She was 7 years old when she started working without pay. Now, at 62, she was finally found.
In Fortaleza, Brazil, a woman spent 55 years as a domestic worker for the same family, inside a luxury condominium, without a salary, without schooling, and with no possibility of leaving. She was moved between residences in 1982 and 2014 to care for three generations of children. She only received 600 reais per month from a government social program, and she did not even control that money: it was managed by the same employer.
The Labor Inspection, together with the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Police, concluded the operation on July 2 and calculated wage arrears of more than 1.5 million reais. The employers signed an agreement: they will pay $10,000 and buy her a $29,000 home. None of this erases five decades without freedom. Do you think that agreement is enough to make up for an entire life of slave labor?