Household slaves | France 2 | Envoyé Spécial

Menz is Madagascan. She came to France to find employment as a young au pair girl. She endured the tyranny of her employers for two years: undeclared, and not paid. Her employers, a French couple, comfortable financially, and apparently living as good citizens, promised her 500 francs a month (about $80). She never received a single franc of it. One day she was able to escape and contact the committee against modern slavery. Someone from the committee went with her to the gendarmes to press charges. She is awaiting judgement. She is hoping that for the first time in France, a court will hand down a prison sentence in a modern slavery case. Zita had the same experience. She came from the Philippines eight years ago to earn money so she could send her children to school. After two years with an unscrupulous employer, with no pay and no free time, she also decided to press charges. Menz and Zita are not the only ones. More than 300 cases of such slavery have been reported since 1998.