeast Asian foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong: An exploratory study

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 368-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Dick Man Leung ◽  
Etonia Ying Tung Tang
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Perceived Social Support ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Special Group ◽  
Foreign Domestic Workers

Live-in foreign domestic workers (FDWs) are a special group in Hong Kong, where they account for approximately 4 percent of Hong Kong’s population. FDWs’ level of life satisfaction (LS) and its correlates have been under-researched thus far. This study examined data from 130 participants and sought to determine the effect of perceived social support, self-esteem and demographic characteristics on LS. The results showed that being married was negatively associated with LS while self-esteem was not a significant factor. The findings suggest the importance of providing support to FDWs to enhance their LS.

scholarly journals Abuse and Violence Against Foreign Domestic Workers. A Case from Hong Kong

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akm Ahsan Ullah
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Psychological Abuse ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Foreign Domestic Workers ◽  
Decision To Stay ◽  
Migrant Domestic Workers

Abstract This paper explores various abuses Foreign Domestic Helpers (FDHs) or migrant domestic workers (MDW) in Hong Kong suffer and the strategies they take up to cope with this abuse. Data were collected from 215 domestic helpers (135 from the Philippines, 30 from Thailand, 41 from Indonesia, and 9 from Sri Lanka) all of whom had been in residence for at least six months. Selected by snow-balling technique, respondents were interviewed with structured and non-structured questionnaires. Research shows that sexual abuse is the most common form of abuse against MDWs followed by psychological and physical abuses. Female employers are the main perpetuators of psychological abuse while the male employers are culpable for sexual abuses. Coping strategies varied widely among the MDWs. Many of them endure the violence to keep the job; some quit the job and others struggle with the decision to stay or quit.

The Foreign Domestic Workers in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan: Should Minimum Wage Apply to Foreign Domestic Workers?

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chieh-Hsuan Wang ◽  
Chien-Ping Chung ◽  
Jen-Te Hwang ◽  
Chia-yang Ning
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Foreign Domestic Workers

Maid to Queer

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisca Yuenki Lai
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Labor Migration ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Subject Formation ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Western Discourse ◽  
Alternative Sexuality ◽  
Sexual Identification

The first book about Asian female migrant workers who develop same-sex relationships in a host city. Based on participant observation and in-depth interviews with Indonesian domestic workers in Hong Kong, the book explores the meanings of same-sex relationships to these migrant women. Instead of searching for reasons to explain why they engage in a same-sex relationship, the book provides an ethnographic perspective by addressing their Sunday activities and considering how migration policies and the practices of Hong Kong people unintentionally produce alternative sexuality and desires for them. The author contrasts the migrant experiences of same-sex relationships with the Western discourse that individuals carry a strong sense of sexual identification prior to migration; same-sex desires among Indonesian domestic workers are often not realized until they leave home. Addressing the changes from maid to queer, this book documents the intersections of domestic work, labor migration, race, and religion on the sexual subject formation, specifically how Indonesian women negotiate heteronormativity and remake a space for their love, sex, and intimacy. The book aims to create a dialogue between Asian labor migration and LGBT studies. For those interested in lesbian studies, Asian labor migration, sexual citizenship, and queer migration, this ethnography fills an important gap in explaining how the feminization of international migration and the constraints imposed on live-in domestic workers unintentionally become productive possibilities of queerness and normativity.

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