Exploited Indonesian Maids Are Hong Kong's 'Modern-Day Slaves' | TIME.com

Exploited Indonesian Maids Are Hong Kong's 'Modern-Day Slaves' | TIME.com:

 When Indonesian domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih departed from Hong Kong last Friday, she left a nightmare behind her. Eight months of alleged beatings by her employer had disfigured the 23-year-old so badly she was barely recognizable. A gaunt, pockmarked face with chipped teeth had replaced her once smooth, girlish features. Her feet, scalded with hot water, were black in color and had open sores.

Her case is another damning instance of the abuses faced by foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong. Foreign maids have been a ubiquitous feature of Hong Kong life since the 1970s, when the city’s economy began to boom. Local women entered the labor force on a large scale and hired domestic workers from the Philippines, and subsequently Indonesia and Thailand, to keep households running.

  

A foreign domestic helper holds a placard as she takes part in a May Day rally in Hong Kong on May 1, 2013.