Cambodian Maids Speak of Abuse

Eileen Ng – The Irrawaddy – Tuesday, 23 August 2011 (originally published 18 Aug)

Cambodian maid Hok Pov, 31, tries to hold back the tears as she speaks during an interview in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Image: AP

KUALA LUMPUR— Hok Pov had never been beaten and never known hunger until she came to work in Malaysia in April.

In the six weeks that she worked as a maid for a Malaysian family, she says she lost 22 pounds (10 kilograms) while toiling 20 hours a day with little to eat. Often she was slapped and punched by her employer, she says.

“I was so hungry that I even ate chicken bones,” a sobbing Hok Pov, 31, told The Associated Press at the office of Malaysian rights’ group Tenaganita that rescued her in June with the help of police . . .

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