“I am also a woman worker. Thus, for me, domestic workers are my fellow woman workers. We have to fight for our rights. Do not rely on other people to get our rights,” exclaimed Nia Dinata, a film director/producer, before lending her voice to reading out the story of Yuni Sri Rahayu, a domestic worker who is also active in the citizen journalism.

Yuni’s story, “Writing is the fire for our movement”, is one of the stories compiled in the book titled “We Will not Be Silent: 31 Stories of Domestic Workers behind the Domestic Walls”, launched in August 2017 in Jakarta. The book is jointly developed and produced by the ILO, JALA PRT and the Jakarta’s Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI Jakarta).

The launch and publication of the book is part of the ILO constituents and partners’ advocacy campaign to promote decent work for domestic workers and the elimination of child domestic labour.

“I like writing since my younger years. Through my writings, I can talk about violence and discrimination against domestic workers. I hope that my writings can voice aspirations from domestic workers to be recognized as workers,” told Yuni regarding her advocacy activities through citizen journalism.

The book consists of 31 stories written by 27 domestic workers who aspire to change the perception and stigma against domestic workers. Through their stories, these domestic workers strive to break the existing social and political systems, urging that their professions should be recognized as workers, they should be legally protected under the law, their labour rights should be respected like other workers and the child domestic labour should be eliminated.

The campaign is conducted by the ILO through its Promoting Decent Work for Domestic Workers to End Child Domestic Work (PROMOTE) Project. Funded by the United States Department of Labour (USDOL), ILO-PROMOTE Project aims at reducing child domestic workers significantly by building institutional capacities of partners to promote Decent Work for Domestic Workers effectively. The Project works to increase the knowledge, skills and expertise on reducing child domestic workers and promote decent work for domestic workers.