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Kalayaan- Who we are

Kalayaan is a registered charity (reg. no. 1103847) established in 1987 to provide advice, advocacy and support services in the UK for migrant domestic workers. We are NOT involved in helping people to come to the UK from another country.

Migrant domestic workers are people who have entered the UK legally with an employer on a domestic worker visa to work in a private household.

Kalayaan is the only organisation in the UK providing support services to migrant domestic workers. It works with all migrant domestic workers regardless of nationality, gender, physical ability, religion or age. Kalayaan registers approximately 450 new clients each year.

Our aims

The isolated, dependant and unregulated nature of working in private household, combined with gender-based and racial discrimination means that domestic workers are vulnerable to exploitative practices.

They can face physical, psychological and sexual abuse, discrimination, low pay and long hours. Employers often use passport retention as a means of control.

Migrant domestic workers are often unfamiliar with the UK system and unsure of their rights in this country. Often they speak little or no English and made vulnerable by their dependence on one employer for information about their status in the UK, their job, their housing and their immigration status.

Kalayaan works with its clients to overcome these barriers and improve their quality of life. We also campaign for the rights of Migrant Domestic Workers as workers in the UK and strongly oppose the government's new proposals for Migrant Domestic Workers as part of "Making Migration Work for Britain". Unless the proposals are amended the Government's proposals will effectively remove even the most basic of employment rights for MDWs.

Services

Kalayaan provides:

• FREE, INDEPENDENT and CONFIDENTIAL advice on immigration and employment.
• Support in retrieving passports from employers.
• Training in accessing healthcare and mainstream services.
• English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) courses.
• Support with reading and writing letters or forms.
• Practical emergency assistance to clients who have recently left abusive employers.
• Social space where clients can come and meet friends, have tea or coffee and pick up mail.
• Referral services

As domestic workers have no access to public funds they are not able to access much of this support from mainstream services.

Kalayaan is registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (Level 1) and has full Quality Mark. This means the standard of Kalayaan's services is regularly monitored.

Contact us

For information and advice, or to make a donation, please contact:

St Francis of Assisi Community Centre
13 Hippodrome Place
London W11 4NQ

Telephone: 0207 243 2942
Fax: 0207 792 3060
Email: click here

Opening hours: Mon - Fri 10am-5pm. We are also open some Sundays. Please call to confirm. For advice and registration please phone to make an appointment.