Indebtedness of foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong : looking into the economic exploitation and violation

Abstract

The introduction illustrated the history background of foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong and pointed out the long-lasting problem of foreign domestic helpers being abused. The abuse by employers was introduced and the economic exploitation by employment agencies and loan shark syndicates was also described. The latter was identified to be the focus of this paper and this paper aimed to investigate the underlying factors of such economic exploitation. The literature review firstly pointed out the research on the underlying factors of abuse by the employers in Hong Kong and identified a research gap on the underlying factors of economic exploitation on foreign domestic helpers. The intersectionality theory, which was hypothesized to explain the economic exploitation, was also introduced, and defined. The method stated this is a qualitative research and semi-structured interviews were conducted on 7 recruited foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong. The interview revolved around their financial conditions, experiences of economic exploitation, familiarity with the related laws in Hong Kong and available protective factors. The results summarized the key contents from the 7 interview transcripts. Firstly, the foreign domestic helpers are from low socio-economical background, and they are urged to earn money. Secondly, none of them has experienced economic exploitation but one of the participants’ friend had related experiences. Thirdly, they have low familiarity with their rights and the laws in Hong Kong. The discussion linked the above two characteristics: low socio-economical background and low familiarity with Hong Kong’s laws, with the intersectionality theory. Their two characteristics intersect and create vulnerabilities in front of the potential offenders, which make them the easy and riskless victims. Then, suggestions of offering financial aid and identifying the responsibility in explaining the laws were proposed to the government and non-governmental organizations.