Women are Power! Domestic Workers Advocacy Network

We are a feminist initiative of former Migrant Domestic Workers from Sierra Leone who have faced the Kafala System in Lebanon. We have all experienced abuse in many forms under the Kafala system including enslavement and racism.

The Kafala system is an oppressive system that controls migrant workers in South West Asia particularly in Lebanon, most women are from Africa and South Asia. Therefore, our struggle demands collective change to prevent women becoming enslaved in domestic servitude and to empower women to be able sustain their livelihoods and their communities so that they too do not fall subject to human trafficking.

We continue to organise and mobilise in our communities to raise awareness of the Kafala system and human trafficking. Through our projects we aim to empower women in dire socioeconomic conditions, to smash the dependent relationship with temporary and unreliable aid distributors, and to be agents of change creating a solidarity framework among our communities through advocacy, collective farming and knowledge ensuring our rights are respected, protected and secured.

Funds raised will go towards advocacy efforts, supporting former migrant domestic workers returning from Lebanon to advance vocational skills and our Seed Solidarity project. The struggle for food sovereignty is a constant battle. We hope to give opportunities to women repatriated from Lebanon and other countries who were enslaved.

We are growing crops like rice, pepper, okra and cucumbers that our connected to our land and use our traditional methods to reclaim the land and reclaim our markets from exploitative policies, corruption and corporations. DoWAN are moving towards a food system that nourishes us all and is rooted in justice. Seed is power!

We are entitled to know our rights & have them fulfilled; this is why we will continue to fight against Kafala & Human Trafficking. Women are power!

In Solidarity,

DoWAN