Overview
Hong Kong is a transit and destination territory for human trafficking. The economy has a large service sector and attracts many labor migrants who are vulnerable to trafficking situations. World Hope International (WHI) aims to provide short term care for women who have been trafficked into Hong Kong.

Anti-Trafficking
WHI’s Refuge for Women shelters migrant domestic workers who have been abused or let go by their employers in Hong Kong. Many of the women are terminated without warning, in the middle of the night, or with physical and mental abuse. The Refuge allows women to stay up to two weeks (the legal limit for unemployed domestic workers), search for new jobs, or arrange for travel back to their home countries. On weekends, when workers must stay outside their employer’s homes, the Refuge provides a place where workers can relax, cook, fellowship, and worship together.

Highlights from 2007:

•Over 320 women were housed at the Refuge. This is the largest number of occupants that the Refuge has seen to date.

•WHI hired permanent, on-site, staff to manage the Refuge, care for occupants, reach out to the migrant communities, and network with other organizations.

•Since September, WHI staff began conducting livelihood classes for workers to improve their skills in cooking and baking.
•Since October, WHI began facilitating basic computer tutorials and learning activities for Refuge occupants.

•WHI is now networking with other shelters, missions, and service providers to expand its reach into the migrant worker community and help provide necessary services.

Story:
Three Filipino women were recruited by a friend to work in Hong Kong. When they arrived, the employment agency required them to surrender their passports and undergo several days of “try out” work without pay in their employer’s house. After learning that the employment agency was in fact receiving and keeping their wages, the women demanded to be released – only to be held captive at the employment agency. Four days before their visas expired, one of the women gained access to a cell phone and called the Refuge. With WHI intervention and a stern reminder of the legal implications of the situation, the agency finally released the women – with their passports – into WHI’s care.