“I worked from morning to the middle of the night – even if I finished my work, I had to clean the car, clean everything. I was not allowed to leave the house unsupervised. I slept in the kitchen and couldn’t even pray. I had no privacy. The daughter of the employer would verbally abuse me. The husband would follow me and sexually abuse me.”
“I used an informal agency to get the job. There was a woman in my village […] she connected me to the agency. I paid ETB 4,000 (US $73) to the recruiter in Ethiopia. I was originally told I was going to work in Dubai, not Lebanon.”
According to a new study, three-quarters of Ethiopian women migrating to the Middle East for employment as domestic workers experienced one or more forms of abuse, including physical, sexual, financial abuse, confiscation of passport, and very long working hours (up to 19 hours a day) with no days off. Sadly, the experiences shared above by Ethiopian domestic workers currently in the Gulf are commonplace yet remain unheard and unaddressed.
The study, titled Between Hope and Hardship, commissioned by the Freedom Fund and conducted by the New York University, offers unique insight into the migration experience of Ethiopian women in Jordan, Lebanon and Kuwait. It offers a rare opportunity to understand the context and nature of exploitation of women, who are still living in the Middle East.
Every year, thousands of women leave Ethiopia to work as domestic workers in the Gulf countries with the dream of bettering their lives. However, many women end up trapped and exploited in the homes of employers, who have little regard for their rights.
Domestic work in most parts of the Gulf countries is managed under the “Kafala system,” which delegates responsibility for migrant workers to employers, including control over their ability to enter, reside, work, and, in some cases, exit the host country. This leaves workers open to exploitation and extremely vulnerable to abuse.
To successfully find jobs and migrate abroad, the majority of the women interviewed went through an agent, paying recruitment fees ranging from US $110 for Lebanon to US $260 for Kuwait. Some women had their monthly salary retained by recruiters in destination countries. Yet, regardless of how they migrated, all paid recruitment fees, even when recruitment should have been free under the formal channels of migration.
Most women did not know of any organisation that could help them in situations of distress, and most reported embassies to be unhelpful. The lack of institutional support in destination countries, including from embassies, often leaves women with no other option than to escape abusive homes and become irregular workers – leaving their employment breaks visa regulations, forcing them to find work elsewhere illegally. Women in the study talk about escapes being facilitated by kind taxi drivers or fellow Ethiopian women.
“Sometimes the male employer would give me money after abusing me. I took the money and took the mother’s hijab so no one would know I am Ethiopian. I went a long way on the road walking and found a minibus. I got dropped off in Kola (a major bus station in Beirut) and found Ethiopian people.”
– Ethiopian woman in Lebanon
Domestic workers who successfully escape are rarely protected or supported. Instead, they may face criminal charges for ‘absconding’. Women are then forced to live in the fear of being deported.
Over the past decade, the Freedom Fund has worked in Ethiopia with frontline organisations, to improve the migration system and make it more accessible to all Ethiopian migrant workers, especially those in rural areas. Progress has been made such as the removal of educational requirements that previously forced women to migrate irregularly and unsafely; stricter criteria to licence overseas employment agencies; and the implementation of the latest digital labour system aimed at reducing risk of forgeries and trafficking of women. Despite these improvements, women continue to experience high levels of abuse when they reach their destination country, even when they migrate regularly – using registered brokers, gaining a visa and travelling on a plane.
When faced with difficulties in destination countries, migrant workers groups often play a critical role, supporting Ethiopian women with shelter, medical assistance, food or repatriation needs. Even though migrant domestic workers are prohibited from joining or setting up any syndicate or labour union, they still courageously mobilise to voice issues that directly affect their community. This was echoed by the stories of strength and resilience of the women interviewed, who expressed their hope for a better future.
The recent improvements to the migration system offer an opportunity for the Ethiopian Government and its respective embassies to take actionable steps to improve safety of women in destination countries. The report concludes by proposing practical recommendations that could be implemented, including in destination countries.
Ultimately, the Ethiopian Government is responsible for safeguarding its citizens and it is in its interest to make sure the women migrating for work are protected and able to benefit from their labour.
See the full report:
Photo credit: Christelle Hayek/Unsplash
