HELPmatters

Trigger warning: This article mentions sexual assault and violence against women.

Agnes* couldn't believe it was happening to her. 

She had come to her abuser’s office to collect her wages at his insistence. She was asked to bring her passport, identity card and bank documents. But when she entered the office, the abuser, alone in his office, bolted the door and raped her. 

"We just come here to work", Agnes thought to herself. "Why does this happen to us all the time"? "He was much stronger than me, and I said no many times and cried for help", Agnes said.

"We just come here to work. Why does this happen to us all the time"?

Unaware of her rights and having nowhere else to go, she returned to his home. Agnes felt frightened and ashamed at what happened. She was in disbelief. "I blanked out", she said. "I locked myself inside the room and couldn't stop crying".

Migrant domestic workers such as Agnes are particularly vulnerable to physical, sexual and gender-based violence as they live in their workplace. Abuses can typically occur in private homes, hidden from the public eye.

Agnes was torn between her desire to leave her employment and her responsibilities towards her family back home. She had to earn money to pay for her children's education and support her family's needs. 

"Shut up your mouth… you have to do what I say", Agnes remembered her abuser saying. "You are just a helper".

She was afraid that any actions against her abuser would provoke him and make the work environment hostile for her.

Accessing HELP

A few days after the incident and having spoken to a few friends, Agnes gathered the courage to leave the house with her belongings and reached out to HELP for support. 

Agnes also reported the incident to her country's consulate and the Hong Kong Police Force. HELP is assisting Agnes with the criminal investigation and a labour claim against her abuser. 

While recovering at a safe shelter, HELP will continue to provide case counselling, basic needs and mental health support to enable Agnes to achieve a just and equitable resolution to her troubles.

"I don't need your money, I need respect," says Agnes.

Agnes is among the very few who have gathered the courage to report injustice, wanting to prevent such incidents from happening to others. Often, the imbalance of power between employer and domestic worker at a private workplace, inability to seek help, and financial pressures discourage domestic workers from reporting the abuse.

A safe workplace is every woman’s right. Domestic workers have the right to be free of violence, harassment, and discrimination at their workplace. 

This International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on 25 November, let's pledge to eliminate violence against women and promote safe employment.

Support HELP as we strive to protect the dignity of work and the rights of migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong. 

*pseudonym