Hong Kong, China:
A Philippine domestic worker who was sexually abused by her Hong Kong employer will take the city’s police to court more than their selection not to classify her as a victim of human trafficking, her lawyers stated Friday.
Activists have extended argued that the city’s 370,000 domestic workers — mainly poor ladies from the Philippines and Indonesia — are acutely vulnerable to different types of exploitation, such as sexual abuse, and have backed calls for a suite of committed anti-trafficking laws.
Authorities have rejected these demands, but now face a legal challenge just after a uncommon prosperous conviction of an employer sexually abusing a domestic helper.
The lady — referred to in legal documents as “CB” — was hired to work as a domestic helper for Brian Apthorp, a British permanent resident in his 80s.
She alleged that Apthorp routinely sexually assaulted her all through her employment in 2018 and 2019.
Apthorp was convicted on Friday of two counts of indecent assault against CB and will be sentenced on 15 July.
But CB’s lawyers say she felt let down by the response from police and prosecutors, specifically their selection to attempt Apthorp in the Magistrate’s Court, which bargains with the least significant offences and exactly where prison sentences are capped at shorter lengths.
They have now launched a judicial evaluation against each the commissioner of police and the secretary for justice more than their handling of the case.
News of the potentially landmark legal challenge came the similar day Hong Kong’s government hit out at a selection by the United States to preserve the city on a human trafficking watchlist.
Each year the State Department assesses nations for irrespective of whether they are adequately tackling human trafficking.
In its most current report for 2021, US officials stated Hong Kong was nevertheless not undertaking sufficient to determine trafficking victims and prosecute abusers, maintaining it on its “Tier Two Watchlist” ranking alongside nations such as Belarus, Liberia and Thailand.
“The absence of laws criminalizing all forms of trafficking impeded officials’ ability to investigate and charge suspected traffickers,” the report’s authors wrote.
Hong Kong’s government blasted that assessment in a statement on Friday, describing it as “biased and unreasonable” and declaring that human trafficking has “never been a prevalent problem” in the city.
In a legal briefing, CB’s lawyers stated they program to argue that Hong Kong requires “bespoke legislation” to counter forced labour.
They also program to challenge the police’s selection not to classify her as a victim of trafficking or forced labour — an assessment that could have meant Apthorp would have faced more significant charges and a longer sentence.
“Mainland China has an array of legislation specifically criminalising forced labour and human trafficking,” CB’s lawyer Patricia Ho told AFP. “Hong Kong needs to catch up to that.”
The court will hold its initially hearing on 30 September and make a decision irrespective of whether to proceed with a complete evaluation.
If prosperous, a judicial evaluation could add stress on Hong Kong’s government to bring in new laws to counter trafficking.
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