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Nanny: Diplomat Made Me a Slave
Sexually assaulted and beaten, she reveals horrors facing UK's migrant workers
By Matt Cantor
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Posted Aug 9, 09 2:33 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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A migrant worker in Britain took what looked like a plush job as a diplomat’s nanny—only to be treated as a sex slave with little recourse to the law, the Independent reports, uncovering a predicament faced by other workers. “I was trapped. I was paid nothing, never allowed to leave the house, and only given scraps to eat”; she was beaten and sexually assaulted, she says.
She’s owed some $33,000 after a tribunal order, but she can’t pursue the diplomat, who has left Britain for home. When she spoke to police, they said her employer couldn’t face prosecution because of his status as a diplomat. As a migrant worker for a diplomat, the woman couldn’t change employers. “The power that employers can wield over vulnerable individuals is akin to bonded labor and leads to human trafficking,” says an advocacy group.