Breaking the cycle: From child labour to labour rights advocate

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (ILO News) - In the heart of Guyana, one woman’s life tells a powerful story of strength, resilience, and transformation. Joy Marcus, a leading voice for labour rights didn’t just witness injustice, she lived it. Her journey from child domestic worker to advocate for working women reveals the strength it takes to rise from exploitation and use her the courage to fight for others still caught in the same cycle.

A childhood lost to labour

Joy’s childhood ended before it had a chance to begin. At just eight years old, while other children played or went to school, she was thrust into the adult world of domestic work. Her mother, raising nine children alone, had no choice but to bring her along to help clean, cook, and wash for other families just to survive. “My day started at 4:30 am,” Joy recalls. “We walked for miles before the sun came up to get to where my mother worked.” There was no time to play. Balancing school and work was never easy. “I had to work to balance both,” she explains.

Depending on the workload, Joy often had to miss morning or afternoon classes, and sometimes entire school days. Yet her mother, determined that her children should learn, always made sure that they kept up with their schoolwork despite the long hours of labour.

What hurt even more than the physical exhaustion were the emotional wounds. She remembers being made to sit outside on the stairs when her employer’s husband came home for lunch. “I wasn’t allowed inside. It was like I didn’t matter.” That feeling of being invisible, of being used but never valued, would stay with her for years.

Turning pain into purpose

That early pain didn’t break Joy; it became her purpose. She watched her mother endure daily insults and mistreatment. She felt the sting of injustice first-hand. And somewhere deep inside, a fire began to burn. “I started pushing for change because I knew what my mother went through. I knew what I went through.”

When Joy found Red Thread, a grassroots women's Organization in Guyana, Joy found her voice. The Organization gave her the tools and the community she needed to speak out not just for herself, but for every domestic worker who had ever been silenced, ignored, or undervalued.

Her first connection to Red Thread came through her mother, who joined an income-generating programme that also created space for women to discuss the issues affecting their lives and how to take action. Joy stayed, and her activism journey began. From the time she attended her first community workshop discussion with Red Thread, Joy knew she wanted to become involved.

Her journey within Red Thread transformed her from a silent observer of injustice to a vocal and effective advocate demanding dignity, respect, and fair labour rights.

Red Thread: A sisterhood for change

Red Thread isn’t just an Organization, it is a lifeline for women who are too often unheard and overlooked. At Red Thread, women come together not just to talk about their problems but to act, tackle injustice, and demand their rights. The Organization understands something many others miss - that poverty, violence, child labour, and inequality are all deeply connected and must be confronted. Now a primary organizer, Joy leads the domestic worker section. Every day, she works to empower others like her by organizing training, raising awareness, and pushing for policy change, shaping the movement from a place of lived experiences. Her vision is bold, to expand Red Thread’s reach across Guyana, to bring these critical conversations into communities everywhere, and to empower the next generation to continue the fight.

“If we don’t bring in the younger ones, the cycle will repeat. We must make sure they don’t go through what we went through.”

As a member of the Caribbean Domestic Workers Network, Red Thread links local struggles to regional and global advocacy. Its campaigns played a pivotal role in influencing the ratification of ILO Convention 189 on Domestic Workers’ Rights in Guyana, a landmark step in recognizing domestic work as real work deserving protection and dignity.

Joy Marcus’ journey pulses at the heart of the “I Grew Up Working” campaign. Launched by the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labour, the campaign gives voice to survivors of child domestic labour, stories that are often hidden behind closed doors. It calls on governments, employers, and communities to step up, take responsibility, and protect the rights of every child.

Because no child should wake up at 4:30 am to work. No child should feel shame for being poor. No child should be punished for being born into hardship.

Joy’s story is not just a story of survival; it’s a call to action. It reminds us that behind every statistic is a child with a name, a family, and dreams put on hold. It shows us that change is possible when those who once suffered are empowered to lead. Through Red Thread and campaigns like “I Grew Up Working,” Joy Marcus is turning pain into progress. She is breaking the silence that once held her down and helping others find their voice as well.