An Ethiopian woman told police in Melbourne, Florida that she escaped abuse on Wednesday evening after officers found her at Melbourne first Baptist church. Local media reports that investigators suspect she may be a victim of human trafficking. (Photo: Downtown Melbourne in Melbourne, Florida / by Michele Haro)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Sunday, July 22, 2012
New York (TADIAS) – Investigators in Florida are looking into whether an Ethiopian woman may have been a victim of human trafficking. The 36-year-old woman, who was carrying an Ethiopian passport, was found taking refuge at a local church, claiming that she escaped abuse from her employers. She told police that she was brought to the United States about 3 months ago by a Kuwaiti family that she worked for.
According to Florida Today, the woman said she worked for a different family in Ethiopia, who brought her to Kuwait and introduced her to the Kuwaitis, who then brought her to London and then on to the United States to work as a maid. “In my experience, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of an instance of human trafficking locally,” Sgt. Sheridan Shelley of Melbourne Police Department told the newspaper.
“Police said she told them, through an interpreter that she was treated badly and was not fed or paid as promised,” the report said. “Police said she told them she had been abused and forbidden from leaving the home.”
According to police records, she escaped last Wednesday, when no one was at the residence, and managed to make her way to another house in the neighborhood, where she was taken in and brought to the church and fed.
Authorities said they aren’t sure where the woman was being held. But the case has been transferred to agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Feds are also talking to her employers. No arrests have been made.
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