No Justice for Diplomatic Abuse of Domestic Workers

Almost a year ago, Devyani Khobragade was indicted by U.S.    authorities for abuse of her domestic employee, Sangeeta Richard.    Although her case made international headlines and caused  diplomatic stress between the United States and India, it quickly fell  into the background without investigation. And while her case is  important for the media to give attention to, it is only one of  countless others like it that never see justice.

Many of the domestic workers that Break the Chain works with have A-3 or G-5 visas, meaning they are in the U.S. to work for foreign diplomatic personnel. These visas are for domestic employees who are accompanying an employer who is visiting or on temporary assignment in the United States, and require a written contract in the employee’s native language for negotiating fair wages and a suitable living situation.

The kinds of abuse exposed in the Khobragade case are very familiar to our project. For example, in a snapshot of cases in 2003, BTCC was working on or had completed intakes for 28 individual cases of foreign domestic workers, originating from many places in Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia, and who were facing abuse in the United States. Many of the cases involved ambassadors, diplomats, and World Bank employees who paid little to nothing for the workers’ labor and often physically abused them. One report gave the story of an Indian woman working for a World Bank family 16 to 18 hours a day for 18 cents an hour and facing beatings. Another case showed a Uruguayan man brought over by a diplomat who paid below minimum wage, refused to allow him out of the house, and had him sleep in a laundry closet. These cases are not as few and far between as we would hope, rather they are kept quiet.

The cases represented in the media are the seemingly successful ones: ones who have filed legal action, ones who have the resources to stand up and demand better treatment. There are countless others who slip through the cracks- whether it’s because the severity of their abuse is so traumatizing that they can’t speak out, or because law enforcement did not take on their case, or because service providers or outreach efforts simply didn’t reach them to educate them about options.

But we must also ask, what is justice for an abused domestic worker? What is accountability for an abusive foreign diplomat? Not one case has resulted in conviction for the abuser.

Not only should the United States government be holding foreign diplomats accountable, but the abusers’ home countries should take action as well. In a 2012 C-SPAN interview, Luis CdeBaca, outgoing United States Ambassador in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, suggested that other countries should be exercising extraterritorial jurisdiction. Ambassador CdeBaca urged that as a global community, “we should be able to prosecute our citizens if they enslave someone overseas, especially if they are there under government orders.” Because of the nature of foreign domestic work in homes of foreign diplomats, offenders are in-between legal accountability, and reputations are at risk in diplomacy.

The TVPA has protocol in place for dealing with these cases, but it goes unenforced. The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 requires the Secretary of State to suspend countries from the special visa program if there is credible evidence of abuse of domestic workers.

Beyond response, workers and advocates are also looking to prevention. It is here where we see some possible movement: First, improving pre-departure education activities so that domestic workers are not only aware of their rights, but are able to connect to NGO groups and resources to exercise those rights. Another area we see potentially moving is closer monitoring of working conditions by the State Department- in the form of individual in-person meetings with workers after they have arrived and started working. Advocates and survivors have a lot to add about exactly how these prevention projects can be most effective- but absent strong prosecutions, waivers of immunity, and suspensions of violating countries- it’s the least that can be done.

Becca Lamb, Intern

Break the Chain Campaign

This International Women’s Day: A Call for Visa Protections

In December, an Indian consular officer named Devyani Khobragade was arrested and charged with committing visa fraud and providing false statements in order to gain entry to the United States for her domestic worker, Sangeeta Richard. The case made international news and even caused some serious tension between the United States and India. Thanks to the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Sangeeta’s story, and that of hundreds of other domestic workers around the world, was told: abuse of the already poorly structured visa system by diplomats is not news to those on the ground. Even back in 2008, a Government Accountability Office investigation found 42 household workers who alleged they were abused by foreign diplomats with immunity eight years prior. The report noted the true number was likely higher due to workers’ fear of contacting law enforcement. We know that not much has changed since then. 

 So what are the visas that domestic workers come over on? B-1, A-3, G-5 visas are used for domestic employees who are accompanying an employer who is visiting or on temporary assignment in the United States. A-3 and G-5 visas are registered with the State Department Office of Protocol, which keeps records of the number of these visa holders in the United States at any one time. In contrast, B-1 domestic worker visas is a nonimmigrant visas for employment and therefore, not registered with the State Department. While applicants for most other nonimmigrant work visas must submit documents containing personal data and basic employment and contact information to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, they play no role in the B-1 visa issuance process and lack information on B-1 domestic workers. 

Domestic workers who work on A-3 and G-5 visas have some new protections put in place by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act- though Sangeeta’s story shows that diplomats and international officials do not necessarily follow these rules. And if the State Department or other government entities do not enforce them, the disregard grows. In Sangeeta’s case, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service (the investigative arm of the State Department) did take up the case and followed it through in collaboration with the Department of Justice. This is important and we hope that DSS continues to take these cases seriously. Unfortunately, the higher level offices of the State Department later decided to grant the consular officer immunity, shielding her from prosecution. If there are no true penalties for abusers, then the laws and regulations on the books will continue to be scoffed at. They are certainly a start, but it’s up to domestic workers, allies in the public, the media, and activists to press the government to follow through. 

When it comes to B-1 workers, and even J-1 workers, the protections are less clear. There’s movement within the advocacy community, particularly the work of the International Labor Recruitment Working Group, ATEST, and the Freedom Network, for visa reform and regulation of foreign labor recruiters to reduce trafficking on legal work visas.  

One example of a common issue faced by workers on visas is lack of portability. The visas tie the workers to one employer, which makes transferring or leaving the position impossible. Threatening to revoke legal immigration status is a major way bad employers force workers into servitude, or compel them to stay in unsafe or exploitative working conditions. This kind of workplace harms not only those workers, but all the US born workers who have to compete for jobs in a “race to the bottom” environment. There are few regulations or checks in place to protect workers- and women workers in private homes employed by diplomats or other powerful people experience these risks exponentially. 

This International Women’s Day, we must take a stand against domestic workers’ exploitation and make reforms to work visas so they are not gateways to human trafficking. 

 

Learn more about this issue:

http://www.globalworkers.org

http://www.domesticworkers.org/beyondsurvival

http://www.fairlaborrecruitment.org

http://www.freedomnetworkusa.org

http://www.endslaveryandtrafficking.org

 

– Yasemin Ayarci, Worker/Immigrant Rights Advocacy Intern

Damayan And Allies: The Fight Against Modern Day Slavery

         In a time of global turmoil, violence, prejudice, elitism, and entitlement, nothing seems more overdue than the organization of interfaith support for victims of modern day slavery.  On Monday, September 23, 2013, organizations of countless affiliations are uniting to fight for the justice of labor trafficking victims.

         This vigil, march, and rally are, together, an effort to give voice to debased workers, specifically of Philippine descent.  The joining of organizations such as Damayan, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, and Women Organized to Resist and Defend, is a demonstration of what this world needs right now; we need to be allies for each other. 

         What makes this event so special is how September 21 is the anniversary of the onset of Philippine Martial Law under dictator Ferdinand Marcos.  It represents a time of intense human rights transgressions, including the forcing of migration through labor trafficking.

        

         This event commemorates a new era of giving voice to all, because no one person deserves a voice more than another.

         The Damayan Migrant Workers Association demands “the creation of a task force at the Philippine Consulate to address trafficking of domestic workers and to provide resources for exploited workers”.  To help make this happen, be part of the change this Monday, September 23.  Whether it be the rally, the march, or the vigil, your presence will make a difference, and will remind these victims of the universal support that follows them.

 

For more information on this exciting and integral event, visit:

https://www.facebook.com/events/338800432922068/

http://www.damayanmigrants.org