OBERLIN GLOBAL FEMINIST COLLECTIVE
“You cannot build equality on the backs of invisible women.”
Profile: Elena, 35, Berlin. Migrant from Romania, domestic worker and labor activist.
Q: What is daily life like for migrant women in Germany’s care sector? A: “We clean homes, care for children and the elderly, keep households running. Yet most of us are invisible — no contracts, low wages, sometimes no papers. Without us, many German families could not have ‘work-life balance.’”
Q: Do you feel included in mainstream feminist movements? A: “Not really. Often feminism here is about quotas on corporate boards. That is important, but it doesn’t touch our lives. Our feminism is about dignity in work, fair wages, recognition.”
Q: What changes do you hope to see? A: “That care is valued as much as any other work. And that migrant women are not treated as second-class. Feminism must include us — not as charity, but as equals.”