A 51-year-old domestic worker, held for 40 years in conditions analogous to slavery, was rescued on Tuesday (13) in an operation carried out in the city of Santa Rosa do Viterbo, in the interior of São Paulo. The operation was launched by the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT), Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE) and Federal Highway Police (PRF).
According to information from the MPT, the worker had been adopted by a couple of employers from an orphanage in the city when she was 11 years old. When she arrived at the home, she was forced to perform domestic activities in exchange for receiving a little “money” to buy candy. The names of the employers and the worker were not disclosed by the authorities.
In her statement to the authorities, the worker said that she continues to take care of the household chores, in addition to taking care of her elderly employer. She reported that she works from Monday to Saturday, from 7 am to 9 pm, and on Sundays she “cleans the house” and washes the dishes. She is also forced to work on festive dates and holidays such as Christmas, January 1st and Carnival. She has never taken a vacation and, when she traveled, she had to take care of her elderly employer.
For all these activities she receives what she calls a “gift”, an amount of R$500 per month, a value well below the country’s minimum wage, currently set at R$1,412.
In the house, the worker did not even have her own room, having to sleep on an inflatable mattress on the floor, next to the bed of her employers. In her testimony, she said that she has been paying social security contributions since 1993 on her own, as a freelancer, and that recently the employers’ son has been the one making the payments.
According to prosecutor Regina Duarte da Silva, this entire situation constitutes labor exploitation. “Despite the apparent parental bond, the worker has clearly been exploited by her family as an employee for about 40 years, without a formal employment contract. She does not leave the house, has no right to rest, works excessive hours and lives in precarious conditions. This is a serious case of human rights violation,” she said.
During the operation, the labor inspectors issued a notice of ransom violation, giving the worker the right to unemployment insurance. They will also survey the salary and severance payments owed to the worker, in addition to the amount of compensation for moral damages.
