Mimi: ‘After surviving modern-day slavery, I have discovered the power of my voice’
Posted by Katherine Maxwell-Rose on January 11, 2024
Mimi Jalmasco is a scientist and qualified midwife from the Philippines, who, due to limited opportunities and low-paying jobs, made the courageous decision to work abroad to support her family. She is a migrant domestic worker and a survivor of modern slavery. As a trustee of The Voice of Domestic Workers, she supports and empowers other survivors to tell their stories. Mimi was one of the Ambassadors for International Migrants Day in 2023 for IMIX and IOM(UK).
Separated from her children for numerous years, her journey encapsulates the heart-wrenching reality faced by migrant domestic workers. She was eager to amplify the voices of her fellow workers and let the British public know that behind closed doors, there are workers struggling and fighting for their rights. When IMIX first met her, she associated migration with negative and sorrowful emotions as it symbolised leaving beloved family behind.
We initially featured Mimi in our Unheard Voices Instagram project, highlighting the often-unheard stories of migrant domestic workers in the UK who care for others’ families while away from their own.
We were introduced to Mimi by The Voice of Domestic Workers and Sounddelivery Media who were partners on the Future Voices programme, a spokesperson training programme that Mimi was a part of. We later recruited her to be one of the International Migrants Day 2023 Ambassadors – a group of people who have moved to the UK, who we support to tell their stories in the press and on social media.
Through the Unheard Voices project, we shared Mimi’s story to our social media audiences, who may not be familiar with the stories and challenges face by migrant domestic workers in the UK. In this case, we supported her to raise awareness on the pre-2012 overseas domestic workers visa and the fight to restore it.
As part of the support we give to Ambassadors for International Migrants Day, Mimi engaged in online and in-person workshops, honing key messages, participating in interviews and bridging exercises, and refining blog writing skills.
International Migrants Day is an opportunity to promote an informed and balanced conversation on migration and to share the stories, experiences, aspirations of migrants in their communities. Working with the International Organisation for Migration in the UK (IOM and UK) and IMIX, Mimi was able to stand at the forefront of a national platform in her role as an International Migrants Day Ambassador, using her voice to share her story and advocate for causes important to her.
While learning more about International Migrants Day and engaging with the training, Mimi’s perspective on migration shifted and she now sees the positive aspects of moving and working abroad. She also views migration as a means to generate a positive impact on the society where migrants relocate.
Mimi’s story, shared through various digital content such as video and blogs, were shared online to wider audiences for International Migrant’s Day. She was featured in this powerful piece for inews about how she survived modern-day slavery in Britain and has been interviewed on IMIX’s podcast Un/Documented. All of these platforms serve as powerful tools for her ongoing advocacy, aimed at fostering change and calling for improved conditions for domestic workers in the UK and around the world.
She is hoping that her human rights application will be granted so she can take a major role in the The Voice of Domestic workers without restriction
