As demand for home help increases around the world, the number of countries adopting laws to protect domestic workers continues to grow. But their abuse and exploitation won’t stop without a fundamental change in social attitudes, say advocates.

No One Should Work This Way’ is a free-to-host photo exhibition by renowned photographer Steve McCurry that spreads awareness of the physical and psychological abuse domestic workers can face, and aims to encourage countries to ratify the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Convention No. 189.

What goes on behind closed doors? Often we’re content not to know. ‘It’s not my business’ we might say, or ‘it’s a family matter’. But hidden from public view, behind the closed doors of private homes, an estimated 1.9 million domestic workers are being exploited in the Asia Pacific region…

Sometimes a body of work starts because something sticks with you. An idea. An image. A story. In my case, it was a sentence. Well, several sentences. “You’re a dog. You’re a pig.” “You’re so dumb. You’re worse than a pig.” “Come here, dog. Come here. You are stupid. You are a dog…

A few weeks ago, IOM X approached me to write a blog article. I attended the IOM X ASEAN Youth Forum in 2015 and am part of activities to raise awareness about human trafficking and exploitation at my university. The premise for the blog sounded interesting. I was asked to visit the website nooneshouldworkthisway.com and write a response to what I saw and read…

“Haryatin, 37, an Indonesian domestic worker, paid a cruel price for wanting to earn money for her family: she has been unable to work since her abusive employer in Saudi Arabia hit her with a metal pipe, causing her to permanently lose her sight.”

“Asian domestic workers sexually abused, beaten and forced to starve by foreign employers…women are uninformed and just scared”, by Beverley O’Connor and Shivali Nayak