Each year, diplomats with extreme power and privilege, traffic vulnerable domestic workers, subjecting them to conditions of modern-day slavery. They take their passports, force them to work inhumane hours, deny them fair pay, and trap them into situations of forced servitude with no way out. They are able to flagrantly violate human rights and remain in the United States because of diplomatic immunity.
On Monday, September 23, as diplomats and United Nations officials convene in NY for the UN General Assembly, domestic workers and allies are organizing a rally, march and interfaith vigil to shine a light on the trafficking and slavery of women domestic workers by diplomats and demand legal reforms that would sanction diplomats who engage in such abuse. http://www.damayanmigrants.org/event/interfaith-vigil-march-rally-against-domestic-slavery
Who/What: March & Rally Against Labor Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery; Interfaith Vigil; Organized by Damayan Migrant Association (http://www.damayanmigrants.org) Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (http://www.jfrej.org) T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights (www.truah.org) and Women Organized to Resist and Defend (http://www.defendwomensrights.org)
Where/When: 4 PM Rally & 5 PM March at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 1st Avenue and 47th Street
6:30 PM, Vigil at Philippine Consulate, 556 5th Ave. (Between West 45 & 46 STS)
For more background on this topic, read this recent OpEd in The Jewish Week: