“My ex-employers are diplomats. They can get me and my family and I wouldn’t be able to do anything against that. Even calling the police would be useless.”
These are the words of Sandra, one of the 11 women who agreed to share their stories with the French newspaper “Libération“. They may not speak the same languages, share the same passport, but they all have in common a story of exploitation into diplomatic households, in Paris. From the 9th to the 12th of October, “Libération” published 6 articles on human trafficking for the purpose of domestic exploitation perpetrated by diplomats, as well as a 1 hour live-stream on Twitch. In the articles, the women, who have all been and are still assisted by the CCEM, testified about the degrading treatments they suffered in the luxurious apartments of their employers. While almost all of them filed complaints to the French authorities, the CCEM denounces how the accused diplomats and their families benefit from their immunity, despite human trafficking being recognized as a grave violation of fundamental rights. Prosecutors generally refrain from conducting adequate investigations, preventing the victims from finding both a recognition of their suffering through criminal justice, and from being able to ask for compensation in civil proceedings.
The stories can be found under the following links:
Interview with CCEM’s President