ICYMI: Saudi diplomat charged in modern slavery case of Filipina domestic worker forced to work 16 hours a day
The United Kingdom Supreme Court has charged a Saudi diplomat for allegedly exploiting a Filipino domestic worker to the point of slavery.
The case is a historic rule in that diplomats do not have immunity when it comes to cases of modern slavery, as they are usually protected in criminal and civil charges in their country of work.
Starting from August 2016 to 2018, Filipino worker Josephine Wong accused her employer, London-based Saudi diplomat Khalik Basfar, of treating her like a slave by forcing her to wear a door-bell so she could be summoned 24 hours a day and be at his family's "beck and call" at all times.
Josephine said she was forced to work for the Basfar family from 7 AM to 11:30 PM every day, with virtually no days off or breaks in between.
In the court judgment given on July 6, 2022, further details of Josephine's treatment were disclosed, such as only being able to speak to her family twice a year using Basfar's cellphone, being called offensive names, being shouted at regularly, and only allowed to eat their leftover food when the family was around.
"A major source of vulnerability is physical and social isolation," the statement reads. "Someone who works alone and is cut off from family, friends, and other social support is inherently vulnerable to exploitation."
"A domestic worker living in her employer’s home in a foreign country may find herself in this position, exacerbated by language and cultural barriers."
Wong initially worked for the Basfar family in Saudi Arabia, but upon arriving in the UK with them, she had only been paid a one-time payment of £1,800 (P121,250.00) for six months of work—a fraction of her contractual payment. She was not paid again in the two years of working under their family.
In 2018, Wong escaped her employers and filed a case. It was initially overturned due to Basfar's diplomatic protection under the UK, but courts have since sided with Wong's claims that a diplomat cannot use their immunity in slavery cases to escape persecution.
Violence against Philippine domestic workers
Domestic work makes up 80% of preferred work for Filipina migrant workers. In the UK, over 23,000 Overseas Domestic Workers (ODWs) are given six-month working visas each year, with half of those issuing visas going to Filipino domestic workers.
Although there are local rights that protect women migrant workers from violence such as the Magna Carta of Women, there are still a number of abuse cases that remain unaddressed.
In a statement, the Philippine Commission on Women called forth the need for labor protection for ODWs all over the world: "Let us afford them the safe environment that we have committed to provide under international treaties and our national laws."
"As they contribute to nation-building by being in the workforce, despite the circumstances and the difficulties they have to face, let us make sure that their sacrifices won’t be put to waste because of abuse and violence."