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> Although the family has agreed to compensate her, Maria, who lived in near-total isolation and without contact with her relatives, will remain with her employ

> Although the family has agreed to compensate her, Maria, who lived in near-total isolation and without contact with her relatives, will remain with her employers What the fuck? Why did the law need the family's "agreement"?? Why is nobody going to jail for imprisoning someone for 55 years??

MichaelZuo 4mo ago
In Brazil there are so many laws, I heard that nearly 100% of the population treats laws like strongly worded suggestions, at best. Idk how the prosecution system even functions without credibility.
- mcdonje 4mo ago
  If it operates like most corrupt systems, it binds the have-nots, but not the haves.
  - MichaelZuo 4mo ago
    How can this be true? Probably the entire adult population gets away with hundreds of offenses per annum on average (judging by the total amount on the books). Even the most law abiding and most humble decile of Brazilian adults probably still get away with dozens of offenses per annum. That nobody cares to enforce at all.
    - manarth 4mo ago
      > "That nobody cares to enforce at all" That's the point. When everyone is "committing crimes", you can select who you wish to enforce against. It enables corruption.
      - MichaelZuo 4mo ago
        Huh? Did you not understand what it means for even the most humble adult to be getting away with dozens of offenses per annum? It clearly is not binding on the “have-nots” either. Of course there is selective enforcement of some % of laws on the books, that’s true in every country on Earth.
        manarth 4mo ago
        Selective enforcement allows those in power to corruptly select who to prosecute. Even though many (perhaps most) "have-nots" will "get away with it", selective enforcement disproportionately impacts the "have-nots" as they have no leverage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_enforcement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_enforcement https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/police-corruption https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/police-corruptio...
        MichaelZuo 4mo ago
        I know? I was the one who wrote that there could be hundreds on average, and dozens for a smaller subset. That already implies a huge variation. Edit: But it still doesn’t “bind” anyone in Brazil in the strict sense. At most, it goes from very loose to extremely loose.
- matheusmoreira 4mo ago
  It's the usual "criminalize everyone then selectively enforce when politically convenient" corruption.
leoc 4mo ago
Just going on what it says in the article, it may be difficult to prove that anyone specifically forbade her to leave or made threats to prevent her from leaving.
- flyingshelf 4mo ago
  I have some insight into this as my ex ended up in a similar situation in Malaysia. Rich family, no free days, 5-22 work hours. It took me a year to convince her that it was not ok. They took away her passport, phone, she wasn't allowed to go out without them. I was ready to help her but she did not want my help. In the end I'm sure she had to pay her "employer" for breach of contract since she left early. I think she had less than $1000 saved from these 18 months of work. The thing that made me angry the most is that the family was incredibly well off, yet thought they deserve a slave (or more than one) at home.
  - tom86150 4mo ago
    [dead]
  - Razengan 4mo ago
    Sadly this kind of crap is also common in Arab countries like Dubai/UAE where the majority of "household help" is expats who get their passports seized and sometimes even beaten.
assimpleaspossi 4mo ago
[flagged]
- card_zero 4mo ago
  You reckon swearing is what makes the difference?
  - assimpleaspossi 4mo ago
    I'm saying maturity, respect and a modicum of decorum makes a difference.
    - mcdonje 4mo ago
      To whatever degree this site isn't a cesspool, we owe it to Dang, not the bad word police. They didn't swear at you, so there's no reason to get bent out of shape about it. It's ironic you're taking this stance on an article about a respectable family that literally kept a slave. There's a difference between superficial trappings of respectability, and actually treating people with respect.
      - gosub100 4mo ago
        Dang (and the other dude) do great work, but still I disagree. The GP comment was extremely low-effort. and while "complaining that HN is turning into reddit" is against site guidelines, I still agree with the critical comment. It's not the profanity alone, but the reddit-ism of the OP using the site as a complaint board (that's a large portion of reddit, especially local subreddits), and then making a 0-effort comment that any reasonable person will automatically agree with. The whole equation taken together is the formula for Reddit's echo chamber. The only people who tolerate that here are the noobs that are stepping outside their reddit coccoon and bringing the stink with them.
        fzeroracer 4mo ago
        I don't agree with the critical comment at all, particularly because the OP is incredibly guilty of making drive-by comments in their very recent post history that don't actually add anything to the conversation. People will complain about the site 'becoming reddit' while making inane posts that are clearly against the rules or don't actually bring anything to the conversation. People don't practice what they clearly preach. In either case, this post and thread are entirely off topic. At least GPs comment was somewhat relevant as opposed to this entire set of pedantry.
tchalla 4mo ago
> The concern is that Maria’s dependence on the exploiting family is so extreme that removing her abruptly, without a structured support network, could do more harm than good From the article.

MichaelZuo 4mo ago

In Brazil there are so many laws, I heard that nearly 100% of the population treats laws like strongly worded suggestions, at best. Idk how the prosecution system even functions without credibility.

mcdonje 4mo ago
If it operates like most corrupt systems, it binds the have-nots, but not the haves.
- MichaelZuo 4mo ago
  How can this be true? Probably the entire adult population gets away with hundreds of offenses per annum on average (judging by the total amount on the books). Even the most law abiding and most humble decile of Brazilian adults probably still get away with dozens of offenses per annum. That nobody cares to enforce at all.
  - manarth 4mo ago
    > "That nobody cares to enforce at all" That's the point. When everyone is "committing crimes", you can select who you wish to enforce against. It enables corruption.
    - MichaelZuo 4mo ago
      Huh? Did you not understand what it means for even the most humble adult to be getting away with dozens of offenses per annum? It clearly is not binding on the “have-nots” either. Of course there is selective enforcement of some % of laws on the books, that’s true in every country on Earth.
      - manarth 4mo ago
        Selective enforcement allows those in power to corruptly select who to prosecute. Even though many (perhaps most) "have-nots" will "get away with it", selective enforcement disproportionately impacts the "have-nots" as they have no leverage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_enforcement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_enforcement https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/police-corruption https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/police-corruptio...
        MichaelZuo 4mo ago
        I know? I was the one who wrote that there could be hundreds on average, and dozens for a smaller subset. That already implies a huge variation. Edit: But it still doesn’t “bind” anyone in Brazil in the strict sense. At most, it goes from very loose to extremely loose.
matheusmoreira 4mo ago
It's the usual "criminalize everyone then selectively enforce when politically convenient" corruption.

leoc 4mo ago

Just going on what it says in the article, it may be difficult to prove that anyone specifically forbade her to leave or made threats to prevent her from leaving.

flyingshelf 4mo ago
I have some insight into this as my ex ended up in a similar situation in Malaysia. Rich family, no free days, 5-22 work hours. It took me a year to convince her that it was not ok. They took away her passport, phone, she wasn't allowed to go out without them. I was ready to help her but she did not want my help. In the end I'm sure she had to pay her "employer" for breach of contract since she left early. I think she had less than $1000 saved from these 18 months of work. The thing that made me angry the most is that the family was incredibly well off, yet thought they deserve a slave (or more than one) at home.
- tom86150 4mo ago
  [dead]
- Razengan 4mo ago
  Sadly this kind of crap is also common in Arab countries like Dubai/UAE where the majority of "household help" is expats who get their passports seized and sometimes even beaten.

assimpleaspossi 4mo ago

[flagged]

card_zero 4mo ago
You reckon swearing is what makes the difference?
- assimpleaspossi 4mo ago
  I'm saying maturity, respect and a modicum of decorum makes a difference.
  - mcdonje 4mo ago
    To whatever degree this site isn't a cesspool, we owe it to Dang, not the bad word police. They didn't swear at you, so there's no reason to get bent out of shape about it. It's ironic you're taking this stance on an article about a respectable family that literally kept a slave. There's a difference between superficial trappings of respectability, and actually treating people with respect.
    - gosub100 4mo ago
      Dang (and the other dude) do great work, but still I disagree. The GP comment was extremely low-effort. and while "complaining that HN is turning into reddit" is against site guidelines, I still agree with the critical comment. It's not the profanity alone, but the reddit-ism of the OP using the site as a complaint board (that's a large portion of reddit, especially local subreddits), and then making a 0-effort comment that any reasonable person will automatically agree with. The whole equation taken together is the formula for Reddit's echo chamber. The only people who tolerate that here are the noobs that are stepping outside their reddit coccoon and bringing the stink with them.
      - fzeroracer 4mo ago
        I don't agree with the critical comment at all, particularly because the OP is incredibly guilty of making drive-by comments in their very recent post history that don't actually add anything to the conversation. People will complain about the site 'becoming reddit' while making inane posts that are clearly against the rules or don't actually bring anything to the conversation. People don't practice what they clearly preach. In either case, this post and thread are entirely off topic. At least GPs comment was somewhat relevant as opposed to this entire set of pedantry.

tchalla 4mo ago

> The concern is that Maria’s dependence on the exploiting family is so extreme that removing her abruptly, without a structured support network, could do more harm than good From the article.