32
TH
HERE is, to me, nothing more dreadful or soul-searing than the spectacle of a child ill-
FREE THESE GIRL SLAVES
used, over-worked and under-fed. I always feel in some way as if I were responsible, as though I had neglected to do something that would prevent such an enormity.
says Mrs. Cecil Chesterton
This is how I felt in Hong Kong when I was suddenly brought up against a condition impossible, one would have thought, within the British Empire. To-day thousands of female children and young girls are living as chattels, the property of the owners who have bought their flesh and blood.
It commenced a hundred years ago. When wo first took possession of the island the Government encouraged the Chinese to come and settle there, undertaking that their religious rites, ceremonies and social customs should not be interfered with. So the Chinese came, bringing with them large numbers of young female slaves-Mui Tsai as they are called-which they had purchased from the starving peasantry on the mainland, who preferred to sell their babies rather than sce them die of hunger.
Law is a Farce
The tragic children were bought and sold, and sold and bought, over and over again. They had no wages and no rights, and very often, helpless and hopeless, were consigned to a life in a brothel.
Cases are on record where small children of six and seven did the work and the washing of an entire family, minding the baby at nights; unfortunates sold into prostitution who tried to commit suicide; victims of ghastly cruelty who, having escaped, were found by the police and returned to their
owners.
I am always very proud to think it was a
Who has been investigating the problem in Hong Kong
woman who, in 1930, forced public opinion to centre ! on the scandal. Lady Simon organised huge protests from Women's Societies, addressed hun. dreds of meetings, penned innumerable articles and finally, in the publication of her book," Slavery,' focused political attention both inside and outside the House of Commons.
As a result the Government moved at last. The Governor of Hong Kong was instructed that girl slaves must no longer be brought into the Colony and that those already there must be regis- tered, inspected and paid wages. Re-sale was absolutely prohibited, and any slave who wished to leave her owner was free to do so.
And now that " slavery" is no longer officially admitted in Hong Kong, let us see exactly what happens. There is a law compelling registration of a Mui Tsai, but the penalty for breaking it is so slight that it makes little difference. Generally speaking it means a fine of from twelve to twenty- five shillings. As a result many people do not register at all.
Re-sale, though prohibited, still continues, and for the same reason. The penalty for selling a girl, either as a domestic servant or to a brothel keeper, is never more than a few dollars-a dollar being worth 1s. 3d. in English money-a very small part of the purchase price received.
But the thing which, to my mind, is the most shameful is that even in cases of cruelty the punish. ment is still a fine of a few dollars. When I was in
Pearson's Weekly. Not. 5.th
1932
Hong Kong cases came up where
a Mui Tsai had been horribly mal- treated.
A small child of eight, with a badly bruised face, gave evidence. Information was dragged from her with the greatest difficulty. Her owner was listening. The girl knew what she might expect if she told the truth. It was a large family, but the Mui Tsa did everything, heavy washing, scrubbing, cooking and cleaning. No, she didn't get any wages, but at the New Year she was given a few cents."
t
Only One Inspector
There was a case where a girl of fourteen had been re-sold, and another where a Mui Tsai asked if she might really leave her owner. She had been told she could not go until she had worked out the price paid for her as a baby. It would take a long, long time. She only got 20 cents, a month!
Then, again, Mui Tsai are still imported. Not under that name, but as the niece, cousin, adopted daughter of their owners, who in nine cases out of ten get away with the tale. It is impossible to keep track of all these attempted impositions.
There is a Chinese population of some 600.000 in Hong Kong, mostly of the poorer and lower- middle class, who invariably keep a Mui Tsai. This means that there must be quite 20,000 female slaves, though only 4,000 are registered. But even these cannot effectively be safeguarded. The Government employs one inspector and two assistants, which means that only the very small proportion of reported owners can be visited.
Surely it is time for British women once more to declare a crusade and demand that this shadow of blood-guiltiness shall be wiped from our national escutcheon.
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