Some people will say: I will rather be a cleaning lady or domestic worker than do intimate massage. Do these people know where they are talking about?  Most likely not. But we know women who know where they are talking about: women in the entertainment industry and domestic workers themselves, work together to fight for their rights in the international labour movement to recognize migrant and informal labour.
Workers in the entertainment sector have rights, but also as a domestic worker you can be terribly exploited. In Belgium we met a strong Thai woman, we call her Lek, who got out of a abusive situation as a domestic worker. This is the story of how she was exploited and gained even less than money than she would have in Thailand, only because she wanted to help her family:

 I worked for a Belgium family. Every morning I started at six o'clock in the morning. I was supposed to stop working at nine o'clock in the evening,  but in fact I was not finished until eleven or even twelve o'clock. I had to work for six and a half day a week. I have to get up very early all seven days because on my half day off I also have to work from six to ten o’clock in the morning so I feel very exhausted. I feel like I have no day off at all. I would like to have at least one day that I can sleep without the alarm on. I
 would like to have at least one day that I can stay in bed late which I doubt if I can do that but I still would rather want to enjoy my day off in the morning.
On a regular working day I first had to make the beds, than prepare breakfast for four people: two grown ups, a little boy of five years old and a little baby. Next I had to clear the table, get the boy ready for school and check all five toilets if they were clean enough. I had to clean the shower and to see if the fridges needed a refill. I also had to make a shopping list and get the food. All day I had to take care of the baby and help the cleaning lady. At first they had a cleaning lady who did the laundry and cleaned the floors. Madame slept all day because she still had to recuperate from childbirth. Next I had to cook lunch and already start preparing the dinner. At first the actual dinner was brought in by a catering service, later I had to cook myself. As the woman, the guy and the children did not have their dinners simultaneously, I had to serve them separately. And again I had to clear things away. In the evenings I always had to busy myself with the children: put them to bed. They could always ring a bell to summon me.
It was exhausting. Sometimes I was so tired that I fell asleep before I could take off my uniform. I got  no rest and there was no privacy. They said I could take a nap when I am free during the day but in reality I have no free time. I had to accompany them on holidays, but even than there was no privacy. They were forever entering my room because they left their toiletries there.
When we were not on a holiday we lived in a small apartment nearby. I only went there to get a litlle sleep. Whenever I asked a day off, they always objected. "If you are  not happy, you go back to Thailand', was their response. So I got no day off. Once I went to the hairdresser's for half an hour. That made them very angry. At first the children were a bit bossy, but later on they were told they had to listen to me.  They got more annoying over the time. When the family was heaving a meal I had to serve them. I also had to put ice cubes in their drinks and  I had to call the woman the lady of the house. I had to see to it myself that I got something to eat. I had hardly time to eat ( I lost 40 kilos in less than one year). .
After two months I was an illegal alien and I was afraid to do anything about my situation. I was afraid for the police. I thought it would never get better. I did not dare to go out because I was afraid of the police.  I believed everything they told me.

They had found me  by way of an internetsite that was managed by a Thai family. This family made the contact. My husband had also come along  to Belgium. We did not have to pay any money to that family. It was not an agency.  We were offered a job as a nanny and a chauffeur. But when we arrived in Belgium, they changed the job description. We got only 450 euro a month salary. They had promised us twice the amount. As a secretary in Thailand I made more. But I had lost my job because the Thai company had problems. The Belgium family told us that they first had to deduct the social security. But we were there on a two month tourist visa, so we worked illegally, and they did not have top pay social security. And they were so rich.... Once the woman went out to buy a lot of shoes in every colour she fancied. At home, she decided not all of them fitted. She just put them in the garbage, which was nice for the cleaning lady.
My husband was their chauffeur, gardener, the swimming pool cleaner and handyman. He had to take the boy to school and the husband to his office. I never got a contract. They promised me one, once all the papers were arranged. But that never happened. So I never got a contract. They also said I could go to Thailand once a year after I had my papers.  So I could not go to Thailand but I couldn't have a vacation anywhere else. When the family went on a holiday I had to come along as a nanny and my husband as a chauffeur. That was not the nice holiday they promised m e.
When there was a party, I had to stay with the children. I also had to wear an uniform: a white blouse and a blue skirt.  When I had to accompany the family to a restaurant I had to sit at a separate table with the children. When the boy spilled a glass of water I had to go to the kitchen to get a rag to clean it. Once my husband and I had to wait for five hours until the family finished their visit. I spent 12 euro on a lunch for myself, the baby and the husband and that was considered too expensive. They never beat me. But my husband could not stand it anymore. Het only spoke Thai and that was the cause of big misunderstandings.  Once he exceeded the speed limit and he himself had to pay for the fine. When the car had a flat tyre, he also had to pay up for that (1500 euro) . My husband left for Thailand.  He also had to wear an uniform and open the door to everybody.
My husband wanted me to come with him to Thailand. But I had responsibilities for my family, which he did not have. He could leave Belgium without a problem, but he could never come back to Europe.
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One day the family gave me a second hand computer. So I had access to the outside world. By way of the internet I found out that my situation was not normal. I also met someone who became very important to me .At first he thought I was an au pair. At first I did not dare him to tell him something about my situation but he wanted to know more. He knew more cases like me. He made it clear to me that my situation was not normalIn those years I was with that family I have never been anywhere. I had only seen the supermarket.  I had never seen Brussels.
He went to the family to tell them I had stopped working for them. The family was angry. They thought I was ungrateful. Did not I went on nice holidays with them? Did they not take me to nice restaurants? They still owe me one month of salary. He brought me in contact with an organization that helped women in my situation.
 Now I dare again to go out on the streets.
I am very angry but I don't want to go to court. I am afraid I will lose. I don't have any paper proof and they are so powerful.