Modern Domestic Slavery

JupiterKid

I was reading a Ruth Rendell book called Simisola. It turned my stomach to read of how a wealthy English family brought a young black girl over from the Middle East to England to work 16 hours a day essentially as a slave for no money. She was forced to sleep on a mattress in a room by the kitchen like a dog.

The father and elder son of the family beat her severely and raped her frequently too. Now in case you think that this is just sordid fantasy on Rendell's part, there are actually a number of very sad and proven cases of wealthy white families callously treating their domestic servants, usually black, Filipina or Eastern European, like slaves - very long hours for little or no pay, being kept a prisoner in the house, being denied proper food and much of this is driven by racism, bigotry, greed and classism.

It's more widespread than you think.:(

Here's some links to this issue:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3693/is_200006/ai_n8893839/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/world/slavery/default.stm

Iwasfrozen

JupiterKid wrote: »

I was reading a Ruth Rendell book called Simisola. It turned my stomach to read of how a wealthy English family brought a young black girl over from the Middle East to England to work 16 hours a day essentially as a slave for no money. She was forced to sleep on a mattress in a room by the kitchen like a dog.

The father and elder son of the family beat her severely and raped her frequently too. Now in case you think that this is just sordid fantasy on Rendell's part, there are actually a number of very sad and proven cases of wealthy white families callously treating their domestic servants, usually black, Filipina or Eastern European, like slaves - very long hours for little or no pay, being kept a prisoner in the house, being denied proper food and much of this is driven by racism, bigotry, greed and classism.

Couple of things:
1. Why in the name of God do they stay ? And don't say "they are locked up." Their captives must come into contact with them at least once a day to feed them.
2. If we know of this case that you have pointed out then that person has already been brought to justice.
3. I'm sure thsi is alot more rare then you seem to think. Personally I don't know any people who would do that, white of otherwise.

Coriolanus

1. Why in the name of God do they stay ? And don't say "they are locked up." Their captives must come into contact with them at least once a day to feed them.
Generally they're girls/women. As well as being physically intimidated by the much larger males of the family, they have their documentation taken, personal possessions and money removed completely or severely curtailed. They're usually relatively (by western standards) uneducated and come from societies which are much more patriarchal and deferential. In all the "escape" cases seen so far, generally the women have remained in bondage for years, before chance occurences or meetings set down a domino effect of actions that led to their freedom.
I'd advise you to read some of the articles that the OP linked to.

2. If we know of this case that you have pointed out then that person has already been brought to justice.
In that particular case, yes. The odds of it having only occurred in the cases that were brought to the police and courts is miniscule, and that's to put a good light on it.

3. I'm sure thsi is alot more rare then you seem to think. Personally I don't know any people who would do that, white of otherwise.
Most people would say they don't know any people that'd beat their spouse, emotionally abuse their children etc but the figures say otherwise. That pretty much puts paid to the idea that we "know" our friends, associates and family, nearly as much as we'd like to think.
While domestic slavery is no doubt rarer than run-of-the-mill domestic abuse, it undeniably happens, and a lot more often than most people are comfortable with admitting to.

Emme

Interesting topic. Domestic servants have been abused for years. Many's the girl who got pregnant after being raped by her Evil Ascendancy Landlord boss and was sent home in disgrace.

However, up until recently I thought that modern domestic slavery was limited to certain ethnic groups - ie wealthy foreign families who brought over servants from their own country and treated them in the same manner as they would at home. A cultural issue as well as a human rights issue.

Lately I heard of a wealthy and very eligible Irish guy who had been sleeping with the Filipina nurse employed to do the housework and look after his sick elderly mother - all 3 of them were living under the same roof. When his mother passed on the nurse either went home or got another job. The mind boggles :eek:

Coriolanus

Well, if she was free to leave after her charge died, then it's not exactly a clear cut case of domestic slavery. She may or may not have been compelled and he may or may not have abused a position of relative power/authority over the woman, but without knowing specifics you really can't judge it positively or negatively.

Emme

Nevore wrote: »

Well, if she was free to leave after her charge died, then it's not exactly a clear cut case of domestic slavery. She may or may not have been compelled and he may or may not have abused a position of relative power/authority over the woman, but without knowing specifics you really can't judge it positively or negatively.

I agree that it may not have been a clear cut case of domestic slavery but IMHO the son definitely abused his position of power. The Filipina nurse was employed by the family at large to care for their mother. However, the only son who was resident in the family home with his mother took advantage of the Filipina nurse's obliging nature and compromised her professionalism. She was employed as a nurse/carer but she ended up doing all the housework (it's a big house) and submitting to the son's advances as well.