Transcripts

6
June 2011
A Cry for Help
Young women guest workers at Classic speak out—
of being repeatedly raped, tortured, beaten and
forcibly deported when they become pregnant.
1.
“Latha”
Testimony of a Sri Lankan woman interviewed in May 2011.
(The women‘s names have been changed to protect their safety. The ―Anil‖ Ms. Latha is
speaking about is her alleged rapist, Mr. Anil Santha, who is the general manager of the Classic
Group of factories.)
―My request is that it doesn‟t matter who it is, but please bring some relief to
what we suffer…Please help us. Help save the lives and innocent dreams of
these workers. Please do something to have Anil removed so that the lives and
hopes of other innocent girls are not destroyed further.”
“He [Anil] summoned me to his office and made his demand, and warned me
not to tell anyone… I was in a deeply helpless position because he is such a
high-ranking figure in the factory I couldn‟t disobey him… There is so much
sadness in me. So he asked me to come… I feel so exposed and shameful
sharing what he did to me… the things that happened to me. And it wasn‟t
only me, there were three or four other girls there too. He did this to us in the
presence of one another… If any one of us either talked about this episode or
did anything about it, the person would be immediately deported to Sri
Lanka… What is tragic is that more and more girls arrive at the factory fresh
and will continue to fall prey to this monster.”
―My name is ‗Latha.‘ I work at Classic. I am speaking to you about the Manager of the place I
work at. My attempt here is to inform you about the harassments he causes us. I only have God
above to lament about this to. Though I had tried talking to others no good or solutions have
come from it.
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June 2011
―By now I have completed a duration of one and half years working in this factory. I will now
narrate to you certain thing I experienced and witnessed during this time period. While I will not
quote anyone else, I will share my own experiences. I am considered quite attractive, and to
have looks that make heads turn. And so, one day this dog Anil demanded that I come out one
Friday to meet him. He told me to come at 10 and not to tell anyone. He summoned me to his
office and made this demand and warned me not to tell anyone. Because I was intimidated by
him, I didn‟t know what to do and couldn‟t disobey him. I was in a deeply helpless position
because he is such a high ranking figure in the factory I couldn‟t disobey him. When I recall
this I feel so helpless and the remorse sweeps over. I wish I could talk to someone but I cannot
do so. There is so much sadness in me. So he asked me to come…um…I feel so exposed and
shameful sharing what he did to me…the things that happened to me. And it wasn‟t only me,
there were three to four other girls there too. I know them very well too. He did these [things]
to us in the presence of one another. When we were leaving he shot all of us a stern warning
that if anyone of us either talked about this episode or did anything about it the person would
be immediately deported to Sri Lanka. I never in my life expected such repulsive behavior
from him because he is old enough to be a father to us. He is that [much] older. For someone
so mature and old as he, the way he treated us and molested us was impossible to comprehend.
We are here because of our poverty. To be able to earn and save some money and go back to Sri
Lanka. Our most important value is to protect our virtue. But it is such a misfortune that I feel
like my life has been snuffed out. I only wish that I could have returned to Sri Lanka as pure as
I had arrived. But now I am sullied.
―Every day the 12 hour shift ends by 8.30. But this person keeps the girls working till 9.30.
Overall by the time we leave the factory it is about 10. Torments the working girls so much by
keeping them working long. But there is no relief for us and we don‟t know who to turn to.
Complaints fall on deaf ears. It is due to our impoverished conditions that we come to this
country, to this work and fall prey to these sexual misdeeds. We would have protected ourselves,
stayed in Sri Lanka and retained our virtues. But we don‘t come from families with means to
support such ideal dreams, our parents are extremely poor, which is why girls like us come to
these working conditions hoping to earn and save some money. Any attractive girl becomes the
prey of this monster. As soon as he notices an attractive girl he summons that girl to his office
and demands that she meets him out of work. Take them out and destroy their purity. He
cannot return to Sri Lanka because apparently he has tainted his name/reputation in Sri Lanka.
Some girls who returned to Sri Lanka had lodged entries/complaints in police stations—so there
are warrants to arrest him upon his return.
―I will now describe harassments we receive in day to day working conditions. If girls cannot
achieve the difficult targets given, if supervisors report that a worker has not met the daily
target, he approaches the worker and beats and then takes them to his room. The girls who
return from this abuse only cry their hearts out. They don‟t talk about details because they are
too afraid to. Girls are terrorized by him. He is well established in this way within Classic. He
has his support group within. There are some supervisors, in-charge officers—who are
rewarded by his recommendations for promotions and salary increments. Certain attractive girls
who become prey to him but don‘t go against him/or avoid him, receive promotions and pay hikes
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June 2011
and extensions of contracts and so over time forget the abuse experienced at his hands and return
to Sri Lanka but with their futures and purity destroyed, and unable to erase the memory of what
happened to them. This man‟s conduct is worse than a dog in my eyes. What is tragic is that
more and more girls arrive at the factory fresh and will continue to fall prey to this monster.
We need to stop the same circumstances repeating and the girls‘ lives harassed like this. They
are unsuspecting, poor girls. It is far better to live in Sri Lanka and survive on one meal a day
within their means than come here only to have their futures destroyed in the hands of this man.
He claims that if he were sent away the factory would only close down. He thinks very highly of
himself, though he is only a ruthless slave driver. There are plenty of other humane managers
who don‘t play around with the lives of these innocent girls. Saman sir [Note: must be referring
to factory owner Mr. Kumar] is determined to retain him. But he doesn‘t realize that the futures
of innocent girls are at stake by retaining this man. We cannot let this continue, but the girls
are helpless, there is nothing they can do to change these decisions. Girls are extremely
vulnerable. Workers who went on strike earlier against Anil had their salaries slashed as a
measure of preventing future actions. We are so helpless and vulnerable, with no one to turn
to and give attention to our dire conditions. My request is that it doesn‘t matter who it is, but
please bring some relief to what we suffer. Please save us from these circumstances. If there
was something within our means to be done we would have tried it, but we are extremely
vulnerable, and this is why I turn to you. Please help us. Help save the lives and innocent
dreams of these workers. Please do something to have Anil removed so that the lives and hopes
of other innocent girls are not destroyed. The modest dream of any girl who comes here is to
save some money, improve the situation of their families back home, get married and have a
family. But he destroys these dreams. They experience sexual harassment at his hands and
return only with crushed dreams.‖
Follow-up interview with Latha in May 2011:
Ms. Latha was just 21 years old when she was repeatedly raped by Classic manager Anil Santha.
She started working at Classic sometime around November 2009. Anil Santha started raping her in April
2010. He raped her in his office, and then in a hotel. “Anil Santha sends a vehicle to pick us up for
raping,” she said, “one girl at a time. If a girl refuses to go, he gets her to the office, or she is deported
the next day.” It is extremely difficult for her and for the other young women to speak of these rapes.
She was raped five or six times by Anil.
She worked 12 hours a day, including four hours of mandatory overtime. The young women were beaten
if they made a mistake. “Anil beats them himself, she said, ―if we make a mistake.”
We asked her if anyone had tried to help her and the other young women who were being violated –for
example, the Jordanian Ministry of Labor, or anyone else. She responded: “No one from the Jordanian
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June 2011
Government. The Sri Lankan Government sends someone every six months or so. They ask about
working conditions. But everyone is too scared to speak up.”
―If Anil finds out about me [speaking to outsiders] I‘ll be in Sri Lanka the very next day‖ meaning, she
would be forcibly deported by Anil under false charges.
Latha is from a poor family in the southwestern part of Sri Lanka. She has a younger sister. Now she is
the main supporter of her family.
She had to pay approximately RD 50,000 (Sri Lankan Rupees—about $453 U.S.) for her contract to work
at Classic. She would also have to pay for her round trip airfare.
It was only after she arrived in Jordan that she was warned by the other women of the horrible sexual
abuse taking place at Classic. The women were in a trap, with no one to turn to for help.
Institute for Global Labour & Human Rights