Profiles of some of the women who feature in Britain's Secret Slaves.
Patience
Patience is a domestic worker from West Africa, whose former employer was a highly successful London solicitor.
Patience's former boss was a member of the Law Society who set up a City firm of solicitors and is a specialist advisor to UK charities.
For nearly three years, Patience says she was made to work very long hours for very little money.
Patience: 'I was treated like a slave. I was not allowed to go out, I was not allowed to make friends. I was not allowed to do things without her permission. I didn't have anyone to talk to.'
Fortunately, one day Patience's neighbour noticed that she had a swollen and bloodshot eye, and tried to help her escape. But the police didn't help: Patience says the police didn't take her seriously and said they didn't have enough evidence.
Patience took legal action against the police, who then reopened the case and prosecuted her employer who was convicted of assault and given a conditional discharge for one year.
Benita
Benita ran away from her employer last year.
Her employer owns a five-story mansion but Benita says they paid her less than £3 for an 18-hour day.
Benita: 'When they bring me here, I have to do everything, also ironing, give them food, do everything for them, even night time... everything... even 1am you have to get up to go and prepare whatever they want'.
Benita says she wasn't allowed to go outside and that the maids all slept in one room with some on the floor.
Aliya
Aliya was brought to the UK three years ago to work as a nanny for a diplomat. Dispatches cannot reveal Aliya's real name or identify her country of origin as he's extremely powerful and has threatened to harm her family back home.
When Aliya started working for him in 2007, his wife hadn't yet joined him, and Aliya says he sexually harassed her. She had to work 19-hour days, cooking, cleaning and even massaging him.
Aliya says his wife was worse.
Aliya: 'It was just a nightmare for me because I felt like a slave, not like a human being. I was every day crying, praying. I was close to killing myself as I couldn't take it anymore'.
One day, Aliya's employer seriously assaulted her in the street and a passer-by took her to hospital. Her lawyer says the police couldn’t prosecute him, as they couldn't get his immunity waivered.
She was now homeless and the diplomat sent his people after her. The passer-by who had helped her previously then took her to the domestic worker charity, Kalayaan.
Eventually, Aliya won asylum in Britain because of the diplomat's threats against her. Because the police were powerless, the legal firm Hogan Lovells took Aliya's case to an employement tribunal. She won £80,000 by default judgment as her employer did not even respond to the claim
Hogan Lovell is now preparing a case against the British government to get them to reconsider the law on diplomatic immunity.
