This is the story of how a simple Indonesian girl who dream to have a bright future end up to be starved and tortured for months, and how she win her battle in court with her employer.
Erwana Sulistyaningsih has come a long way from the Indonesian to Hong Kong in May 2013 looking for a way to earn more money, only to find herself starved and tortured for months. January 10, 2014, a very weak and skinny Erwana, who was 23 years old at the time, was put on a plane back home to Indonesia with only HK$100 ($12.90) and a t-shirt by her employer, Law Wan-tung. She had become too weak to walk after almost 8 months of torture. Pictures of badly beaten Erwana, looking frail and skinny and in a critical condition in a hospital in Sragen, Central Java, shocked the world. She stay in her employer for months, she later tell the court that she lived for bread and rice only. Slept for four hours a day and was regularly punch and beaten. Her employer put a vacuum cleaner into her mouth and twisted it round her lips until it was bleeding and very painful. Law, Erwana's employer also pushed her off the ladder. She often hit Erwana, sometimes her employer hit her from behind, sometimes in front. Erwana is being hit regularly that she already got headache, and she is hit in her mouth that she has difficulty in breathing.
Law, Erwana's employer was arrested on June 20, 2014 while trying to leave Hong Kong for Thailand.
Erwana's story spread around the world on social media, sparking outrage. It drew angry crowds on the streets of Hong Kong calling for better working conditions for domestic helpers and fueled criticism over their poor treatment. On April 7, Erwana, with Indonesian consulate staff seen at the Hong Kong airport, returns to provide her testimony against Law. Also on the same month, Erwana was named as one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People. She "could not be broken, nor could she be silenced," the magazine wrote, calling her "the migrant worker who fought back". "Erwana is advocating for better laws to protect others who may share her fate, placing a spotlight on the plight of a vulnerable and often invisible population. It is brave women like her who speak up for the voiceless who will create lasting change." In December 2014, Erwana arrives at the Wanchai Law Court's in Hong Kong to begin giving evidence against Law.
Law's trial began. Law faced 20 charges in court – also relating to two other former domestic helpers – including grievous bodily harm with intent, criminal intimidation and failure to pay wages. She pleaded not guilty to all but one of the charges against her, admitting only that she had failed to arrange insurance for Erwana. The trial, was lasted for 6 weeks, and was heavily covered by local and international media. Erwana described in vivid detail how she was tortured. In one incident, she said she was stripped naked, covered with water and made to stand in front of a fan in the bathroom in the middle of winter. Erwana don't want her case to this big because it's too much burden for her emotionally and psychologically. But she is also happy that through her case other cases have been exposed.
On February 10, 2015 the court found Law guilty of 18 of the 20 charges laid against her- a first in Hong Kong history. And on February 27, 2015 Erwana Sulistyaningshi arrives at the Hong Kong court for Law Wan-tung's sentencing. It's a victory for Erwana. Law, faced a maximum sentence of 7 years, was sentence to 6 years in jail. To all who want to go and work as a domestic helper, please be aware and have presence of mind. Not because you are a domestic helper you need to be silence even if your employer is torturing you. We have food allowance and it is stated in our contract so we have the right to ask for our food. Sometimes it is really hard to have a voice, but we need to show to our employer that we know our rights. Yes, I know it is easy to say that we need to show to our employer that we know our rights but it is hard to do it. First, we are scared that our employer will terminate the contract. Second, if we have loan from banks and our contract is terminated, where do we take money to pay our depths way back home? Third, if our employer terminate the contract, it is really hard to find another job. If we do, it will cost a lot of money again to pay the recruitment agency.
All this reason is the reason why there is still a lot of domestic helper who is suffering from the hands of their employer. But we must be brave to face them, or else we will become one of those who is working under modern day slavery. There are lot's of agencies who help those who want to break their contract. All we need to do is to know where they are. Lastly, before we go to the country where we want to work we need to learn all the important places of government offices whom we know that can help us. Be equipped with knowledge. And everything's gonna be alright
