Hong Kong domestic workers welcome rare rape conviction – DNyuz

Hong Kong, China – A 36-year-old foreign domestic worker in Hong Kong was on her way to take out the trash when her Swedish employer arrived home late at night in October 2022.

X, as she was called in court to protect her identity, said he looked drunk.

Soon he demanded sex.

She said she tried to reason with him, rejecting his advances, but he dragged her into his bedroom and raped her, despite her repeated pleas to stop.

“He told me he also wanted my daughter. He also said, ‘I will kill you, I will beat you,’” X recalled, speaking through an interpreter at the Hong Kong High Court in August.

“I was terrified and paralyzed with fear,” the domestic worker said, stressing that she had never consented to sexual relations with him.

Unlike other domestic workers in similar situations, X decided to take action. She moved out of the family’s apartment the next morning and went to the police, despite being the sole breadwinner for her four children and knowing she would lose her job and her home.

Nearly two years later, a jury last month found X’s employer guilty of one count of rape and one count of sodomy without consent.

“I am grateful to God that I am alive and to the Hong Kong government that justice has been done,” X told Al Jazeera shortly after the verdict. “I am also very grateful to the social workers and everyone who has helped me during this two-year journey.”

X’s case is one of the few successful rape prosecutions of a foreign domestic worker in Hong Kong, shedding light on the challenges migrant women face in obtaining justice. Experts say many victims do not report the crime, but they hope X’s victory will encourage other survivors to come forward.

“We can say that this is not only a victory for the victim, but also for all domestic workers in Hong Kong and around the world,” said Sarah Pun, vice-president of the Union of Nepali Domestic Workers in Hong Kong.

She noted that X faced many challenges in pursuing justice, including trauma, being separated from her family and having no income. “We are proud of the victim and her strength to have pursued this case to the end,” she added.

Dolores Balladares, chair of United Filipinos in Hong Kong and spokeswoman for the Asian Migrant Coordinating Body, agreed: “It is a positive development because justice is hard to come by for domestic workers. The burden of proof is always on us.”

Balladares notes that it is particularly difficult to report a rape case, “because many people blame the victim.”

X’s victory came about a month after a domestic worker from the Philippines – known in court proceedings as CB – lost a HK$1.06 million ($135,982) civil claim against her British employer in the Chinese territory for alleged sexual assault. She has since filed an appeal.

CB’s employer, who initially represented himself, was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2021 for two counts of sexual assault. He was later acquitted of all charges after a retrial on procedural and technical grounds, including issues relating to the admission of evidence.

Afraid to come forward

As of the end of August, there were 363,576 migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong. According to a spokesperson for the city’s immigration department, nearly 56 percent were from the Philippines, followed by about 42 percent from Indonesia. The rest came from countries such as India and Thailand.

Lawyers said domestic workers from ethnic minority backgrounds, such as X, an Indian national of Nepalese descent, are particularly vulnerable to abuse.

Manisha Wijesinghe, director of the Hong Kong charity HELP for Domestic Workers, said people in crisis usually turn to their peers first. But people from smaller migrant communities can struggle to find other workers from the same country, and even NGOs may not be able to help them directly due to language barriers.

“These women definitely have more problems, but many never come to light,” Wijesinghe said. “They spend their time in Hong Kong and eventually leave. They rarely have access to support.”

She said her organization receives an average of one case of sexual abuse or harassment per month.

Research conducted in 2019 by the Progressive Labour Union of Domestic Workers in Hong Kong found that migrant domestic workers are at greater risk of exploitation because their work and living arrangements (where their income, food and housing depend on their two-year employment contract) create a power imbalance.

The research found that “few migrant domestic workers use the existing legal remedies available in Hong Kong” to enforce their rights, as they find it “expensive” and “time-consuming”.

A spokeswoman for the Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women, which advocates for gender equality in Hong Kong, said that “some policies put foreign domestic workers in a particularly vulnerable position, especially when they experience sexual abuse and are faced with the dilemma of whether or not to report it.”

For example, the rule requiring domestic workers to live with their employers in Hong Kong could effectively “deny victim-survivors access to medical legal assistance”.

People who break their contracts are accused of job-hopping, which many fear could lead to them being denied visas in the future.

At the same time, many domestic workers worry about having to leave the city within 14 days of termination or completion of their contract.

Some victims of sexual abuse or harassment are reluctant to come forward for cultural reasons.

“There is still a stigma, there is so much shame that they think, ‘Who am I to bring this up in a place like this, where we are looked down upon?’” said Cynthia Abdon-Tellez, head of Mission for Migrant Workers, a group that provides support services to migrant workers in Hong Kong.

She added that it is “rare” for a migrant worker like X to give evidence in court in a sexual abuse case.

‘Often stuck in a kind of no man’s land’

Wijesinghe agrees that most domestic workers find the legal system intimidating.

She refuted claims that domestic workers file abuse cases for financial gain. “There are much easier ways to get paid quickly,” the former paralegal said, noting that victims are often forced to relive their trauma multiple times, undergo medical exams and be cross-examined in open court.

“The victim is stuck in limbo. Some cases take years. It’s not like they point fingers and sit back and wait for justice. The victim has to go through a lot,” Wijesinghe said.

The length of reporting procedures and the inability to provide for their families causes some to drop their cases.

But even when dealt with through the legal system, analysts say domestic workers’ unique circumstances may be ignored.

“We have seen that bias and discrimination can arise in the justice system,” the spokeswoman for the Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women said, adding that “authorities and professionals sometimes dismiss or downplay claims without fully understanding the context and structural oppression that (these workers) face.”

Chloe Martin, programme manager at Stop Trafficking of People (STOP), an organisation focused on ending the practice in Hong Kong, said she was “greatly relieved” to hear of X’s verdict, but noted that more needs to be done to keep survivors informed during legal proceedings and support them after verdicts are made.

X first heard about the decision through the support group and not through official channels.

“Moving forward, we urge the justice system to implement robust victim notification protocols,” Martin said. “Providing timely updates is a critical component of trauma-informed, victim-centered practices that should be the standard.”

Balladares said she hoped X’s case would encourage other workers to come forward. “We can say that there is hope, even though it is difficult and humiliating.”

Pun also called on her fellow domestic workers to seek help. “There are many organizations that can support us,” she said. “If we silence ourselves, we give more opportunities to sex predators and bad employers.”

Looking for a new life

X is still shocked by her experience.

“I was very happy before I came (to Hong Kong),” she told Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview. “I thought I would earn enough to support my family, but I almost died and there was so much misery.”

X said she never expected to be involved in a trial. “It was painful. Not easy (to deal with) so many questions,” said the domestic worker, who was questioned by the prosecution and defence lawyers for three days. Her testimony was given from a closed courtroom via video link, keeping her out of sight of the public and the media.

X became emotional when he recounted parts of the rape in court, but found it ‘most difficult to listen to the defence’s lies’.

During the eight-day trial, the employer, whose wife and three children had left for Japan, denied forcing himself on her. Instead, he claimed they had consensual sex and that the domestic worker had initiated it—not just that one time, but twice before.

Patrik Tobias Ekstrom, a Hong Kong businessman two years younger than X, testified that during those alleged sexual encounters and on other occasions at home, she repeatedly asked for financial help to pay off a loan in her home country.

He is expected to be sentenced on November 11 and faces a possible life sentence.

Despite winning the case, X said her ordeal was not over. She had been unable to work since leaving her former employer’s home and was largely reliant on charity to help her through the legal process.

She also worries about the reaction of some of her family members. “How am I going to face my brother and my male cousin?” X told Al Jazeera.

The migrant woman said she plans to return home for a short time after her sentence and then work for another family in Hong Kong.

“I had a very bad experience, but I think Hong Kong is a good place,” she said.

X urged employees who experience similar problems to contact the police.

Her experience has also prompted her to talk to her daughters about sexual abuse and harassment. “I tell them not to be silent… Speak up and address the issue in the right way.”

The post ‘A victory for us all’: Hong Kong domestic workers welcome rare rape conviction first appeared on Al Jazeera.