What happened in Hong Kong to Erwiana Sulistyaningsih would likely never happen to a Filipina domestic helper today. After decades of jousting with abusive employers and corrupt employment agencies, Filipinas have learned their rights and established protective agencies. Indonesians and the other ethnic groups that have followed Filipinas to Hong Kong are not there yet.
The 23-year-old Indonesian fled back to her country bruised and battered after enduring months of violent abuse at the hands of her employer. She had arrived fresh from her village in Central Java, obviously without having been informed of what she should expect from her local employer; nor did she seem aware of any organization that could help in times of distress.
This kind of treatment, an open secret among maids, merits calling the Erwiana case “Hong Kong’s Shame.”
The importation of Filipina women began in the late 1970s when Hong Kong residents felt the need to have servants in their households. This was easily accomplished because the Philippines is just a two-hour flight from the territory. Furthermore, employers found it convenient that the women understood and spoke English (thanks to the Americans who’d colonized their forebears).
Over the decades the trickle of Filipinas grew into a flood, so that by the mid-1990s the yearly South China Morning Post survey of foreign inhabitants in the city showed Filipino citizens topping the list at over 200,000. Full story...
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The 23-year-old Indonesian fled back to her country bruised and battered after enduring months of violent abuse at the hands of her employer. She had arrived fresh from her village in Central Java, obviously without having been informed of what she should expect from her local employer; nor did she seem aware of any organization that could help in times of distress.
This kind of treatment, an open secret among maids, merits calling the Erwiana case “Hong Kong’s Shame.”
The importation of Filipina women began in the late 1970s when Hong Kong residents felt the need to have servants in their households. This was easily accomplished because the Philippines is just a two-hour flight from the territory. Furthermore, employers found it convenient that the women understood and spoke English (thanks to the Americans who’d colonized their forebears).
Over the decades the trickle of Filipinas grew into a flood, so that by the mid-1990s the yearly South China Morning Post survey of foreign inhabitants in the city showed Filipino citizens topping the list at over 200,000. Full story...
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