Antislavery Usable Past

Aja

2020 (Narrative date)

There are an estimated 17,000 people living in modern slavery in Jordan (GSI 2018). Jordan is a source, transit and destination country for adults and children subjected to forced labour, domestic servitude and sex trafficking. People are trafficked primarily from South and Southeast Asia, East Africa, Egypt and Syria. Forced labour victims experience withheld or non-payment wages, confiscation of identity documents, restricted freedom of movement, unsafe living conditions, long hours without rest, isolation, and verbal and physical abuse. Jordan relies on foreign migrant workers – many of whom are undocumented – in several sectors, including construction, agriculture, textiles, and domestic work.

Aja* travelled to Jordan for work after the death of her husband. After six months her wages were withheld and she was subjected to physical abuse by her employer.

I migrated to Dubai and worked there for six years, I was paid 20,000 taka [around £200] per month and they treated me very well. I returned to Bangladesh three years ago. My husband had a stroke and passed away. After his death my daughter and I had no means of living so I migrated again and this time I went to work in Jordan. The family I worked for was not very wealthy. Within six months, my new employer exploited me in many ways. On one occasion, the mother got angry and threw tea at me, burning my thighs and making me bleed. When I first started my new job, I was given a mobile phone and a month’s salary, but then my employer stopped paying me. I was told I would receive my salary after a year. In the fifth month, I was so frustrated that I took a taxi and went to the police. The police took me to the Bangladesh High Commission. They opened a case and called my employer. The employer gave false information, claiming that I was not doing my work properly. The Bangladesh High Commission housed me in some rooms and then brought me back to Bangladesh after three days.

Narrative provided by ICAI

*name given

Country

Theme

Domestic slavery

Tags

VOICES: Narratives by Survivors of Modern Slavery

This is the world's largest archive of modern slavery survivor narratives. Across more than a million words spoken or written by survivors of modern slavery, we can see why slavery persists in particular hotspots, analyse patterns in trafficking routes, identify vulnerabilities, understand more about the challenges survivors face in liberation, and discover new antislavery solutions. These narratives offer the chance to systematically design new antislavery strategies based on the experiences, ideas and solutions of enslaved people themselves.

The database is searchable by country, name, theme, and narrative date. Narratives can be viewed in list or map form. A short introduction provides context to each narrative. Narrative provenance appears after the main narrative text.

For ideas on how to use this database, please see our accompanying guide.

Project Lead: Zoe Trodd. Team Members: Andrea Nicholson, Lauren Eglen, Rosemary Pearce, Olivia Wright.

Project Funders: AHRC Antislavery Usable Past grant (2014-19), ESRC/AHRC PaCCS Modern Slavery: Meaning and Measurement grant (2016-19), and AHRC-GCRF Antislavery Knowledge Network grant (2017-2021).

For any queries about the collection please contact: [email protected]. If you wish to cite a particular narrative, please acknowledge the survivor’s name, the provenance of the narrative and cite: Voices Database, the Rights Lab, University of Nottingham.

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