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Woman in Brazil enslaved for 55 years by 3 generations of the same family

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Re: Woman in Brazil enslaved for 55 years by 3 generations of the same family

#71

Post by inexcf »

iammrpayments wrote: post #34
forinti wrote: post #11

Its a common occurrence for families to take in poor girls to do house work in exchange for food and lodging. And with the insidious nature of Brazilian racism, they will pretend that she is part of the family. They might even take her on vacations (to work, of course). If you grow up with this mentality it might even be hard for you to see the injustice. Brazil abolished slavery in 1888, the last country in the Amer…

I was repeatedly told in school that Brazil was the last country to abolish slavery, only to find out recently that places like UAE had not abolished slavery until 1967.

"last country to abolish slavery" vs. "last country to practice slavery"

Re: Woman in Brazil enslaved for 55 years by 3 generations of the same family

#73

Post by mcphage »

scottconover wrote: post #49

I’m new to HN. How does this relate to the theme of Hacker News?

Welcome to HN! You’ll find that a lot of the readers and commenters here don’t view technology as an isolated field, that it interconnects with all sorts of other systems—sociology, politics, entertainment, manufacturing, business, and so on.

Re: Woman in Brazil enslaved for 55 years by 3 generations of the same family

#74

Post by runsWphotons »

fmbb wrote: post #67
throw_m239339 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd be shocked how much of our "friends" in MENA still have legal slavery for non citizens. When an employer can legally confiscate someone's passport and one can only leave the country with their authorization, it is slavery. I have no idea why we in the west consider that normal and look the other way... What am I saying, I know, oil & VC money... Some of them also bring their Filipino, India, Nepali, or African…

> When an employer can confiscate someone's passport and one can only leave the country with their authorization, it is slavery. This happens in Europe as well. It is not legal, but it is the only way the Scandinavian berry market works at all. You don’t even need a huge market for this to be allowed to happen. You just need _a_ market and workers that are desperate enough to be tricked.

This is completely a figment of your imagination.

Re: Woman in Brazil enslaved for 55 years by 3 generations of the same family

#75

Post by [deleted] »

throw_m239339 wrote: post #48
petcat wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was shocked to read how late even several prominent European countries abolished it. Most northern US states abolished slavery even before Britain, France, Portugal, and (especially) Spain did.

You'd be shocked how much of our "friends" in MENA still have legal slavery for non citizens. When an employer can legally confiscate someone's passport and one can only leave the country with their authorization, it is slavery. I have no idea why we in the west consider that normal and look the other way... What am I saying, I know, oil & VC money... Some of them also bring their Filipino, India, Nepali, or African…

[deleted]

Re: Woman in Brazil enslaved for 55 years by 3 generations of the same family

#76

Post by mcphage »

zkmon wrote: post #38

I hoped the article would mention whether the woman desires to be "rescued" or wants changes in the way she lives now.

> whether the woman desires to be "rescued" or wants changes in the way she lives now

Here’s the thing: you can’t keep someone isolated for 55 years, working them without pay—regardless of whether the victim thinks that they want it or not.

Re: Woman in Brazil enslaved for 55 years by 3 generations of the same family

#77

Post by luipugs »

atum47 wrote: post #72

Yup, my mom and her sisters were all sent off to work on family houses when they were about 10 - 12. They were born in the country side, and my grandpa didn't care for them at all.

Did they also eventually win their freedom like in the article?

Re: Woman in Brazil enslaved for 55 years by 3 generations of the same family

#78

Post by argentinian »

Laurel1234 wrote: post #65
t1234s wrote: post #25

I was talking to a doctor who went to medical school in Brazil and said it was normal for upper-middle class people to have a live-in domestic servant. Many of the floorplans for condos or houses include a servants quarters. They were telling me theirs cost around $12 USD a day which is not a bad deal.

It's a symptom of inequality. It will start happening more and more even in the first world if inequality isn't tackled and wealth continues to concentrate.

Why do you see inequality as the problem, instead of poverty?

Re: Woman in Brazil enslaved for 55 years by 3 generations of the same family

#79

Post by singpolyma3 »

geraneum wrote: post #26
hobo_in_library wrote: post #14

Hot take: As bad as this is, I wonder if it would be kinder to leave her with the family for the rest of her life. This lady is in her 60s, does she even know any other way to even live? Life with that family may be better than whatever Brazil's equivalent of welfare shelters are. Seems like that may have been why the case workers left her with that family for now.

If they pay her what she’s owed and the damages. She can get her place, hire people and pay them to care of her or help her.

If she hires people doesn't that just perpetuate the problem?

Re: Woman in Brazil enslaved for 55 years by 3 generations of the same family

#80

Post by oblio »

argentinian wrote: post #78
Laurel1234 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a symptom of inequality. It will start happening more and more even in the first world if inequality isn't tackled and wealth continues to concentrate.

Why do you see inequality as the problem, instead of poverty?

Because they go together.

The hallmark of developed countries is that they're even, mostly egalitarian and developed everywhere.

The hallmark of developing or underdeveloped countries is precisely the staggering levels of inequality.

Not everyone is poor in a developing/underdeveloped country. Quite a few people there live lives that would make upper middle classes in developed countries blush. Life "just" sucks for the majority of people there.

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