DOCUMENTARY: Abused Domestic Workers

Abused Domestic Helpers of Hong Kong

by Carolyn O'Neill

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Many people living in Hong Kong today employ the services of a domestic helper, the majority of whom come from other countries for an opportunity to provide a better life for their families back home.

Of the approximately 230,000 foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong, the largest segment originates from the Philippines. Of those 180,000 Filipinos, approximately 120,000 are employed as domestic workers. Following close behind is the rapidly growing Indonesian migrant population (appx. 115,000). A much smaller percentage of workers come from Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and Thailand.

Some of the foreign domestics working in Hong Kong have college degrees or come from professional fields in their homelands, but because of the dire employment situations in their own countries, coupled with the allure of a good minimum wage in Hong Kong, they leave their jobs and loved ones behind for the prospect of improving the standard of living for themselves and their families.

Others come from remote villages and often have very little if any schooling and arrive in Hong Kong only able to speak their native language. This is the most vulnerable and consequently most disenfranchised group and they often find themselves working in a foreign country with little knowledge of their rights or the local government policies and restrictions.

While there are many who reap the reward for their hard work as domestics in Hong Kong, there are many more who suffer serious abuse and exploitation at the hands of a the far-reaching system that begins in their home country with employment agencies who charge exorbitant fees and make wild claims about jobs and opportunities in Hong Kong, luring many hopeful yet unsuspecting and uninformed workers into a grueling and demoralizing quagmire of corruption, greed and injustice.