More than one third of the migrant domestic workers interviewed by Human Rights Watch reported abuse at the hands of employment agents in Singapore. Abuses included confiscation of passports, personal belongings, and religious items; threats and physical abuse; illegal or dangerous employment assignments; and refusal to remove women from abusive employment situations. As will be discussed in later sections, agents may also saddle workers with large initial loans and overcharge for transfer fees, and room and board, sinking domestic workers deeper in debt, in a few cases placing them in situations akin to debt bondage. One service provider said, "Agencies treat them like...you are a maid, not a person anymore. We know not all agencies treat maids badly. The passport of the national is held by the employer and agent. That is very wrong.... [I know of one agency where] girls complain that agents threaten, intimidate, and slap them."89
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Domestic workers reported name-calling and other derogatory statements. Milagros Baluyot said that her employer, "always gets angry and I have to take the blame.... If he loses his keys, it's my fault. 'You bloody, fucking maid!' He will say this in the middle of the street."272 Human Rights Watch interviewed Lalitha Ranjanie, a domestic worker who said, "The people of the house call me stupid, an idiot, they use every bad word. ... They tell me I am a bad lady, like a prostitute."273 Muriyani Suharti said, "Everyday, my employer would get angry. Everyday they would call me an idiot and stupid. They even used 'idiot' as my name."274 2ff7e9595c
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