Patience was brought to the UK as a domestic worker and nanny. For two-and-a-half years she was abused physically and mentally. She was never paid and her employer withheld her passport. Patience eventually managed to escape – only to be confronted with an uninterested police force, refusing to take her allegations seriously.
Using Article 4 of the Human Rights Act, no slavery or forced labour, Liberty forced officers to investigate and Patience’s employer was eventually prosecuted – although not for slavery or forced servitude, as they still weren’t offences under English law. Thankfully that’s now changed, and there’s a new slavery offence on the statute book thanks partly to our campaigning.
“All I wanted was justice,” Patience says. She urges people to support the Human Rights Act. “Without human rights I wouldn’t even have had that opportunity for the police to reopen the case,” she adds. “They realised they had made a mistake and they wrote an apology letter to me. They paid me compensation and promised to train the police to look into similar cases to mine carefully. Something like that wouldn’t have taken place if Liberty hadn’t have stepped in.”
So next time you notice a politician or commentator saying that the Human Rights Act is purely for terrorists and criminals, think again. Consider victims like Patience, and the justice the legislation has delivered for people like her. Remind your family and friends – and local MP – that we already have a very British Bill of Rights – it’s called the Human Rights Act.
