In our 10 Minutes With … Manisha Wijesinghe, the executive director of Help for Domestic Workers shares with us why the well-being of domestic helpers benefits society at large
Do a Google search on “domestic workers in Hong Kong” and you will find the most commonly searched for questions revolve around their salaries or the laws that affect this group in our city’s society. According to Manisha Wijesinghe, the executive director of Help for Domestic Workers, a local charity that works with Hong Kong’s migrant domestic workers, this reflects Hong Kong’s sentiment towards domestic helpers: “We see them only as employees, not whole human beings”, she says.
Wijesinghe’s NGO not only provides legal help and an emergency shelter, but also mental health support to domestic workers—considering the pressures involved in their relocation to Hong Kong, that support is of paramount importance.
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“They come to Hong Kong with a lot of hopes, but also with the pressure to provide financial support back home,” she says. “Then they literally stay at their place of employment, so they can’t really switch off from work in the evening and go home to decompress. This can lead to anxiety and a sense of isolation that take a toll on their mental health.”
Ahead of World Mental Health Day on October 10, we sit down with Wijesinghe to discuss the mental health of domestic helpers in Hong Kong, an often overlooked topic, and the work her organisation is doing to address this issue.
Your non-profit, Help for Domestic Workers, provides legal and other aid to foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong. What inspired you to take up their cause?
When I first came to Hong Kong, I saw domestic workers gathering on Sundays to enjoy their one holiday during the week. It was such a strong visual representation of how intrinsically they are rooted in Hong Kong society’s fabric, but it was also a visual symbol of the many challenges they face.
As someone who had just moved to Hong Kong, I felt I could relate to these challenges to a degree but, of course, not the full scope of it. Things like leaving your home, navigating a new culture, language and food are things that anyone who moves overseas faces. So that’s what resonated with me and made me take up this cause.
Domestic workers in Hong Kong are a particularly vulnerable group that face barriers when accessing care and support. Can you explain what some of these barriers are?
First, there’s the logistical barrier to accessing services. Many of them work six days a week [with only] Sundays off. But most offices, be it in the government or private sector, are closed on Sundays too. Then there’s the language barrier—sometimes they don’t know how to fill a form in Chinese or English. And beyond these practical obstacles, they also fear being judged if they reach out for help.