Modern day slavery

What are your thoughts on this article and do you find it shocking that this kind of treatment to a human being is still happening today? Do you think it's acceptable, why or why not?

http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/fulham-and-hammersmith-news/local-fulham-and-hammersmith-news/2012/12/21/women-rescued-from-domestic-slavery-becomes-uk-citizen-82029-32473417/

Reply 1

Psyk

I suspect it's the tip of the iceberg. Sex slavery is far more worrying. Not that this is ok by any means though.

Reply 2

Brandon26

This isn't slavery. She's just an idiot.
There was no need to suffer this for 6 years. Only an idiot would sustain this sort of thing for 6 years whilst in the UK! All she had to do was walk to the police and done deal.

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Reply 3

PINKFLEUR

Original post by Brandon26

Good point. But would your view change if it was mentioned that she was forced not to mention anything to the police?

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 4

Brandon26

No not really. I just feel it's stupid she kept it silent for so long. If this was happening in Ivory Coast itself or any other third world country I would understand because people are a lot more dangerous there and the law is basically not able to protect you, but if this happened in the "UK" then I don't feel sorry for her. A modern country with the law to give us freedom; all she had to do was walk to the police or even just a neighbour and ask for help. Problem sorted.

But I agree, this sort of thing shouldn't be happening in the UK. You still see mild forms of slavery in a lot of Asian Muslim and African households in the UK and no one seems to do anything about it. I can count thousands of reports of Muslim girls being denied education and freedom in their households and basically being forced to do chores around the house and eventually carry on doing the same for the uncle that they get forced to marry. This happens all in the UK.

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Reply 5

PINKFLEUR

Original post by Brandon26

Indeed. Well argued :clap2:

Reply 6

Coffinman

How is a 14year old from some foreign country meant to know what the police are like in this country.

Original post by Psyk

I suspect it's the tip of the iceberg. Sex slavery is far more worrying. Not that this is ok by any means though.

The difference is that no ones calling for maids,carers etc to be banned because some people are forced into it like sex workers and sex work.

Reply 7

Snagprophet

I guess, as Britons and white people, we must feel everlasting guilt for apparently inventing slavery.

Reply 8

DorianGrayism

Original post by Snagprophet

I guess, as Britons and white people, we must feel everlasting guilt for apparently inventing slavery.

It has nothing to do with the article but you had to get your talking point in anyway.

Reply 9

Snagprophet

Original post by DorianGrayism

It has nothing to do with the article but you had to get your talking point in anyway.

Well it's a silly story. Yes, she was 14 when she got here, but she was 20 when something happened, even then it wasn't even her who sorted it. I therefore cannot take this seriously.

Reply 10

DorianGrayism

Original post by Snagprophet

Well it's a silly story. Yes, she was 14 when she got here, but she was 20 when something happened, even then it wasn't even her who sorted it. I therefore cannot take this seriously.

Ok. So your logic is: I think someone being denied education, pay and etc for 6 years is silly, so I will make up an irrelevant comment in response.

Reply 11

PaigeOfPaper

I haven't heard of this as much, but I know that sex slavery is a HUGE industry. It's literally all over the place... whether the US or the UK. At least with sex slavery, it's much much harder to get out of because the girls are brought into it at a very young age and basically brainwashed, plus they have almost constant supervision so that they can't contact people or the police for help. Organizations who are trying to help these people out of slavery often post phone numbers and ads for assistance in restrooms because that's literally the only time they're left alone... but again they don't have phones or money for a payphone so even then it's reallyyy hard.
I imagine that it's kind of the same with the domestic slave thing... I feel like since they're living in a house and probably have phones and stuff nearby it isn't quite as hard to get out of, as some of you said, as opposed to traveling from truck stop to truck stop under supervision... but yeah if you're from another country and were taken from there at a young age and don't speak the language of the new country, that's got to be a mess.

Reply 12

jama mj

what's so ironic about this story is how she was denied almost everything that is essential to a human being but yet she is only aloud outside the house to go to church. its just despicable and unimaginably evil.

Reply 13

Brandon26

Let's discuss religion people and their sense of logic...need another whole new forum for that.

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Reply 14

Psyk

Did anyone in her family actually get arrested? Apart from not being allowed to go to school, were any laws actually broken here? I don't think there's a law against making a teenage child do chores, even if you do make them do an excessive amount. I also don't think there's any law saying you have to let them go out with friends.

Of course when she turned 18 she would have been legally free to leave, but it doesn't say by what means she was forced to do this work.

Reply 15

Devolved-Alchemist

To all the people saying that she was stupid and should have left: you are all pretty ignorant.

The question you ought to ask is: what kind of threats, misinformation and abuse was inflicted on this lady, for her not to do anything about her predicament? It's one thing quipping 'she should have called the police' when you're in the comfortable position of knowing your legal rights, or knowing other people that can help you out. However, what do you think you could do when you were unaware of your legal rights, or felt nobody else could help you?

Also, in these types of cases, the servant's passport - their only form of identification - is seized by the people she works for. The servant's masters do this in order to ensure their compliance. No passport = no movement. It's unclear whether this was the case in this particular story though.

Reply 16

cambio wechsel

Original post by Devolved-Alchemist

This is right. What traffickers say is often "go to the police and life will get very hot for your family back home", and the victim knows it's likely true and knows as well that there is certainly nothing the British police can do to prevent the acting out of that threat in West Africa, Eastern Europe, or SE Asia.

Reply 17

thunder_chunky

Original post by Coffinman

How is a 14year old from some foreign country meant to know what the police are like in this country.

This. People who are saying it's her own fault are being ridiculous. Raising a person from a young teenager to a young adult, keeping her inside and making her do all that for no money and with no freedom, that is imprisonment in a way. And she probably didn't do anything because she was in a foreign country with no money and no idea of what to do and she was being treated like crap. She was probably far too scared. Anyone who thinks it's as easy as simply running away doesn't get it.

Reply 18

thunder_chunky

Original post by Snagprophet

I guess, as Britons and white people, we must feel everlasting guilt for apparently inventing slavery.

That's not really relevant to this topic.

Original post by Snagprophet

Well it's a silly story. Yes, she was 14 when she got here, but she was 20 when something happened, even then it wasn't even her who sorted it. I therefore cannot take this seriously.