Yahoo – AFP,
25 April 2014
Indonesian
maid Erwiana Sulistyaningsih leaves the hospital in Sragen
district in central
Java island on February 5, 2014 (AFP Photo/Anwar Mustafa)
|
Hong Kong
(AFP) - Time magazine has named an Indonesian maid allegedly tortured by her
Hong Kong employer as one of the world's 100 most influential people, putting
the spotlight on the city's treatment of its migrant workers.
Erwiana
Sulistyaningsih, 23, reportedly suffered months of abuse in a case which has
renewed concerns over the treatment of domestic helpers in the southern Chinese
city and sparked angry protests.
Time
magazine hailed Sulistyaningsih's bravery in speaking out against her employer
and pushing for laws that better protect maids in Hong Kong.
"It is
brave women like her who speak up for the voiceless who will create lasting
change," Cambodian activist Somaly Mam said of Sulistyaningsih in the list
published on Thursday.
"Erwiana 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," Mam said.
Time's
recognition of Sulistyaningsih brings international attention to the treatment
of migrant domestic workers in the city, Hong Kong-based Asian Migrants'
Coordinating Body spokesman Eman Villanueva told AFP on Friday.
"The
inclusion itself only proves that the issue of migrant domestic workers, the
slavery, the exploitation and abuse is something that the international
community should pay attention to," Villanueva said.
He
described the situation as "ripe for abuse" in the city, where maids
are required to live with their employers.
Villanueva
also said Erwiana's actions and her inclusion on the list will help empower
more victims to speak out.
"This
would encourage and would strengthen the resolve of many other victims to come
out in the open and fight for their rights and seek justice," he said.
Law
Wan-tung, a 44-year-old Hong Kong mother-of-two has been charged with causing
grievous bodily harm to Sulistyaningsih.
Prosecutors
have alleged that Law turned household items such as a mop, a ruler and a
clothes hanger into "weapons" against Sulistyaningsih.
She was
also charged with common assault and four counts of criminal intimidation --
charges related either to Sulistyaningsih or to her two previous Indonesian
domestic helpers.
Indonesian
maid Erwiana Sulistyaningsih
looks on from a hospital bed in Sragen
district in
central Java island on February 5,
2014 (AFP Photo/Anwar Mustafa)
|
Sulistyaningsih
was admitted to hospital in Sragen, on Indonesia's main island of Java, in
critical condition after returning from Hong Kong in January.
The Asian
financial hub is home to nearly 300,000 maids, mainly from Indonesia and the
Philippines, and criticism from rights groups over their treatment is growing.
Amnesty
International in November condemned the "slavery-like" conditions
faced by thousands of Indonesian domestic helpers in Hong Kong and accused
authorities of "inexcusable" inaction.
Time
magazine's list also included Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai, who survived a
Taliban attack in 2012 when she was shot in the head by the militants for
campaigning for girls' education.
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