The European Court of Human Rights has condemned the French Government for failing to introduce legislation that would classify slavery and servitude as criminal offences under its penal code after it ruled that a woman was held in domestic servitude servitude by two families in France for more than four years on 26 July.

Siwa-Akofa Siliadin was trafficked to Paris from Togo in 1994 when she was 15 years old by a woman who said that she would give her an education and provide her with a residency permit. Instead, the woman forced Siliadin to work as a domestic and confiscated her passport.

For four years, Siliadin had to work up to 15 hours a day, seven days a week, was rarely allowed out of the house, was refused time off and was not paid.

The case first came to light in 1998, after Siliadin told a neighbour of her conditions, who then contacted the anti-slavery organisation Comite Contre l'Esclavage Moderne (CCEM). Two of her ‘employers' were sentenced to 12 months in prison; seven of which were suspended. And, in 2000, they were acquitted on appeal.

Three years later, an employment tribunal awarded Siliadin €31,238 (US$37,474) in salary arrears and a French appeals court awarded her €15,245 in damages, however it found that her treatment was not incompatible with human dignity, as defined under French criminal law. A conclusion the European Court has overturned.

The Court declared that states have a duty to make slavery and servitude a criminal offence and to punish any act that keeps a person in slavery conditions.