Growing Awareness to Reduce Labor Abuse: An Experimental Test of a Migrant Domestic Workers’ Rights Awareness Campaign

Migrant domestic workers (MDWs) are highly vulnerable to labor abuse. Usinga survey and randomized controlled trial conducted in Hong Kong, this studyinvestigates MDWs’ labor experiences and the potential of rights awarenesscampaigns to mitigate labor abuse. The campaigns increased public knowledgeof MDWs’ rights and reduced the social acceptability of MDWs’ mistreatment.To the extent that improving knowledge about MDWs’ rights and decreasingacceptance of mistreatment affect the behaviors of employers and others whocan support MDWs, rights awareness campaigns can help reduce labor abuse.However, the campaigns had limited impact on MDWs, who demonstrated highawareness of their rights but often experienced concerning levels of abuse andregarded mistreatment as an unavoidable aspect of their employment. These differences highlight the constrained agency of MDWs to independently improvetheir labor conditions and emphasize the value of rights awareness initiativestargeting employers of MDWs and the general public.