Helper wins landmark sex-trafficking ruling

A Filipino domestic helper has won a landmark judicial review in the High Court after she was dissatisfied with the Police Force and the Department of Justice classifying her sexual assault by her former British employer as indecent assault.

The applicant - "CB" - believes it was trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and forced labor.

In a written judgment, Court of First Instance judge Russel Coleman said Hong Kong lacks criminal offenses covering human trafficking and forced labor, and police officers were "left to revert to focusing on an available existing offense, here indecent assault."

Coleman ruled in favor of the applicant, who was hired by an 80-year-old British man for six months from 2018 to 2019. Coleman asked police to reconsider whether the helper is a victim of trafficking and forced labor as well as other possible unlawful acts by the elderly man against his other helpers.

In a case summary by Patricia Ho and Associates, representing CB, the helper came to Hong Kong and was hired by a retired doctor - "Z" - who lived at Shouson Hill, Deep Water Bay, in 2018.

Z eventually sexually assaulted CB under the guise of a medical check-up as he instructed her to lie on his bed and removed her clothes. Z also instructed CB to give him daily massages while he masturbated, with the threat of punishment if she did not comply.

The law firm said Z established a routine called "Whipping Thursdays" - a term he came up with, where he would stand in front of a mirror while asking CB to whip his buttocks and genitals with tools.

Six months after CB was employed, Z left Hong Kong for his annual six-month stay in France. CB left the house and sought assistance from a nongovernment organization.

CB was later referred to the firm whose lawyer accompanied her to make a police report.

Last July, the British man was sentenced to 30 months in jail for two counts of indecent assault. He is appealing the conviction and sentence.

But CB and her lawyer alleged Z was a trafficker who had a history of sexually exploiting his helpers for decades.

The firm said CB had also submitted to police videos of two other former helpers being exploited. In the footage, Z allegedly admitted he had sexual intercourse with a third former helper. There was also evidence handed to police in which Z confessed he had conducted physical examination of all his helpers. But police found there was "no credible case" indicating a need to probe further and did not even investigate whether Z's current helpers were under similar exploitation, Patricia Ho and Associates said.

Last May, CB filed the judicial review against police and the Department of Justice decision.

In the judgment, Coleman said it was not exactly police's fault for the narrow handling of the case, but due to a lack of an applicable legislative framework on forced labor offenses.

"The investigation did not set to discover a case of forced labor, but instead targeted a case of indecent assault because that was the only charge which could have been brought against Z," Coleman wrote.

CB's lawyer Ho told The Standard that the judgment raised the bigger issue about the legal loophole.

"Authorities have been using a patchwork of existing laws to cover human trafficking and forced labor, but this case shows that it's insufficient and that specific legislation should be done," she said.

Police and the department said they will study the judgment before considering the way forward.

jane.cheung@singtaonewscorp.com