While the anti-government protests in Hong Kong that started in June of 2019 have made world headlines, there has been another protest going on for years that has silently gone under the radar.
Domestic migrant workers congregate in Hong Kong’s public spaces every Sunday, something they have been doing every Sunday for decades. Thousands of women sit on cardboard and plastic mats to protest the poor working conditions they endure. They do this protest during their only day off.
According to a 2018 Hong Kong census, there are 386,075 migrant workers and they live in a precarious state—often overworked, under paid, and lacking protective labor laws. Unlike expatriates from other foreign countries who can apply for residency after seven years, Southeast Asian migrant workers have no legal route to citizenship.
It appears that even their protesting is marginalized.
Bio: Alexandra Buxbaum is a photographer whose work focuses on documenting the human experience of various people and cultures living in disparate urban environments around the world. Her objective is to capture aspects of everyday life of people as they live, work, and play.
Alexandra has worked professionally for major media outlets, and her photography has appeared in a myriad of news publications and books both nationally and internationally. She has exhibited in over 45 shows at galleries, cultural centers, and museums, and is co-founder of the International Center for Documentary Arts. Her photographs are in numerous private collections.