The Significance of Social Issues going Viral
By Christin Hume / Unsplash
Py Christin Hume / Unsplash
Breanna Lakhan
(FR) Ce texte examine l’importance de l’analyse de l’IDWF (International Domestic Workers Federation) par les mouvements sociaux. La plateforme digitale de ce mouvement joue un rôle important durant la pandémie de la COVID-19, puisqu’elle fournit aux travailleurs autour du monde une plateforme commune ou ils peuvent communiquer avec ceux d’expériences similaires. De plus, elle sert à éduquer le public sur divers problèmes auxquels les travailleurs domestiques font face, tout en fournissant à ses lecteurs des recommandations et des ressources telles que des pétitions et collections de dons pour faire une différence. L’IDWF sert aussi de plateforme pour diverses organisations à travers le monde pour se contacter et suivre des mises à jour politiques. Les campagnes réussies sont source d’inspiration, tandis que les échecs servent de leçons. La promotion des mouvements sociaux sur les plateformes offre aux jeunes la chance de s’engager, et ainsi de promouvoir leur mission en partageant l’information avec d’autres sur les réseaux sociaux. Ceci favorise non seulement la prise de conscience, mais recueille aussi du soutient autour du monde.
The experiences migrant workers face on the job are not usually heard by the local community. Migrant workers continue to suffer injustices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic while their experiences are rendered invisible. Social movements such as the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF) play a crucial role in shedding light on hidden issues by uniting migrant workers through a common platform.
The IDWF works to address specific issues by including a link on their Facebook page to their main website. On the website, a PDF provides resources on the issues migrant workers face during the COVID-19 pandemic and recommendations on how to alleviate them. One important aspect of the pandemic is gender issues. As a result of the pandemic, domestic workers are forced to complete more tasks which “[place] additional burdens on the carers within households,” which generally tend to be women (International Domestic Workers Federation 2020). This is significant because although women are generally at greater risk of gender-based violence, the pandemic has made their job more tedious. As a result of households encountering the virus, domestic workers may be forced to spend more time cleaning or taking care of members of the household. This is a hidden issue that is generally not discussed in the media when reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic. Displaying this information online presents an opportunity for web users to gain additional insights into the pandemic by learning about how it affects domestic workers through a gender lens.
Additionally, this insight is followed up with recommendations to “Engage domestic workers in dialogue with trade unions, employers, and other organizations to design emergency policies in a participatory and informed manner to respond to COVID-19” (International Domestic Workers Federation 2020). This is also important because it is not enough to shed light on an issue. If the problem is to be overcome, solutions must be presented to allow the reader to take action. The recommendation of engaging a trade union gives readers an opportunity to stand in solidarity with domestic workers and provides a framework of what type of legislation they should demand of the government. Providing recommendations also encourages readers to join legislature hearings, protests, or to sign petitions to ensure that the needs of migrant workers are met. Including recommendations on the IDWF website is important because as more citizens become informed, there will be increased pressure on the government to enact legislation protecting domestic workers.
Moreover, the IDWF’s digital platform helps their cause by making information more accessible on an international scale to domestic workers. For instance, by designing a Facebook page, domestic workers can share the page with their Facebook friends and inform them about ongoing issues. The Facebook page includes a link to the IDWF website where there is information about various advocacy groups including links for signing petitions and making donations (International Domestic Workers Federation 2015). Each petition and donation link also includes an article where people can read about the cause. Digital platforms are accessible because they inform citizens about ongoing issues while also encouraging them to take action from the comfort of their home. Additionally, when citizens become informed, they are more likely to follow those issues to find out what happens, increasing the number of people supporting migrant workers as they work to have their rights protected.
Additionally, a digital platform helps advocacy groups in different parts of the world unite and work together. For instance, domestic workers tend to “draw on laws and regulations protecting labour rights framed at one geographical scale to challenge exclusionary laws and policies at other scales” (England 2017). Having a common platform for multiple advocacy groups at the federal level in various countries allows these different groups to follow political developments in different countries. When legislation is successful in one nation, it provides a framework for advocacy groups in other countries to challenge their own government. Furthermore, when legislation fails, advocacy groups find ways to continue pushing for change. This is also a learning point for advocacy groups in other countries to adapt their tactics in the event the legislation they are pushing for is not enacted. The IDWF platform provides a common resource for various international advocacy groups to turn to each other for support and to provide ideas that progress the movements in their own countries.
Furthermore, young people can help develop digital alliances by using social media to overcome neoliberalism in domestic work. For instance, many domestic workers experience a lack of safety “but the act of ‘being there’ for each other is a form of ‘radical democracy’ in that it reframes citizenship such that migrant domestic workers...are ‘given this support as fellow members of the political community’” (Tungohan 2017). One issue migrant workers face is a lack of political motivation to advocate for their struggles because they have a difficult time connecting with other domestic workers. By providing in-person opportunities to meet, advocacy groups are giving them collective strength to fight for political rights. Social media can expand on these alliances during the pandemic by educating others about the struggles domestic workers face and by expanding the social network of domestic workers to include more people from the local community. By networking with and being supported by other domestic workers and those living in the community, migrant workers will feel increasingly empowered. Increased support from a large network of supporters boosts their confidence, allowing them to place increasing pressure on the government to make a change.
Overall, the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF) and other social movements representing migrant workers play an important role by shedding light on their experiences and providing a common platform for migrant workers to network, inform their peers, and build support. Social movements are crucial to migrant workers and to others who are rendered silent by the government. Social movements build support and amplify the voices of migrant workers.