Hong Kong, China – A 36-year-old foreign domestic worker in Hong Kong was on her way to throw out the rubbish when her Swedish employer arrived home late one night in October 2022.
X, as she was known in court to protect her identity, said he appeared to be drunk.
Soon he was demanding sex.
She said she tried to reason with him, rejecting his advances. But he dragged her into his bedroom and raped her, despite her repeated calls to stop.
“He told me he also wanted my daughter. He also said: ‘I’ll kill you, I’ll hit you,” X recalled, speaking via an interpreter at Hong Kong’s High Court in August.
“I was terrified and frozen with fear,” the domestic worker said, stressing she had never consented to having sexual relations with him.
Unlike other domestic workers in similar situations, X decided to act. She moved out of the family’s flat the next morning and went to the police despite being the sole breadwinner for her four children and knowing she would lose her job and her home.
Nearly two years on, a jury last month found X’s employer guilty of one count of rape and one count of buggery without consent.
“I am grateful to God that I am alive and to the Hong Kong government that justice was served,” X told Al Jazeera shortly after the verdict. “I am also very thankful to the social workers and everyone who helped me during this two-year-journey.”
X’s case is one of the few successful rape prosecutions involving a foreign domestic worker in Hong Kong, shedding light on the challenges faced by migrant women in securing justice. Experts say many victims do not press charges, but they hope X’s win may encourage other survivors to come forward.
“We can say this is a victory not only for the victim but also for all domestic workers in Hong Kong and around the world,” said Sarah Pun, vice-chair of the Union of Nepalese Domestic workers in Hong Kong.
She noted that X faced many challenges in pursuing justice, including trauma, being apart from her family, and not having an income. “We are proud of the victim and her strength for having pursued this case until the end,” she added.
Dolores Balladares, chairwoman of United Filipinos in Hong Kong and spokeswoman for the Asian Migrant Coordinating Body, agreed: “It is a positive development because justice is hard to get for domestic workers. The burden of proof is always on our shoulders.”
Balladares notes it is particularly difficult to report a rape case, “as many people will blame the victim”.
X’s victory came about a month after a domestic worker from the Philippines – known in court procedures as CB – lost a civil claim of 1.06 million Hong Kong dollars ($135,982) against her British employer in the Chinese territory for alleged sexual assaults. She has since lodged an appeal.
CB’s employer, who initially represented himself, had been sentenced to 30 months in jail on two counts of indecent assault in 2021. He was later acquitted of all charges after a retrial on procedural and technical grounds, including issues related to admission of evidence.
A spokeswoman for the Hong Kong Police told Al Jazeera that from January 2019 to June this year, the force received 310 reports involving employers of domestic workers, and that 87 of those cases were related to sexual abuse.
According to the officer, 194 employers were arrested for various offences following investigations, but only 36 were prosecuted. Nine were found guilty and sentenced to up to six years in prison. The spokeswoman did not disclose the number of arrests or prosecutions specifically related to rape and other forms of sexual violence.
Scared to come forward
Advocates said that domestic workers from ethnic minority backgrounds, like X who is an Indian national of Nepali origin, have been particularly vulnerable to abuse.
There were 363,576 migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong as of the end of August. According to a spokesman for the city’s Immigration Department, nearly 56 percent hailed from the Philippines, followed by about 42 percent from Indonesia. The rest were from countries such as India and Thailand.
Manisha Wijesinghe, executive director of Hong Kong charity HELP for Domestic Workers, said those in crisis usually turn first to their peers. But for those from smaller migrant communities, it can be hard to find other workers from the same country and even the NGOs may not be able to provide them with an immediate response due to language barriers.
“These women definitely face more problems, but many don’t ever come to light,” Wijesinghe said. “They spend their time in Hong Kong and eventually leave. They are rarely able to reach out for support.”
She said that her organisation receives on average one case of sexual abuse or harassment every month.
Research conducted in 2019 by the Progressive Labour Union of Domestic Workers in Hong Kong showed migrant domestic workers were at greater risk of exploitation because their employment and living arrangements – where their income, food and accommodation depend on their two-year work contract – create a power imbalance.
The study noted that “few migrant domestic workers utilise the existing legal remedies available in Hong Kong” to enforce their rights, as they find it “expensive” and “time-consuming”.
A spokeswoman for the Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women, which promotes gender equity in Hong Kong, said that “some policies place foreign domestic workers in a particularly vulnerable position, especially when they face sexual abuse and are caught in the dilemma of whether or not to report it.”
As an example, the rule requiring domestic workers to live with their employers in Hong Kong can effectively “block victim-survivors from accessing medicolegal assistance.”
Those who break their contracts have been accused of job hopping and many fear that can prevent them from getting future visas.
At the same time, she said, many domestic workers worry about having to leave the city within 14 days of termination or completion of their contracts.
Some victims of sexual abuse or harassment are also reluctant to come forward for cultural reasons.
“There is still a stigma, they are so embarrassed, they think: ‘Who am I to bring something up in a place like this, where they look down on us?’” said Cynthia Abdon-Tellez, who heads Mission for Migrant Workers, a group that provides support services for migrant workers in Hong Kong.
She added that it was “rare” for a migrant worker like X to provide testimony in court in a sexual abuse case.
‘Often stuck in limbo’
Wijesinghe agreed that most domestic workers find the legal system intimidating.
She countered claims that domestic workers file abuse cases for financial gain. “There are much easier ways of getting a quick payout,” said the former paralegal, noting that victims often need to relive their trauma multiple times, undergo medical exams, and face cross-examination in open court.
“The victim is stuck in limbo. Some cases take years. It’s not like they point a finger and sit back waiting for justice. There is a lot that the victim needs to go through,” Wijesinghe said.
The length of the reporting procedures and the inability to provide for their families leads some to abandon their cases.
But even when they go through the legal system, analysts said the domestic workers’ unique circumstances can be ignored.
“We have observed that biases and discrimination may arise in the justice system,” the spokeswoman for the Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women said. She added that “authorities and professionals sometimes dismiss or downplay claims without fully appreciating the context and structural oppression faced by [these workers]”.
Chloe Martin, programme manager at Stop Trafficking of People (STOP) – an organisation focused on ending the practice in Hong Kong – said she learned of X’s verdict with “great relief”, but noted that more needs to be done when it comes to keeping survivors informed during legal proceedings and supporting them after rulings are made.
X first heard about the decision through the support group and not via official channels.
“Moving forward, we urge the justice system to implement robust victim notification protocols,” Martin said. “Providing them with timely updates is a critical component of trauma-informed, victim-centred practices that should be the standard.”
Balladares said she hoped X’s case could encourage other workers to come forward. “We can say that there is hope, even if it’s hard and humiliating.”
Pun also called on fellow domestic workers to seek help. “There are many organisations that can support us,” she said. “Silencing ourselves means giving more chances to sex predators and bad employers.”
Searching for a new life
X is still shocked by her experience.
“I was very happy before I came [to Hong Kong],” she recalled in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera. “I thought I was going to earn enough to help my family, but I almost died and there has been so much trouble.”
X said she had never expected to be involved in a court case. “It was painful. Not easy [to deal with] so many questions,” said the domestic worker, who was questioned by the prosecution and the defence lawyer for three days. Her testimony was delivered from a closed courtroom through a videolink, keeping her out of sight of the public and the media.
X became emotional while recounting parts of the rape in court, but found it “most difficult to hear the defence’s lies”.
During the eight-day trial, the employer, whose wife and three children had left for Japan, denied that he forced himself on her. Instead, he claimed they had consensual sex and that the domestic worker had initiated it – not just that one time, but also twice before.
Patrik Tobias Ekstrom, a Hong Kong-based businessman two years younger than X, testified that during those alleged sexual encounters, and on other occasions inside the home, she kept asking for financial assistance to pay off a loan in her home country.
He is expected to be sentenced on November 11 and is facing a life term.
Despite winning the case, X said her ordeal was not over. She has been unable to work since leaving her former employer’s home and has mostly relied on charity to get her through the court process.
She is also concerned about the reaction of some of her relatives. “How am going to face my brother and my male cousin?” X told Al Jazeera.
The migrant woman said she plans to return home for a short time after the sentence and then work for another family in Hong Kong.
“I had a very bad experience, but I think Hong Kong is a good place,” she said.
X urged workers who may be facing similar issues to got to the police.
Her experience has also prompted her to talk to her daughters about sexual abuse and harassment. “I tell them not to keep quiet … Speak up and tackle the issue the right way.”
