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Marriage promises trap women in trafficking
They were promised rich husbands in China, but later ended up doing forced labor.
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Entin Suntini (left), a victim of human trafficking, breaks down in tears in her mother's embrace after the two were reunited at the headquarters of the National Police's Criminal Investigations Division (Bareskrim) in Jakarta, on Sept. 13. Sixteen-year-old Entin was found in Selangor, Malaysia, after escaping mistreatment by her traffickers. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
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t had never crossed MN’s mind that she would be exploited by her own husband in a country far away from Indonesia, until the 23-year-old experienced it by herself.
In September, the girl from Sompak district, Landak regency in West Kalimantan — which is located around 129 kilometers from capital Pontianak — went off to China to live with a husband she had just met several weeks earlier through a matchmaker.
According to MN, the husband’s family treated her well on the day she arrived by throwing a welcoming party at their residence. The good treatment changed drastically on the following day, as she was asked to wake up early in the morning to do all of the household chores.
“I was also employed at a factory that required me to work from 7 in the morning till 7 in the evening,” she said on Sunday at a press conference held by the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) and the Migrant Workers Network (SBMI) in Jakarta.
“All of my salary was channeled to my mother-in-law, who would torture me if I made a slight mistake,” she added.
The girl, who only completed secondary school and was not able to speak any foreign languages, further said she was treated cruelly by her husband because of the language barrier.
After a while, she managed to flee back to Indonesia with the help of two Indonesian students in China, who had already coordinated with the SBMI in Indonesia. During her stay in the country, MN could still contact her family to inform them about her situation.
