Call for employers to avoid Lunar New Year exploitation of Hong Kong’s domestic helpers
Maids often expected to do housework at homes of employers’ relatives during festivities, campaigners say
As Hong Kong welcomes the Year of the Rooster, domestic helpers have called on employers to treat them with respect, hitting out at perceived growing discrimination over the years, as industry insiders warned of the legal pitfalls for employers during the festive period.
A spokeswoman for a helpers’ group said proper treatment could simply start with them not being expected to do housework at their employers’ relatives’ homes during Lunar New Year.
“Our wish is for Hong Kong to become a better place for domestic workers. We have been feeling very intense discrimination over the years,” Eni Lestari, spokeswoman of the Asia Migrants’ Coordinating Body, which pushes for domestic workers’ rights, said. “We want to be recognised and respected. We want to be treated as human beings.”
