Cathedral-based charity reports alarming rise in violence against domestic helpers

4 June 2021 rmedcalf COMMUNITY 0

Violence against women intensified last year, the St John’s Cathedral-based Mission for Migrant Workers reports saying, there was a 44 per cent rise in cases of ill-treatment. Complaints of physical abuse rose 2 per cent and rape or sexual harassment 4 per cent.

In its recently released 2020 report the MFMW said it assisted domestic workers in 11,285 cases. A total of 91 per cent were complaints from Filipinos, 8 per cent from Indonesians and the rest from South or Southeast Asians. Of the complainants:

7 out of 10 reported ill-treatment
1 out of 5 experienced physical abuse
3 out of 50 suffered rape or sexual harassment
9 out of 10 said working hours were too long
1 out of 2 had to work on their rest day
1 out of 3 said wages had not been paid.

The annual report said of women complaining of long working hours, 27 per cent worked more than 16 hours and 71 per cent worked 11 to 16 hours. Ill-treatment was claimed by 69 per cent of those who went to MFMW for help and 17 per cent said they had faced physical abuse or assault. More than half had no private room. All most all (97 per cent) said agencies had charged them excessive or illegal fees.

^{Indonesian domestic workers in Hong Kong cheer as they gather in a public park on Sunday, their only day off. Some 370,000 foreign domestic workers live in Hong Kong, about five percent of the population. Most are women from the Philippines and Indonesia. Photo: Paul Jeffrey}

This admirable charity (to donate or volunteer go to www.migrants.net) provided 873 women with shelter and a bed while their cases were being sorted out, mainly at Bethune House. To help them cope better with issues of life in Hong Kong, 3036 were given training. Girls and women got 5336 meals from MFMW during the year. A total of $3,230,000 was recovered for domestic workers thanks to MFMW advising and shepherding them through the legal processes. A developing issue is love scams, connected to money laundering and cyberbullying.

“Domestic workers exist at a gross disadvantage,” the charity says in the report. “As a marginalised sector in our society, they deserve better care, protection and fair treatment.”