Elderly women are rescued from conditions similar to slavery in Belo Horizonte

Two elderly women, aged 90 and 65, were rescued in conditions similar to domestic slave labor in a house in Belo Horizonte, according to the MPT-MG (Public Ministry of Labor in Minas Gerais).

According to the agency, women had worked for the same family for generations, living in poor conditions and without access to wages and labor rights.

The rescue took place at the end of August, in a joint action between the Public Ministry of Labor, the Federal Police and inspectors from the Regional Labor Superintendence of Minas Gerais, linked to the MTE (Ministry of Labor and Employment), and was made public on Thursday (3).

According to the prosecutor's office, the owners of the house were interviewed by agents during the rescue and stated that they were treated like family. The body disputes the version and says that elderly women do not have access to property rights or the same education and health conditions as the family owner.

Folha has not yet identified the family's legal representatives. Contacted by email this Friday afternoon (4), the Ministry of Labor and Employment, responsible for labor inspections, had not responded until the article was published.

The 90-year-old woman had worked for the same family since she was a teenager, spending 75 years without formal registration or rights such as holidays. A 65-year-old woman also lived there, who had lived with her family since she was five years old.

The elderly women would be responsible for taking care of the house, including cleaning, feeding the residents and shopping at the market.

They lived in an outbuilding of the house where they worked, with mold problems and without adequate structures, and slept in rooms without windows.

The two women were sent for medical evaluation after the rescue and then taken to the municipal shelter.

The case has been investigated since March this year, after receiving an anonymous tip.

The prosecution stated in a statement that, according to the complaint, the two elderly women received social benefits from the government, but the amounts were managed by the son of the owner of the house. The same man also managed the benefits received by his own mother, who lives locally.

"For this reason, none of the beneficiaries had direct contact with the amounts received", says the text.

The prosecutor's office said that there were also "difficulties in communicating between the workers and the public health professionals who accompanied the residence."

The State Public Defender's Office reported that it requested the city of Belo Horizonte for an immediate vacancy in a Long-Term Institution for the Elderly and that a unit has already been located.

"The response has not yet been formalized, but the inclusion of elderly women in the special protection of the [Municipal Secretariat of] Social Assistance is being articulated and the prospect is that they will receive monitoring by the health and social assistance network", said the Ombudsman's Office.