Slapped, kicked, scratched, no days off: domestic helper group in Hong Kong reveals alleged abuse Filipino woman suffered in 14 months amid Covid-19 pandemic
- Asian Migrants Coordinating Body says abuse of helpers in city has worsened throughout pandemic, calls on government to rethink policies
- In case cited, 36-year-old victim was said to have been slapped, kicked and scratched by her employer
Police on Friday said they had received a report from a 36-year-old helper on May 30, accusing her employer of assault. A woman, 35, was later arrested, with an investigation under way.
Dolores Balladares-Pelaez, spokeswoman of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, said such abuse cases had worsened during the pandemic, with helpers forced to shoulder a heavier workload, toil for longer hours, and denied days off.
At a press briefing on Friday, the group only gave the first name of the helper in the recent case as Eden, 36, a single mother of one who came to Hong Kong more than a year ago for work. Her employer is a local identified only as “Mrs Mak”, a schoolteacher.
“There will be more Edens because the Hong Kong government’s policies on migrant workers’ employment lead them to work as modern-day slaves,” Balladares-Pelaez said.
The group said the alleged victim was forced to sleep in the study room of her employer and not allowed to leave the house in her 14 months of work. Mak was also said to have denied the helper weekly rest days, in the name of protecting her from Covid-19, and only allowed Eden two-hour breaks on days she was supposed to be off.