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South Africa: Kept as a Sex Slave for Four Years

5 July 2009

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The following three scenarios involving abuse of domestic workers show what some people have to deal with.

The first two come from Myrtle Witbooi, general secretary of the SA Domestic and Allied Workers Union, and the third from labour lawyer Michael Bagraim.

• A 27-year-old woman was kept as a sex-slave in Bloubergstrand for four years by a man whose wife is an invalid. She escaped by scaling a high wall and reported the case to the police. The man was investigated but got off when his wife testified on his behalf.

• A 28-year-old woman working in Camps Bay was informed by her doctor she had TB. When she arrived at work her employer had packed her bags as the doctor had told her the worker was HIV-positive. The employer told the union she did not want to risk transmission to her baby.

• A domestic worker was sexually abused for 11 years by her Atlantic seaboard employer, a "well-respected" businessman. The woman was too scared to speak out until recently. The matter was settled by a labour lawyer. She agreed to stay on for a decent salary and an end to having to perform sexual "duties".

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