MIGRANT WATCH

Stories of Abuse and Courage of Women OFWs

There seems to be no end to the stories of rape and abuse committed against overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Sad and horrifying as it is, Bulatlat decided to write their stories in an effort to call the attention of the government, and to contribute to the efforts of migrant rights advocates in promoting and defending the rights of OFWs and seeking justice for victims of abuse. Here are the stories of two women-victims.

BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN
Bulatlat

There seems to be no end to the stories of rape and abuse committed against overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Sad and horrifying as it is, Bulatlat decided to write their stories in an effort to call the attention of the government, and to contribute to the efforts of migrant rights advocates in promoting and defending the rights of OFWs and seeking justice for victims of abuse, most especially women.

Here are the stories of two women-victims.

16-year old victim 

“Isa” (not her real name), a 16-year old Moro girl working as a domestic helper in Kuwait, is the most recent reported case of rape committed against women OFWs..

Gil Lebria, coordinator of Migrante International in Kuwait, reported the rape and maltreatment of Isa in an email to the Philippine office of Migrante. Lebria said that he first learned about the rape of Isa when a Muslim group in Kuwait, which was approached by Isa’s brother, sought Migrante’s assistance.

Lebria said that Isa’s brother told him that he first approached the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) shelter in Kuwait but the government office refused to handle his sister’s case. Isa’s brother reportedly told Lebria that a POLO official said that it is not their job to handle OFW cases.  The government official claimed that it is the recruitment agency’s job to report the matter to the police and to ensure that the proper medical procedures are undertaken.

It was after the POLO’s refusal to help did they approach Migrante to help locate and rescue his sister.

Immediately, Lebria said, they approached Assistant Labor Attaché Emy Sto. Domingo who advised them to talk with POLO officer Ruth Tan.

Hostile

When they approached Tan, however, they were told that she was too busy to accommodate them, Lebria said. But he noticed that POLO personnel were taking his pictures.

“Diplomatic naman ang pakikitungo ko sa kanila pero ba’t po ako tinuturing nilang kaaway?,” (I deal with them diplomatically but why is it that they treat me as their enemy?) Lebria asked.  

He added that Philippine government officials in Kuwait are quite nice in front of him. “Pero ‘pag wala po ako..dapat mamatay na raw ‘yang migrante sa Kuwait. Pahirap lang sa emba (Embassy) at sa trabaho nila,”(When I am not around they would exclaim that they hope Migrante members in Kuwait would die.  They claimed that we are making the work of the Philippine embassy more difficult.) Lebria said quoting his sources.  

At the moment, Isa is still working with her employer who raped her.  She has not yet been located and rescued.

“Lina’s” story

It was “Lina’s” first time to work abroad in December last year. But her dream to give a better life to her family turned into a nightmare.

Lina, 29, left his husband and two children in Cotabato City to work as a domestic helper in Fujaira, United Arab Emirates.

Since the start she noticed inconsistencies in her supposed employment. In her pre-departure orientation seminar (PDOS), she was told that she was to work as a repacker and not as a domestic helper. She also noticed that different agencies were handling her: Ledmer Human Resources recruited her but when she received her certificate of completion of her PDOS, Lucky International was identified as her recruitment agency; when she arrived in UAE, another agency the Emerates accommodated her.

She was also allowed to leave the Philippines without signing a labor contract with the recruitment agency. In fact, she only learned that her monthly salary amounted to 600 dirhams ($163 at an exchange rate of $1= 3.6720 UAE dirhams) when she arrived at the UAE.

As it turned out, Lina worked as a domestic helper for an Arab couple with 13 children. Although she rarely looked after the couple’s children, she did all the chores in the mansion, including washing and ironing all their clothes, cooking, and cleaning the house.

She worked from 4:30 a.m. up to midnight, sometimes up to 2 a.m. the next day if the family had visitors. She was able to eat her only meal at 2 p.m..  She was lucky if she was given kubos (bread) for breakfast and dinner.

Her hands and feet have burns.  She suspects that it was caused by the detergent and disinfectant she was using in hand-washing all the clothes of her employer’s family.

Since she began working with the family, she constantly lived in fear of her male employer. He would hug her and touch her body, and would sometimes show her his penis, she said. Lina could only complain to her husband over the phone.

Her worst fears became a reality just a week after she arrived at the mansion.

After taking a bath, she was shocked when her male employer, who is in his 50’s, entered her room. Her employer raped her right there and then and told her not to tell anyone as no one would believe her.

When she told the family about the rape incident, their response was “You’re gago,” (You’re a fool.) she quoted the family as saying.

She also did not have a contact number of the Philippine embassy in Dubai so she told the incident to her husband and sister. It was her family who approached Migrante for help.

Migrante’s Ma. Teresa Bautista, who was in UAE, reported her case to Fujaira police. With another Overseas Filipino worker (OFW) rape victim, Bautista went to the police station in Fujaira on Feb. 5. The police asked Lina’s employer to bring her to the station. The employer was reprimanded when he went to the police station with his daughter instead of Lina.

When Lina was finally taken to the station, her employer denied raping her. He instead said that it was Lina who asked him to buy things for her.

But Lina said it was her employer who offered to buy her things. She said she only asked if she could have toiletries, like shampoo, napkin, toothpaste, and soap, since she was not allowed to leave the house.

Miserable

After spending the night at Bautista’s house, she was brought to the Philippine Embassy to report her case. Her six-day stay there was miserable, she said.

“’Di kami nag-ulam nang masagana,” she said, “Minsan puro itlog, talong. May isda man di mo naman makita ang isda, ulo na lang. Yung munggo di mo maintindihan. Konti lang puro sabaw.” (We did not have a decent meal. They fed us only eggs, eggplant, fish head, and diluted mung bean soup.)

There were about 100 OFWs cramped at the shelter, she said. They were victims of unpaid salaries, maltreatment, and even rape like her.

The Emirates shouldered her plane ticket. But before being given the ticket, she was told by Philippine embassy officials to copy and sign a waiver. She said that she was told to write in the waiver that if not for a certain Ma’am Ching, her agency would not provide her ticket. Also included in the waiver was a provision that she would not file a complaint.

Lina wants to file charges against her employer and agency.  She also wants to retrieve her personal belongings which were left at her employers’ house and claim her unpaid salary.

The courage of victims and women

The Migrant Rights and Welfare Committee of Migrante International is handling four rape cases since January, and has handled another four cases from August to December last year.

Migrante case officer Jonathan Panlilio said there could be more undocumented rape cases with OFWs as victims, including those that were not reported by the victims to Philippine embassies and those that were reported but are being kept from the public’s knowledge.

Despite what happened to them, the four raped OFWs, including Lina, joined thousands of women, led by Gabriela and Gabriela Women’s Party, in a program at Liwasang Bonifacio and a march to Mendiola on the occasion of International Women’s Day last March 8. Among the OFWs who joined the program was Carmelita Lagata who worked as a domestic helper in Kuwait before suffering a broken spine after she ran away from her employer who she felt had evil intentions on her. 

"On the occasion of International Women's Day, we salute them and the countless other women OFWs who toil, sacrifice and overcome much in their bid to give themselves and their families a decent life,” said Maita Santiago, Migrante International Secretary-General, “They are survivors and fighters whose very lives are a testament to the intense injustices women suffer under the Arroyo regime.” 

According to Migrante, seven out of ten Filipino migrants are women, most of them working as domestic helpers. The group cited data from surveys regarding OFWs which revealed that women migrants were generally younger than men: the largest age group for women being 25 to 29 years (14.2 percent) while for men 45 years and above (11.1 percent). Majority of OFWs, the group added, are categorized as laborers and unskilled workers with the most number in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Kuwait, Lebanon and Jordan. 

The “marginalized positions” in their host countries make them vulnerable to various forms of violence, said Santiago. 

Meanwhile, GWP third nominee Flora Belinan noted that the heightening “oppression and exploitation of women migrants” underlined the urgent need for progressive policies that will genuinely address their plight.   

"Instead of extortionist policies like the new POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration) guidelines for household service workers, women migrants need a pro-OFW charter that will truly advance their interests," said Belinan, an OFW leader who worked as a domestic worker in Hong Kong for 10 years. 

Belinan also said that March is also significant for the migrant sector because March 17 is the death anniversary of Flor Contemplacion, a domestic worker who was hanged in Singapore. Contemplacion’s case created a groundswell of protest and put the issue of migrant workers in the public’s consciousness.    

Belinan said that GWP and Migrante International will continue to launch activities and mass actions to expose “not only the worsening reality but also the fighting spirit of migrant women under the Arroyo government.” Bulatlat

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