I am Christine Joy, and I am 31 years old. I was born and raised in Manila, in the Philippines. Due to financial problems, I had to give up my dream to become an educator, and I started working at the age of 16 to support my family. I have three children; two boys and a girl. After six years of marriage, my husband left our family, meaning I had to work to provide for us all. I first worked abroad in 2019, in Saudi Arabia as a domestic worker, where my employer treated me so badly. Here in the UK, I met one of the Voice of Domestic Workers, who helped me leave my employer and protect myself from danger. 

 

Now that I have my voice back, I will use the Future Voices programme to raise awareness among other migrant domestic workers about their rights and to promote the advocacy of the Voice of Domestic Workers. Through this programme, I want to be more confident, to become a spokesperson and to be the voice for voiceless migrant domestic workers.