Hong Kong Court Convicts Employer in Abuse of Domestic Worker

HONG KONG — She claimed that her employer kicked her and beat her with a vacuum cleaner rod. She said that she was given only one bottle of water a day to minimize toilet breaks, was forced to sleep on the floor and became emaciated for lack of food.

On Tuesday, a court here agreed, vindicating Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, a domestic servant from Indonesia, by finding her 44-year-old former employer, Law Wang-tung, guilty of 18 charges, including assault. Ms. Law now awaits sentencing.

“The tragedy is that we know that this is a widespread problem, and it just hasn’t been getting the attention, and there haven’t been nearly enough prosecutions,” Ms. Rife said. “Hopefully this will encourage more migrant domestic workers to step forward.”

The New York Times