The Atlantic Amplifies Voices of Trafficked Domestic Workers

DAMAYAN MIGRANTS | April 15, 2018

Last March, domestic workers and labor trafficking survivors Judith Daluz from Damayan in New York City, Nena Ruiz from Pilipino Workers Center in Los Angeles,  and Natalicia Tracy from the Brazilian Workers Center in Boston shared their experiences with labor trafficking and modern day slavery in the United States in The Atlantic called “Survivors of Human Trafficking, in Their Own Words”. The National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) arranged the stories to be published in The Atlantic. 

“Through Damayan... I was able to get a T-visa, which is a humanitarian visa for survivors of human trafficking. After I became a leader... I was able to help other trafficking survivors and refer them to Damayan for free legal services... In 2015, my four children reunited with me in the U.S.” - Judith Daluz said.  Judith was NOT alone. Everyday, more than 6,000 Filipinos leave the Philippines to work as migrant workers in over 200 countries, many of those are women migrant workers.

Filipinos are the number one source of domestic workers working in diplomats homes. One week after the op-eds were published, Judith appeared in the Damayan Facebook live video where Damayan organizer Riya Ortiz interviewed her. She shared more about her experiences, and Riya identified the signs of trafficking in Judith’s story