The stories of maltreatment and abuse of household workers in Saudi Arabia can be seen in the news almost everyday. New cases after another without any resolution on how to protect the rights victims and penalize the abusive employers.
Author and political analyst Colin S. Cavell, says the practice of sexual slavery has deep roots within Saudi Arabia’s political system and can hardly be eliminated unless the regime changes.
“The practice of sexual slavery is able to continue in the kingdom because of the structure of the regime in Saudi Arabia. It is a corrupt regime run by… a family dynasty that is unelected and rules with an iron fist,” he said.
“In Saudi Arabia, especially immigrant laborers, who constitute over half of the national workforce, are subjected to continuous abuse, rape, beatings, and murder, they have their passports confiscated once they arrive in the country by their employers and are manipulated by the sponsorship system which amounts to modern-day slavery, ” he added.
Two Indian housemaids recalled their ordeal working in an abusive employer in Saudi Arabia. 38-year-old Noorjahan Akbar Husen said that her Saudi employer treated her very badly, harass, torture and beat her everyday.
Noorjahan said that they were scammed by her recruiter in Mumbai. The recruiter promised to provide a job for them in Riyadh, but offered a different one in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. She was separated from her husband right after landing in Saudi Arabia, and held captive, tortured, and harassed on a daily basis. She said she was also forced to work for a “home service,” which is a byword for the flesh trade in Saudi Arabia. She struggled to gain back her freedom for several years. Noorjahan said that she saw some 200 women who share the same fate as hers in Dammam alone.
Another former housemaid in Al Qassim area, Anjum Fatima was also a victim of abuse and maltreatment.
Her recruiter promised her to work in Medina as a cook but instead brought to Al Qassim and worked as a housemaid. she said they made her work until 2am everyday even she was sick. If the employer are not satisfied with her work, they would throw hot water on her face.
These stories are no different from the Filipina OFWs who work as a household service workers. Aside from not giving a day-off and making them work long hours, the employers hold their passports and some of them were not given an iqama. Some of them has been raped and maltreated . Some of them even come home lifeless.
The story of an OFW named Fatma who worked in Riyadh for only 2 months is one of the most evident proof of the severe maltreatment of the household workers in Saudi Arabia.
Noorjahan said that they were scammed by her recruiter in Mumbai. The recruiter promised to provide a job for them in Riyadh, but offered a different one in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. She was separated from her husband right after landing in Saudi Arabia, and held captive, tortured, and harassed on a daily basis. She said she was also forced to work for a “home service,” which is a byword for the flesh trade in Saudi Arabia. She struggled to gain back her freedom for several years. Noorjahan said that she saw some 200 women who share the same fate as hers in Dammam alone.
Another former housemaid in Al Qassim area, Anjum Fatima was also a victim of abuse and maltreatment.
Her recruiter promised her to work in Medina as a cook but instead brought to Al Qassim and worked as a housemaid. she said they made her work until 2am everyday even she was sick. If the employer are not satisfied with her work, they would throw hot water on her face.
These stories are no different from the Filipina OFWs who work as a household service workers. Aside from not giving a day-off and making them work long hours, the employers hold their passports and some of them were not given an iqama. Some of them has been raped and maltreated . Some of them even come home lifeless.
The story of an OFW named Fatma who worked in Riyadh for only 2 months is one of the most evident proof of the severe maltreatment of the household workers in Saudi Arabia.
A deployment moratorium for household service workers in the Middle East is underway as DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III is considering the suspension of deployment of OFWs in the Middle East because of the growing number of abuse and maltreatment among them.
The horror of the abuses experienced by the household workers in Saudi Arabia as well as other countries in the Middle East is real and more than the physical pain, the psychological trauma will give them the chills and sleepless nights, haunting them for the rest of their lives.
There is no need to wait until the deployment ban of HSWs is approved and implemented. With hundreds of real life stories of abused, raped, maltreated and those who died from these inhumane treatment. Why would anyone want to share the same fate? It starts with us. OFWs should not take the risk of working in Saudi Arabia. Try applying somewhere else.
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The horror of the abuses experienced by the household workers in Saudi Arabia as well as other countries in the Middle East is real and more than the physical pain, the psychological trauma will give them the chills and sleepless nights, haunting them for the rest of their lives.
There is no need to wait until the deployment ban of HSWs is approved and implemented. With hundreds of real life stories of abused, raped, maltreated and those who died from these inhumane treatment. Why would anyone want to share the same fate? It starts with us. OFWs should not take the risk of working in Saudi Arabia. Try applying somewhere else.
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10 TIPS ON HOW TO SPOT A FAKE NEWS
ASEAN LEADERS TO CREATE PROTECTION RULES FOR MIGRANT WORKERS
OFW GETS HARSH WORDS FROM OWN BROTHER
BEFORE YOU GET MARRIED,BE AWARE OF THIS
ISRAEL TO HIRE HUNDREDS OF FILIPINOS FOR HOTEL JOBS
MALLS WITH OSSCO AND OTHER GOVERNMENT SERVICES
DOMESTIC ABUSE EXPOSED ON SOCIAL MEDIA
HSW IN KUWAIT: NO SALARY FOR 9 YEARS
DEATH COMPENSATION FOR SAUDI EXPATS
ON JAKATIA PAWA'S EXECUTION: "WE DID EVERYTHING.." -DFA
BELLO ASSURES DECISION ON MORATORIUM MAY COME OUT ANYTIME SOON
SEN. JOEL VILLANUEVA SUPPORTS DEPLOYMENT BAN ON HSWS IN KUWAIT
AT LEAST 71 OFWS ON DEATH ROW ABROAD
DEPLOYMENT MORATORIUM, NOW! -OFW GROUPS
BE CAREFUL HOW YOU TREAT YOUR HSWS
PRESIDENT DUTERTE WILL VISIT UAE AND KSA, HERE'S WHY
MANPOWER AGENCIES AND RECRUITMENT COMPANIES TO BE HIT DIRECTLY BY HSW DEPLOYMENT MORATORIUM IN KUWAIT
UAE TO START IMPLEMENTING 5%VAT STARTING 2018
REMEMBER THIS 7 THINGS IF YOU ARE APPLYING FOR HOUSEKEEPING JOB IN JAPAN
KENYA , THE LEAST TOXIC COUNTRY IN THE WORLD; SAUDI ARABIA, MOST TOXIC
"JUNIOR CITIZEN " BILL TO BENEFIT POOR FAMILIES
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