As an American living in London, I recently read a startling statistic about my embassy in Britain: American diplomats have accrued over £2 million in fines for parking tickets and congestion charges and have yet to pay up. Their deliberate decision to ignore UK law is certainly cause for question – and perhaps even a laugh – as they insist the congestion charge is an illegal tax under the Vienna Convention. They may indeed have a case but without crossing political lines, one major point can be made: America’s debt to Transport for London flexes the muscles of diplomatic immunity.

But there is a sobering echelon of diplomatic immunity, one that connects trafficked people to labouring under the auspices of domestic servitude. The Domestic Worker Visa allows for the temporary stay of domestic workers, who intend to be employed exclusively in the household of a diplomatic visa holder. They work for men and women who are literally above the law, and often abuse their power, viewing their political status as an entitlement rather than a privilege. Because the worker visa binds an individual exclusively to their employer, leaving the home means they cannot access other employment opportunities.

Every year, the UK receives thousands of domestic workers from non-EU countries who accompany their employers; often diplomats during their postings or royal families on a short-term visit. Easy to romanticise, it is not hard to imagine why thousands of young women give their unequivocal consent to come with their employers to London. The promise of higher wages and guaranteed remittances to support their younger siblings and aging parents is nothing but alluring.

But the fantasy ends just as soon as it begins; diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) grants protection to members of the diplomatic community, allowing abuse, exploitation and sexual harassment to occur on UK soil without a threat of legal action.

Personal testimonies from people who were formerly in domestic servitude suggest that family pets are treated more humanely; nearly half of the individuals who sought help with Kalayaan, a London-based charity which offers advice, advocacy and support services to migrant works in the UK, reported not having their own bed. Many face sexual abuse and threats to their families back home. Verbal intimidation, including unsubstantiated threats of police detention upon arrival in their home country, deters them from escaping. And who can blame them for bowing to the coercion of a powerful and often well-known political figure from their home country?

Although the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not condone this violence, little can be done when diplomats are accused of crimes within their own homes. Statements from the FCO imply that while investigations of diplomats are authorised, apprehension over political backlash from countries suffering already-tenuous relations with the UK means that they are rarely pursued.

What is more alarming – the instances of abuse or the sanction of abuse? If the UK would like to maintain its position as a world leader in the fight of international human exploitation, it must also remain vigilant about the offences in its own backyard.

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To take action on the issue of domestic servitude, please write to your MP and urge the UK Government to vote in favour of the adoption of a new domestic work Convention at the upcoming International Labour Conference in June 2011.

For more information on domestic servitude in the UK, please listen to the report on BBC Radio 4 or view I Am Slave on Channel 4OD.

Written by Lydia Bowden