1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
In focus
Israel and the crisis in the Middle EastTrump inaugurationGerman election 2025
Latest audioLatest videos
Live TV
Business

Modern Slavery in Singapore

April 8, 2013

Many domestic workers in Singapore suffer exploitation, abuse and even rape at the hands of their wealthy employers. Most of the women arrive here via agencies that recruit in the slums of Indonesia and the Philippines.

https://p.dw.com/p/16ApV

They hope to earn enough money to help support their families back at home. But once they arrive in Singapore, they are at the mercy of their employers. Often, their passports are taken away from them. There are more than 200,000 such domestic servants in Singapore, and for many of them their workplace is little more than a prison. They’re expected to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and never get a day off, let alone a holiday.