Home Office
Secretary Theresa May recently passed a Modern Slavery bill that will allow
victims of slavery to seek compensation and reparations from their traffickers,
or employers, especially those who had had them work illicitly in improper
occupations.
I can’t
believe that our country still has slavery. Sure, there are human traffickers,
who sell people, including children, to brothels, black market companies and
other organisations, but what I’m talking about is localized slavery. Yes, your
dear neighbour.
I had a
neighbour once, and their family had a domestic helper named Tina. She was from
Morocco as I recall. Every day, the family will leave, but Tina was locked up
from behind the door. She was told never to shout or cry for help outside. One time,
I was walking beside her employer and she was following us. I could notice that
she was malnourished.
I wanted to
take it to authorities, but some colleagues said there was no law that
protected domestic helpers. In the UK, it was always the citizen first, the
migrants secondary, despite the fragrant words the world hears on television.
Maybe this
law, along with other laws, will help these migrants, who came into the country
to support their own families back in their country, have a right to the UK
justice system. Nobody deserves to be treated like a slave, either through
human trafficking or domestic imprisonment.
