Blog of Rights
Araceli
Martinez-Olguin
07/02/2009

Preventing Abuse, Exploitation and Trafficking: Arming Workers with Information

By Araceli Martinez-Olguin, Women's Rights Project at 4:15pm

The State Department has published a pamphlet that will inform vulnerable workers who come to the United States on temporary visas, including domestic workers and guest workers, of their legal rights and the resources available to them.

The publication of this document comes after years of advocacy on behalf of workers who are vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation (see here, here, and here). The pamphlet is the product of a collaboration between the federal government and numerous advocates and nongovernmental organizations, including the ACLU, CASA of Maryland, Global Workers Justice Alliance, Jenner & Block, Legal Momentum, Southern Poverty Law Center, National Employment Law Project, Farmworker Justice, National Immigration Justice Center, Farmworker Legal Services of New York, Solidarity Center, Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc., AFL-CIO and Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking.

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06/17/2009

Chipping Away at Diplomatic Immunity as a Defense Against Trafficking Claims

By Araceli Martinez-Olguin, Women's Rights Project at 6:01pm

For years advocates have been trying to vindicate the rights of domestic workers who have been enslaved by foreign diplomats in the U.S. Virtually every time a domestic worker has brought charges of abuse and exploitation against her diplomat employer, the courts have ruled that the diplomat could not be held accountable for his actions because of diplomatic immunity. But not yesterday. Yesterday a court denied a former Philippine ambassador to the U.N. the ability to duck responsibility for violating his domestic worker's human, civil, and labor rights simply by asserting that he was a diplomat at the time. Marichu Baoanan, who was held captive and forced to work as a domestic worker for the ambassador, and is represented by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, can proceed with her case against her former employer. Few women in her situation can say the same.

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