Domestic worker rescued after 55 years of slavery‑like conditions in Ceará

A 62‑year‑old woman was rescued in May from a luxury condominium in Eusébio, Greater Fortaleza, after spending more than five decades working for the same family without pay. She began serving the household at age seven in 1971 and remained there for three generations, performing domestic chores and caring for children while receiving no salary, no social benefits and no education. Auditors found she was enrolled in the Bolsa Família program and received R$ 600 a month, but the employer controlled the withdrawals and kept the money.

The Labor Audit (Auditoria‑Fiscal do Trabalho) estimates the unpaid wages, vacation, 13th‑month pay, FGFs and other labor rights total over R$ 1.5 million. A Term of Adjustment of Conduct (TAC) signed with the Ministry of Labor and the Public Labor Prosecutor’s Office obliges the employers to pay R$ 50 000 in severance, purchase a house worth at least R$ 150 000 for the worker and keep up pension contributions until she can retire. The employers only acknowledged a formal employment link from July 2014. The operation also opened a fraud investigation into the manipulation of the Bolsa Família benefit.

The rescue involved the Labor Audit, the Public Labor Prosecutor’s Office, the Federal Police and the Ceará Human Rights Secretariat.