Dumagdag pa sa iisipin: Sexuality and mental health of Filipino migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong

How do Filipino migrant domestic workers (MDWs) in Hong Kong navigate and negotiate the intersection of sexuality and mental health within the constraints of historical-structural migration regimes? Drawing from a larger feminist narrative study that utilizes Filipino indigenous research methods of pakikipagkuwentuhan and pagtatanong-tanong, I address this question by focusing on the narratives of three Filipino MDWs to illustrate how structural and historical forces simultaneously shape sexual agency and mental well-being while also revealing possibilities of care and resistance. The findings suggest that Filipino MDWs experience constrained pleasure in transnational labor migration, revealing the unique ways in which migration regimes produce embodied crises within their intimate lives. These constraints manifest through two narrative themes: (1) narratives of transnational control and surveillance, and (2) narratives of transnational care obligations. Despite these constraints, I observe that participants actively create possibilities for care in response to sexuality and mental health crises through different individual and collective practices. By examining how Filipino MDWs navigate transnational intimate crises while creating alternative care practices, I hope to contribute to the understanding of how historical-structural influences on migration regimes produce distinct vulnerabilities while also revealing how care and support emerge from the margins of transnational labor systems.