After a Yemeni woman was enslaved and raped for three months by a US diplomat’s husband, a Virginia federal judge awarded the victim $3.3 million for the abuse that she suffered.
A State Department employee lured the Yemeni woman to move to Japan with her and her husband. After being promised $200 per month for cleaning a home in the US Embassy compound in Tokyo, the woman agreed to come along in December 2008.
Linda and Russell Howard even promised a raise – $300 a month with one day off every week. But instead, the live-in maid was repeatedly raped and forced to work more than 80 hours per week.
“At trial, plaintiff testified that Russell Howard raped her at least four times, and that he forced her to perform oral sex approximately ten times, and that he repeatedly sexually assaulted her,” US District Judge Liam O’Grady was quoted by the Courthouse News. “Plaintiff testified that Linda Howard was complicit in her husband’s sexual abuse, telling [the domestic worker] that she should gratify Russell Howard and make Russell happy.”
The victim said Russell had told her that the couple had hired previous domestic workers whom he had also raped, occasionally in form of a threesome. Those who refused to submit to sexual requests were immediately fired.
