TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Indonesian human trafficking survivor to speak at US Democratic National Convention
An Indonesian woman who was a survivor of human trafficking in the US is scheduled to speak in front of thousands of people at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday where the party will formally choose Hillary Rodham Clinton as presidential candidate and Senator Tim Kaine as vice presidential candidate.
Change Size
A Indonesian survivor of human trafficking is set to speak at the US Democratic National Convention. (Photo taken from indonesianlantern.com./-)
A
n Indonesian woman who was a survivor of human trafficking in the US is scheduled to speak in front of thousands of people at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday where the party will formally choose Hillary Rodham Clinton as presidential candidate and Senator Tim Kaine as vice presidential candidate.
Thirty-three-year-old Ima Matul Maisaroh from Gondanglegi village in Malang, East Java, will join dozens of other speakers at the convention held from July 25 to July 26 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, US, according to a story published in IndonesianLantern.com on Sunday.
The mother of three said she had received the formal invitation from the US Democratic National Convention Committee on Saturday.
"Besides delivering a speech on my experience as a human trafficking survivor, I will also deliver programs to mitigate slavery and human trafficking that Hillary Clinton has conducted," Ima said as quoted by Indonesianlantern.com, a publication established by Indonesian communities in the US.
(Read also: Couple named suspects of human trafficking)
Ima was appointed by US President Barack Obama to be a member of the US Advisory Council on Human Trafficking in December last year along with her fellow Indonesian and victim of human trafficking Shandra Woworuntu. Since 2012, Ima has worked as a survivor organizer at the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking or CAST. The non-profit organization helped Ima when she escaped from the abuse of her former employee in Los Angeles.
Ima's trafficking story started in 1997 when she was 17 years old when her then employer offered her a job as a nanny at her cousin's house in Los Angeles. She took the opportunity, as the employer agreed to pay for the passport, visa and airfare ticket. She was promised US$150 per month salary, but was never paid; she was also physically abused by her employer.
Ima recalled that she would work 12 hours a day and was hit or slapped for every minor mistake that she made.
"You can still see the scar on my head," she said refusing to disclose the name of her employer, who still lives in Los Angeles and works as an interior designer.
After three years of abuse, Ima could not take it anymore. With her very limited English, she sought help in 2000 by slipping a note to her neighbors' nanny asking for help. The next-door nanny then picked her up and took her to the CAST office, where Ima stayed at the group's shelter. She has worked for the organization since then and has risen in prominence as an activist, invited to a number of high-level meetings in Washington DC. She has met President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry.
Ima said she was looking forward to the Democratic National Convention as she really wanted to meet Hillary Clinton in person, praising her work to end slavery and human trafficking victims through the Clinton Foundation. (rin)
