Hong Kong, China – A 36-year-old foreign domestic employee in Hong Kong was on her method to toss out the rubbish when her Swedish company gothere home late one night in October 2022.
X, as she was recognized in court to secure her identity, stated he appeared to be intoxicated.
Soon he was requiring sex.
She stated she attempted to factor with him, turningdown his advances. But he dragged her into his bedroom and raped her, regardlessof her duplicated calls to stop.
“He informed me he likewise desired my child. He likewise stated: ‘I’ll kill you, I’ll hit you,” X remembered, speaking through an interpreter at Hong Kong’s High Court in August.
“I was horrified and frozen with worry,” the domestic employee stated, worrying she had neverever consented to having sexual relations with him.
Unlike other domestic employees in comparable circumstances, X chose to act. She moved out of the household’s flat the next earlymorning and went to the cops inspiteof being the sole incomeproducer for her 4 kids and understanding she would lose her task and her home.
Nearly 2 years on, a jury last month discovered X’s company guilty of one count of rape and one count of buggery without authorization.
“I am grateful to God that I am alive and to the Hong Kong federalgovernment that justice was served,” X informed Al Jazeera soon after the decision. “I am likewise really appreciative to the social employees and everybody who assisted me throughout this two-year-journey.”
X’s case is one of the coupleof effective rape prosecutions including a foreign domestic employee in Hong Kong, shedding light on the obstacles dealtwith by migrant ladies in protecting justice. Experts state numerous victims do not press charges, however they hope X’s win might motivate other survivors to come forward.
“We can state this is a success not just for the victim however likewise for all domestic employees in Hong Kong and around the world,” stated Sarah Pun, vice-chair of the Union of Nepalese Domestic employees in Hong Kong.
She keptinmind that X dealtwith lotsof obstacles in pursuing justice, consistingof injury, being apart from her household, and not having an earnings. “We are happy of the victim and her strength for havingactually pursued this case upuntil the end,” she included.
Dolores Balladares, chairwoman of United Filipinos in Hong Kong and spokesperson for the Asian Migrant Coordinating Body, concurred: “It is a favorable advancement duetothefactthat justice is tough to get for domestic employees. The problem of evidence is constantly on our shoulders.”
Balladares notes it is especially hard to report a rape case, “as lotsof individuals will blame the victim”.
X’s success came about a month after a domestic employee from the Philippines – understood in court treatments as CB – lost a civil claim of 1.06 million Hong Kong dollars ($135,982) versus her British company in the Chinese area for declared sexual attacks. She has consideringthat lodged an appeal.
CB’s company, who atfirst represented himself, hadactually been sentenced to 30 months in prison on 2 counts of indecent attack in2021 He was lateron acquitted of all charges after a retrial on procedural and technical premises, consistingof concerns associated to admission of proof.
A spokesperson for the Hong Kong Police informed Al Jazeera that from January 2019 to June this year, the force got 310 reports including companies of domestic employees, and that 87 of those cases were associated to sexual abuse.
According to the officer, 194 companies were apprehended for numerous offenses following examinations, however just 36 were prosecuted. Nine were discovered guilty and sentenced to up to 6 years in jail. The spokesperson did not reveal the number of arrests or prosecutions particularly associated to rape and other kinds of sexual violence.
Scared to come forward
Advocates stated that domestic employees from ethnic minority backgrounds, like X who is an Indian nationwide of Nepali origin, haveactually been especially susceptible to abuse.
There were 363,576 migrant domestic employees in Hong Kong as of the end of August. According to a representative for the city’s Immigration Department, almost 56 percent hailed from the Philippines, followed by about 42 percent from Indonesia. The rest were from nations such as India and Thailand.
Manisha Wijesinghe, executive director of Hong Kong charity HELP for Domestic Workers, stated those in crisis generally turn veryfirst to their peers. But for those from smallersized migrant neighborhoods, it can be tough to discover other employees from the verysame nation and even the NGOs might not be able to supply them with an instant action due to language barriers.
“These ladies certainly face more issues, however lotsof wear’t ever come to light,” Wijesinghe stated. “They invest their time in Hong Kong and ultimately leave. They are seldom able to reach out for assistance.”
She stated that her organisation gets on average one case of sexual abuse or harassment every month.
Research carriedout in 2019 by the Progressive Labour Union of Domestic Workers in Hong Kong revealed migrant domestic employees were at higher threat of exploitation since their work and living plans – where their earnings, food and lodging depend on their two-year work agreement – develop a power imbalance.
The researchstudy keptinmind that “few migrant domestic employees utilise the existing legal treatments readilyavailable in Hong Kong” to implement their rights, as they discover it “expensive” and “time-consuming”.
A spokesperson for the Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women, which promotes gender equity in Hong Kong, stated that “some policies location foreign domestic employees in a especially vulner