Knowledge Platform
UN Women Stories | The real-life tale of a migrant domestic worker
Snow White is from Karen State, Myanmar. Her father died when she was 11, leaving her responsible for the care of her mother and younger siblings. Lacking opportunity and education in her hometown, Snow White joined a group of friends hoping to be smuggled into Thailand to find work as domestic workers, setting off a harrowing journey that nearly left her dead.
Snow White is one of many millions of women who set out across international borders in search of a better life. Lacking access to social services and legal protection, these migrant women are often subjected to abuses such as low wages and harsh working and living conditions. The worst abuses force women into sexual slavery.