Hidden abuse of domestic workers

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By Alison Holt Social affairs correspondent, BBC News

'He used to force me to sleep with him'

Migrant domestic workers brought to the UK by their employers are routinely abused and exploited, according to a report.

To reach the headquarters of the small charity behind research into the treatment of migrant domestic workers, you have to walk through some of the most affluent streets in west London.

But tucked down a side road, the charity Kalayaan offers help to domestic workers brought to the UK from other countries, then exploited by their wealthy employers.

Many report being paid as little as 50p an hour, as well as a disturbing level of abuse.

Like a slave

Rina is a slight woman, who casts her eyes down as she speaks of the promises made by her employer, which were quickly broken.

"She did promise me that I would have my own time, that I would have my own room and everything - but on the first day she told me somebody's coming, you just sleep in the living room," Rina says.

"I said, 'No problem,' the first day.

"But the second day it was the same thing."

The Kalayaan report says stories like Rina's are all too common. The BBC has changed her name because she is still terrified of the family who she says treated her like a slave.

She came to the UK to work for the relative of a family she knew, hoping to help her family in India out of poverty with the money she sent home. Every day it was worse and worse Rina <a class="" href="/1/hi/uk/7484043.stm">Migrant domestic staff 'at risk' </a> Rina soon found she had no money, no time off, no bed, and her employer begrudged her food.

"She used to count the teabags, how much tea I'm drinking," Rina says.

"She used to check the fridge and the biscuits of the child. Maybe she is thinking I eat the child's food."

And like 10% of the workers questioned by Kalayaan, Rina was sexually abused. She had to fight off the husband's attempts to rape her.

"It was very difficult. Every night I used to think that the days would come better, but every day it was worse and worse.

"He used to hit me when I say no... with a belt.

"He used to drink and force me and I used to lock myself in the toilet."

'Severe abuse'

For the research published on Wednesday in conjunction with Oxfam, Kalayaan questioned more than 300 migrant domestic workers who registered with them during a year.

Most of them are women from India or the Philippines. The majority arrived in this country to work for families from the Middle East or India, although 9% said they worked in British homes. We do have workers turning up without their passport and only the clothes they stand up in Kate RobertsKalayaan

Most described living and working conditions that were extremely poor, with many not given a bed or allowed regular meals. In addition, psychological and physical abuse were widespread.

Kalayaan, which is the Philippine word for freedom, was set up in the 1980s to campaign for the rights of this vulnerable group of workers.

Each year 17,000 domestic migrant visas are granted, and the employer must give an undertaking to accommodate and feed that person, renewing the visa after a year.

But the worker effectively disappears from view when the kitchen door swings closed behind them.

Kate Roberts, the charity's co-ordinator, says it is all too easy for them to be exploited.

"We do regularly have workers come to Kalayaan having literally run away or escaped severe abuse, where they've been locked in the house," she says.

"They've had to take the small opportunity they have to run away with nothing.

"So we do have workers turning up without their passport and only the clothes they stand up in, no idea about their immigration status and absolutely terrified."

Rina eventually escaped her abusive employers, but campaigners want more protection for these almost invisible and often exploited workers.

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