More than 60 domestic and caregiver workers left INTERCEDE’s eighth conference inspired with a sense of renewed confidence that through strong organizing and determination they would be able to achieve their goal. This is the long-cherished goal of achieving equality under immigration rules governing their admission to Canada.

Sharing their experiences of victimization because of discrimination based on race, gender or government policy, caregivers strove to understand the social barriers that they face every day and to find individual and collective solutions to bring these barriers down.

A summary Report of the conference proceedings which is being compiled will give a capsulized view of three days of intensive reflections and exchange of ideas on understanding racism and learning the nature of violence against women. Victimization was examined in the context of these systemic barriers which influence government policies such as the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP).

While delegates had some pretty heavy issues to tackle, they nevertheless managed to blend serious enthusiasm with generous humour and lighthearted camaraderie.

Most importantly the conference objective in its title: From Victimization to Empowerment was affirmed with conviction as one after another delegates expressed the feeling that the conference had indeed empowered them and given them the tools with which to deconstruct oppression.

Held from May 5 to 7 at the newly-inaugurated Kapisanan Philippine Centre in the Kensington area, the conference brought together caregivers from many parts of Greater Toronto and Ontario. Advocates from two caregivers' organization in Vancouver, the Committee for Caregivers' and Domestic Workers' Rights and the West Coast Domestic Workers' Association, not only graced the conference but also reinforced its strong complement of presenters and facilitators.

One participant summed up the meeting thus: "For the first time I began to understand that I can do something to liberate myself from being a victim."