PRESS CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS PLIGHT OF MANY DOMESTIC SERVANTS

At a press conference held on Tuesday a bipartisan group of Representatives renewed their efforts to pass H.R. 3244, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 1999.  This bill would provide a new measure of protection for foreign domestic servants who work for officials of international organizations such as the World Bank, the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund.  Some of these people, most of whom are women, experience dreadful treatment in the US, experiences that were highlighted at the press conference.

One woman from Bolivia, who worked for an official in the Organization of American States, spoke of working 12 hours a day and being paid less than an hour.  She also claims to have been denied dental care, and that her employer refused to let her seek medical attention after she was raped by a friend of the family.  Another woman who was formerly a teacher in Ghana said she was paid 0 for four months of working 16 hours a day.  She fled from her employer, a World Bank official, at an airport, where he was about to send her home. 

Recent court decisions have also drawn attention to the problem of the abuse of foreign domestic servants.  The wife of a Thai government official was recently sentenced to eight years in prison for mistreating a servant.  Just last week, a Maryland man was convicted of keeping a Brazilian woman as a “live in slave” for 20 years.  He has not yet been sentenced, but faces up to 35 years in prison.  Last September, a Silicon Valley executive was arrested as he boarded a plane for Vietnam where, according to federal officials, he was going to buy a 13 year-old girl for sex.   

Many women are enticed to come to the US as domestic servants by promises of being able to learn English and to participate the US culture and society.  Once here, however, they may find themselves being mistreated with little they can do.  Their permission to be in the US is tied to their employment.  So if they leave, they lose their legal status.  Some are threatened with deportation by their employers if they complain.  And even when they are able to escape and report their employer to they authorities, there is little the government can do because most of the employers have diplomatic immunity. 

The bill would create a new nonimmigrant classification for victims of trafficking who have not refused to assist officials in an investigation and who would face a significant possibility of retribution if returned home.  The bill would also allow such people to become permanent residents after they have been in the US for three years and would still face the possibility of retribution if returned to their native country.