糖心原创

We are delighted to share that the project team for the AHRC-funded project, Contradictions in UK Migrant Law and Women's Advocacy: the case of tracked/undocumented Filipino women, recently took part in a panel discussion at Westminster, sharing key findings from their research with policymakers and stakeholders.

Over the last year, Dr. Pauline Eadie, Professor Helen McCabe and Dr. Liezel Longboan have partnered with the  to interview multiple Filipina migrant domestic workers (MDWs) who have escaped abusive employer households, representatives from MDWs organisations, lawyers, policy makers, Tony Vaughan MP for Folkestone and Hythe, members of the Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Metropolitan Police Teams and first responders for the (NRM).

On Monday 29 June 2026, the research team discussed the project findings at a panel discussion in Westminster sponsored by , MP for Beckenham and Penge. The meeting was chaired by , Chair of East and South East Asians for Labour. Many of the Filipina interviewees for the project were in attendance, along with journalists, lawyers, representatives from labour and humanitarian groups and other interested parties. The panel comprised the research team, Filipina women who told their personal stories of abuse and escape and representatives of MDW organisations. , the Co-chair of the Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery  and of UNITE responded to the panel.

How to best frame the issue of MDW abuse and recovery was discussed in the meeting. Given the current political debate on migration in the UK, should the issue be framed as an issue of migration, workers’ rights, modern slavery or employer criminality? The right to decent, safe employment was unanimously agreed upon. The merits of the NRM were discussed. Under the current Labour Government, the Home Office has hired an additional to reduce the backlog. However, the quality of the NRM decision-making process has been . A key debate in the meeting discussion was the merits of the campaign to restore Overseas Domestic Worker (ODW) visa rights to those in place between . Whilst there was overall agreement on the objective of restoring the pre-2012 rights, there were differing views on how to get there. Views ranged from support for a ‘one-step’ restoration of 2012 rights to a gradual approach that works towards those rights in a way that might be more palatable to policymakers mindful of the importance of the current immigration debate in the UK.

The project policy recommendations include:

• Mandatory briefing for applicants and their sponsoring employers covering the rights and responsibilities of visa holders and employers.
• Increased and accessible information on where MDWs can access help and support once in the UK
• Systematic auditing of MDWs’ wages to ensure that the requirements of the ODW visa are met.
• An increase of the ODW visa from six months to at least two years so that those escaping abusive households at least have the stability of a longer period of being documented, and with it the right to work in the domestic worker sector, in the UK.
• Employers that attempt to leave the UK without their sponsored MDW should be questioned about the whereabouts of the missing worker, and a marker placed against their visa record if no satisfactory account is offered.
• MDW support groups should be funded by both the UK and the Philippine governments to support their work.

Watch a short of the project.