Paper Short Abstract:

Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong are vulnerable. This vulnerability has historically and culturally developed, continuing to permeate these women's lives. However, the processes of segregation that occur are being challenged by the online relationships in which these women engage.

Paper Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to address the persistent vulnerability of Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong by employing an intersectional approach and highlighting two distinct aspects of this vulnerability.

First, I aim to demonstrate how the vulnerability of Filipino domestic workers has been, and continues to be, shaped by the cultural and historical contexts of slavery and colonialism, conceptual metaphors, migration policies, and labor conditions. These factors play a significant role in media discourses and influence behaviors, attitudes, and developments in the daily lives of Filipino domestic workers. They are the root causes of vulnerability, which simultaneously lead to various processes of marginalization and segregation.

Second, I seek to illustrate how domestic workers' perceptions of their own vulnerability are revealed through the sharing of everyday difficulties, particularly online. This sharing appears to foster an identity-based network, or even a sense of sisterhood, and a form of soft-power activism. These online interactions become a space where segregation and marginalization are challenged, and strategies for resistance and survival are developed.