The District Court of The Hague has sentenced a couple to one year in prison for having kept an underage niece of the man as a house slave for over 10 years. The niece took care of the children, the household as well as the daily shopping. She was beaten and verbally abused, did not go to school and never visited a general practitioner. In 2011 she managed to escape. The judge deems the couple to be guilty of human trafficking and violating the fundamental human rights of the girl, including her human dignity and personal freedom.