Damayan Migrant Workers Association

Workers & immigrants' rights our workers & immigrants' rights program supports migrant domestic workers and survivors of trafficking in reclaiming their rights and dignity. We empower filipino migrant domestic workers in new york city by helping them recover stolen wages, combat discrimination, and obtain humanitarian visas, building their collective power to advocate for their rights in the domestic work industry. We conducted 10 know your rights training sessions for over 200 community members, covering essential rights related to immigration, labor, and health, regardless of immigration status. We organized five legal clinics for survivors of labor trafficking and undocumented migrant workers, providing critical case management and direct access to immigration and labor attorneys. Our advocacy efforts have focused on pushing for stronger protections for domestic workers and raising awareness about the challenges faced by vulnerable populations. Through outreach, we reached over 3,000 community members, increasing awareness of available resources. Our initiatives have significantly advanced protections and empowered the rights of migrant domestic workers and trafficking survivors in new york city.

Anti labor trafficking our anti-labor trafficking program, supported by the trafficking victims assistance program (tvap) and oak, aims to combat labor trafficking and modern slavery affecting filipino migrant workers. We provide comprehensive case management, connecting survivors to legal and social services that aid their recovery and reintegration while empowering them through community organizing and leadership development. This year, we helped eight survivors obtain humanitarian trafficking visas (t visas) after long waits. We assisted three survivors in reuniting with their families through collaboration with the international organization for migration (iom). To date, we have helped 80 survivors secure t visas, including 22 cases involving victims trafficked by diplomats, and facilitated the reunification of 38 survivors with 78 children and 32 spouses. Currently, the tvap program is managing around 15 ongoing cases. We are proud to share that three survivors had the courage to share their stories, raising community awareness about labor trafficking. Our anti-labor trafficking program has established a strong foundation for community organizing among trafficking survivors, encouraging their involvement in advocacy efforts and leadership roles that elevate their voices and experiences in the fight against labor trafficking. The impact of our anti-labor trafficking program continues to resonate within the community, as we strive to provide essential support and empower survivors in their journey toward healing and advocacy. Looking ahead, we aim to expand our reach and enhance our services to protect vulnerable workers and combat labor trafficking more effectively.

Membership & leadership development program damayan is dedicated to building our membership base and developing the leadership of migrantt workers, particularly, women domestic workers. In 2023, we recruited 175 new members and activated 45 former inactive members. We educated and mobilized them to access direct critical services and resources, specifically legal assistance at legal clinics, reclaim stolen wages, get humanitarian visas and reunify survivor families through our tvap. We engage them at kyr trainings & workforce development. We train many survivors as community leaders, outreach workers, & event organizing support. We hired a trafficking survivor as a full time case manager & in 2023, we elected a survivor as board chair. Other program services include organizational development activities. 2023 was the executive transition year for the organization and so the organization engaged in critical transition activities like search and hiring of the new executive director.