Les Les Eyes fleeting, Inès settles on the sofa in front of me.This is the first time that she tells her story to a journalist and it must be said that she does not really want to rehash the past.The hand on her belly, she caresses her future child her fingers."He's a boy," she told me when I question him about the subject.A frank smile takes shape on his face to the simple idea of meeting, in a few months, her baby.If Inès is now free to move, this has not always been the case.In 2016, the latter was a domestic slave in France.
PublicitéThe practice seems archaic and yet many people find themselves each year victims of forced work.According to the International Labor Organization, there are around 129,000 to be in this situation in France.Modern forms of slavery can be varied, such as a worker in a store, a field, a factory but also sexually or used as a servant.The victims generally come from the Maghreb, West Africa and Southeast Asia.As soon as they arrive at the operator, their papers are immediately confiscated to exert pressure.They are generally forbidden to go out except when they have to "work" for the family and they generally remain under surveillance.Their living conditions are often unworthy, most of them without bedroom or bed to sleep and with limited access to the shower and food.
For cases of domestic slavery, it is difficult to identify trafficking in human beings.Hidden in homes, “house employees”, like Inès, find themselves trapped in four walls.Originally from a country in French -speaking Africa, which we will be silent to avoid reprisals, the young woman is 23 years old when her boss offers her to go to France and be housed gracefully with her sister."I worked in a manicure lounge and I really wanted to resume my studies.In France, it was perfect, "she says.In the summer of 2016, Inès arrived in Île-de-France dreams in the head.
PublicitéUpon her arrival, her host's sister turns out to be much less pleasant than expected.In this fairly dilapidated several storey building, Inès discovers a family that piled up in a small apartment."She has five children, including a baby, she tells me that she will soon resume work after maternity leave and tells me that I have to take care of children.I answered him "no worries", I found it logical to do him a service ".
But the trap closes on Inès.There is no longer any question of arranging the mother to replace a baby-sitter, Inès becomes the woman with everything and has no right to go out except to deposit the youngest children at school and recover them."I worked all day, I never had a rest.»».The mother and the older children make Inès the release of the family.If she does not behave like an exemplary slave, verbal and physical violence is not long in coming.Inès protects herself by obeying the best she can.
Then sets up a routine well framed by the mistress of the house who establishes rules that in fact must absolutely respect. La nuit, cette dernière doit s’occuper du nouveau-né aux moindres pleurs, le matin elle doit se réveiller à 4h du matin pour faire le ménage complet de l’appartement « même si c’était propre»» et préparer le petit déjeuner avant le réveil de tout le monde.Daily, it has a list of meals to prepare for lunch and dinner.There follows a day when Inès oscillates between kitchen, round trip to school, pacifier, bottle, dishes and ironing.The days are tirelessly repeated.
PublicitéInès must therefore wait, like a slave, the end of the masters' dinner to be able to eat the remains, if there are any.
Little by little, Inès realizes that she will never have the opportunity to resume her studies or even seek a job.A few days after her arrival, she learns that she is not allowed to eat like the rest of the other family members.As we surprise her eating in the kitchen after serving the meal for children and parents, the sentence is not long in coming."She told me that I was not allowed to eat at the same time as them and to serve myself.»» Inès must therefore wait, like a slave, the end of the masters' dinner to be able to eat the remains, if there are any.Very often, she is satisfied with the rice and a few chicken pieces remaining in the emptied dishes after the children's passage.She weights visible and is regularly taken with dizziness.These health problems will finally save her.
CultureGen UedaIt's been more than four months since she is a domestic slave.One afternoon, when she descends the waste in the bin room of the building, she loses consciousness in the elevator.It is the guardian who takes care of her and seizes the gravity of her situation.He offers her help to feed her and gives her money to register with the district association to benefit from legal aid.The baby in his arms, Inès therefore goes to the establishment which redirects it to a specialized collective: the committee against modern slavery.
PublicitéTo prevent it from being spotted, the association gives it an appointment in a local library and estimates that it is urgent to extricate it from this situation."One day, the big brother was there.I left the baby in his cradle, I pretended to take out the trash cans and I saved myself.»» Bien entendu, les exploitants n’ont pas laissé filer leur esclave sans protester.A few hours later, the mistress of the house on numerous occasions inès. « Sur les messages vocaux, elle me disait que je ne connaissais pas Paris, que j’allais voir, qu’on allait me violer, que j’allais me faire agresser»».Inès frantically rubs his thighs when they mentioned these memories.
Little by little, the association helps the young woman to rebuild herself.Graciously housed for several months, she is accompanied several times a month to help her find a job and reintegrate professionally.In the meantime, she meets.Inès falls in love and decides to start a family.Today, pregnant with her second child, she wishes to leave aside her past, which nevertheless continues to eat it.If she had all the reasons and evidence sufficient to file a complaint, she chose not to do it.Difficult for her to explain her choice without revealing a panic fear in her gaze."Even five years later, it really hurts me to talk about it again.It happens to me to cry again by thinking about it.I'm afraid to meet her. Elle est violente, c'est ça qui m’inquiète»»
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« J’élevais les enfants d’un couple dont la femme était banquière et le mari professeur en sciences politiques à l’Université Paris-Dauphine»»
For this meeting, she is today accompanied by Zita Cabais-Obra, former slave.When she was 32 years old, she made the trip from the Philippines to Paris in the hope of a better life in France.The traveler organizer finds her job to reimburse the 2,000 euros advanced for the trip.
She then finds herself a woman to do a Parisian couple who confiscates her passport to her. « J’élevais les enfants d’un couple dont la femme était banquière et le mari professeur en sciences politiques à l’Université Paris-Dauphine»».These prohibit him from using a phone or to speak to neighbors.When she questions her "boss" about the progress of her request for integration, we throw a chair on her as a answer.
Unlike Inès, Zita finds the strength to run away and file a complaint.The couple is ordered to pay all missing wages as well as damages.She has now made this experience her workhorse and helps the victims of slavery through the Committee against modern slavery of which she is a member.
Publicitédroit des femmesJustin HeifetzShiny eyes, Inès listens to this story which obviously reminds him of his own."I no longer feel victim but fighting.I would like to gather all the victims so that they are like me. C'est des épines qui sortent de là»», affirme Zita, en pointant du doigt sa poitrine."My mission is to save others, I tell myself that that's why I suffered so much.»»
Today, the Committee against modern slavery follows and offers legal and social support for all cases of human trafficking ranging from forced agricultural work to prostitution to domestic slavery.After a report on the association, there follow a questionnaire and an interview to determine whether it is a modern slavery.The victim may present himself to the committee but alerts from actors such as doctors but also neighbors or passers-by help to identify cases of slaves.
« On a eu une école qui nous a contactés car il y avait une gamine qui, sans manteau en plein hiver, venait chercher des enfants à l’école»»
In 2021, 222 people victims of slavery were accompanied by the association, including 71% of women, in order to get them out of this situation. « Dernièrement, on a eu une école qui nous a contactés car il y avait une gamine qui, sans manteau en plein hiver, venait chercher des enfants à l’école par exemple»» raconte Mona Chamass-Saunier, directrice du Comité Contre l’Esclavage Moderne.Each week, the association reviews the alerts, in addition to deciding on the follow -up of each person.
Publicité« Est-ce qu’on peut lui financer une carte Navigo pour qu’il puisse se déplacer ? Tout le monde est d’accord ?»», demande une membre lors d’une des réunions à laquelle je peux assister en tant qu’observatrice, à condition de respecter l’anonymat des victimes.Accompaniments can take years and sometimes weigh on the morale of assistants.It happens that the latter also need to confide in a psychologist to breathe and start again.The goal is to help the victims of slavery get out of these disastrous situations but also to accompany them in the reconstruction process."The story is often difficult, there are sometimes blockages, we try to take the time that it takes. Et cela passe par trouver un traducteur lorsqu’ils ne parlent pas français par exemple»» déclare la présidente du CCEM.
The operators are found both with rich foreign ambassadors, who have only to do French law, as in much poorer homes."It's not just bourgeois families.It happens that the miserable also exploits the poor.»» raconte Sylvie O’Dy.The years preceding a trial are still long but complaints for human beings regularly lead to convictions.This offense can be punished by seven years' imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros.But the most difficult remains after: the moment when you have to heal your wounds, leave slavery behind and find your place in society.The Committee offers French lessons and support to find a job.
SociétéJustineReixOn a wall of the association, photos of children or families are proudly hung.Evidence that it is possible to get out of it and that the association collects to help new arrivals victims of slavery.The president remembers recognized, by chance in a newspaper, a familiar face: “We have superb changes in the course.A few years ago, we came across a portrait of liberation from one of the victims that we followed. Elle est maintenant cantinière de la rédaction, on est fier du chemin qu’elle a parcouru»».This former Indonesian slave was held in captivity in Paris by a family of Omanais diplomats before managing to escape from it thanks to a neighbor and the Committee.
Everyone tries to rebuild themselves in their own way and at their own pace.Inès hopes to find a job after childbirth.If she does not yet know exactly what she wants to do, she hopes above all to help her next job in her future job.For the past few months, she has been an interpreter for the CCEM for which she translates the accounts of the victims of slavery.A way for her to reach out to those who live hell through which she has passed. « Je veux aider pour que ça n’existe plus»», dit-elle, avec plus de fermeté à la fin de notre entretien.
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