More stories of horror and abuse of young women working as domestics.
From Arab News:
"A Nepali housemaid is fighting for her life after suffering sadistic torture and rape by her sponsor, said Pushparaj Bhattarai, a spokesman for the Nepalese Embassy, yesterday.
The woman, who was identified only as Maya, walked into the local Nepalese mission yesterday showing evidence of physical and sexual abuse, including injuries to her abdomen.
This is the eighth case of the brutal rape of a Nepali maid reported within the last three months in Saudi Arabia.
Last month, a Nepali maid took shelter at the embassy after being abducted and gang-raped by seven men. The 22-year-old maid was forced into a car, taken to a remote location, raped by the men and later dropped off at the same place from where she was picked up.
In another case in June, a maid was gang-raped by four men and then abandoned at the embassy’s entrance."
And again from Arab News:
"The Sri Lankan government has called on Saudi insurance companies to submit quotations for mandatory insurance to cover Sri Lankan domestic aides such as maids and drivers in the Kingdom.
Colombo has drafted the new insurance scheme because the Saudi government’s current insurance system does not include domestic aides working in Saudi households.
More than 80 percent of the 550,000 Sri Lankan workers in the Kingdom are housemaids whose earnings make up a large portion of foreign remittances to the country. Remittances from Sri Lankan overseas workers are the island’s second largest foreign exchange earner."
And again - Arab News:
"Sri Lanka is planning to trim the number of maids employed in the Middle East, a labor official has reportedly said.
Kingsley Ranawaka, chairman of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), was recently quoted by an international media source as saying that Lankan labor officials have decided to curb the number of housekeepers due to the number of complaints of ill-treatment received from Lankan maids in the region.
The bureau said that in the first half of this year, it received a total of 3,400 complaints, including 577 cases of breach of contract and 479 cases of sexual abuse and other forms of physical violence, as well as complaints of unpaid or underpaid salaries.
Saudi Arabia in particular has been a main market for Sri Lankan workers. For years as many as 500,000 maids work in the Kingdom at any time, according to data published by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh."
From Global Nation:
"Sri Lanka is planning to trim the number of maids employed in the Middle East, a labor official has reportedly said.
Kingsley Ranawaka, chairman of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), was recently quoted by an international media source as saying that Lankan labor officials have decided to curb the number of housekeepers due to complaints of ill-treatment received from Lankan maids in the region.
The bureau said that in the first half of this year, it received a total of 3,400 complaints, including 577 cases of breach of contract and 479 cases of sexual abuse and other forms of physical violence, as well as complaints of unpaid or underpaid salaries.
Saudi Arabia in particular has been a main market for Sri Lankan workers. For years as many as 500,000 maids work in the Kingdom at any time, according to data published by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh.
However, last year the US-based Human Rights Watch rebuked Arab governments for not doing enough to eradicate the abuses against Sri Lankan domestic workers in the region."
And again, Global Nation:
"Foreign maids are dying each week in Lebanon often by committing suicide to escape bad treatment by their employers, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.
"Domestic workers are dying in Lebanon at a rate of more than one per week," said Nadim Houry, a senior researcher at HRW, in the second damning report since April on the working conditions of foreign workers in Lebanon.
According to HRW around 200,000 domestic laborers, mostly from Sri Lanka, Philippines and Ethiopia, are not protected by Lebanese labor laws."
From The Australian:
"LEBANON must improve working conditions for migrant domestic workers, who often commit suicide or die while trying to escape from their employers, a US-based rights group says.
Human Rights Watch said there were an estimated 200,000 maids in Lebanon, including those with illegal status, mostly from Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Ethiopia.
The rights group said interviews with embassy officials and friends of domestic workers who committed suicide suggested that "forced confinement, excessive work demands, employer abuse and financial pressures are key factors pushing these women to kill themselves or risk their lives".
According to Human Rights Watch, Lebanese labour laws specifically exclude domestic workers from rights guaranteed to other workers, such as a weekly day of rest, work hour limits, paid holidays and compensation."
From Human Rights Watch:
"The high death toll of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, from unnatural causes, shows the urgent need to improve their working conditions, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on the official steering committee tasked with improving the situation of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon to investigate the root causes of these deaths and develop a concrete national strategy to reduce them.
Since January 2007, at least 95 migrant domestic workers have died in Lebanon. Of these 95 deaths, 40 are classified by the embassies of the migrants as suicide, while 24 others were caused by workers falling from high buildings, often while trying to escape their employers. By contrast, only 14 domestic workers died because of diseases or health issues.
“Domestic workers are dying in Lebanon at a rate of more than one per week,” said Nadim Houry, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. “All those involved – from the Lebanese authorities, to the workers’ embassies, to the employment agencies, to the employers – need to ask themselves what is driving these women to kill themselves or risk their lives trying to escape from high buildings.”
Interviews with embassy officials and friends of domestic workers who committed suicide suggest that forced confinement, excessive work demands, employer abuse, and financial pressures are key factors pushing these women to kill themselves or risk their lives. An official at the Philippines embassy told Human Rights Watch about one Filipina worker whose employers accused her of stealing a piece of jewelry. The employers beat her and locked her inside the house, he said. She ended up committing suicide.
A 2006 survey of 600 domestic workers in Lebanon conducted by Dr. Ray Jureidini, of the American University in Cairo, found 31 percent of the women saying that their employers did not allow them to leave the home. "
From The Daily Star:
"Leading human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) spoke on Tuesday of "the urgent need" to improve the working and living conditions of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, saying that "at least" 95 women had died between January 1, 2007 and August 15, 2008.
There are thought to be some 200,000 domestic workers, mostly from Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, and the Philippines, working in Lebanon. A great number of these work as live-in maids and are often forced to work long hours without a weekly break or sufficient food. A 2006 survey conducted in Lebanon by Dr. Ray Jureidini of 600 migrant domestic workers found that 56 percent worked more than 12 hours a day and 34 percent were not allowed regular time off.
According to a 2005 survey by the non-governmental organization Caritas Lebanon, 90 percent of employers retained the passports and other legal documents of their employees, seriously limiting their freedom of movement. Many workers are also forcibly confined to the house and denied regular, if any, payment of their salaries.
On top of all that, Lebanese labor laws do not protect domestic workers, making them vulnerable to exploitation and human rights abuses."
These stories were also reported in: Dawn ~~~ CNews ~~~ Fox News ~~~ BBC News.
Women of History Blog - Domestic Workers In Saudi Arabia
From Arab News:
"A Nepali housemaid is fighting for her life after suffering sadistic torture and rape by her sponsor, said Pushparaj Bhattarai, a spokesman for the Nepalese Embassy, yesterday.
The woman, who was identified only as Maya, walked into the local Nepalese mission yesterday showing evidence of physical and sexual abuse, including injuries to her abdomen.
This is the eighth case of the brutal rape of a Nepali maid reported within the last three months in Saudi Arabia.
Last month, a Nepali maid took shelter at the embassy after being abducted and gang-raped by seven men. The 22-year-old maid was forced into a car, taken to a remote location, raped by the men and later dropped off at the same place from where she was picked up.
In another case in June, a maid was gang-raped by four men and then abandoned at the embassy’s entrance."
And again from Arab News:
"The Sri Lankan government has called on Saudi insurance companies to submit quotations for mandatory insurance to cover Sri Lankan domestic aides such as maids and drivers in the Kingdom.
Colombo has drafted the new insurance scheme because the Saudi government’s current insurance system does not include domestic aides working in Saudi households.
More than 80 percent of the 550,000 Sri Lankan workers in the Kingdom are housemaids whose earnings make up a large portion of foreign remittances to the country. Remittances from Sri Lankan overseas workers are the island’s second largest foreign exchange earner."
And again - Arab News:
"Sri Lanka is planning to trim the number of maids employed in the Middle East, a labor official has reportedly said.
Kingsley Ranawaka, chairman of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), was recently quoted by an international media source as saying that Lankan labor officials have decided to curb the number of housekeepers due to the number of complaints of ill-treatment received from Lankan maids in the region.
The bureau said that in the first half of this year, it received a total of 3,400 complaints, including 577 cases of breach of contract and 479 cases of sexual abuse and other forms of physical violence, as well as complaints of unpaid or underpaid salaries.
Saudi Arabia in particular has been a main market for Sri Lankan workers. For years as many as 500,000 maids work in the Kingdom at any time, according to data published by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh."
From Global Nation:
"Sri Lanka is planning to trim the number of maids employed in the Middle East, a labor official has reportedly said.
Kingsley Ranawaka, chairman of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), was recently quoted by an international media source as saying that Lankan labor officials have decided to curb the number of housekeepers due to complaints of ill-treatment received from Lankan maids in the region.
The bureau said that in the first half of this year, it received a total of 3,400 complaints, including 577 cases of breach of contract and 479 cases of sexual abuse and other forms of physical violence, as well as complaints of unpaid or underpaid salaries.
Saudi Arabia in particular has been a main market for Sri Lankan workers. For years as many as 500,000 maids work in the Kingdom at any time, according to data published by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh.
However, last year the US-based Human Rights Watch rebuked Arab governments for not doing enough to eradicate the abuses against Sri Lankan domestic workers in the region."
And again, Global Nation:
"Foreign maids are dying each week in Lebanon often by committing suicide to escape bad treatment by their employers, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.
"Domestic workers are dying in Lebanon at a rate of more than one per week," said Nadim Houry, a senior researcher at HRW, in the second damning report since April on the working conditions of foreign workers in Lebanon.
According to HRW around 200,000 domestic laborers, mostly from Sri Lanka, Philippines and Ethiopia, are not protected by Lebanese labor laws."
From The Australian:
"LEBANON must improve working conditions for migrant domestic workers, who often commit suicide or die while trying to escape from their employers, a US-based rights group says.
Human Rights Watch said there were an estimated 200,000 maids in Lebanon, including those with illegal status, mostly from Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Ethiopia.
The rights group said interviews with embassy officials and friends of domestic workers who committed suicide suggested that "forced confinement, excessive work demands, employer abuse and financial pressures are key factors pushing these women to kill themselves or risk their lives".
According to Human Rights Watch, Lebanese labour laws specifically exclude domestic workers from rights guaranteed to other workers, such as a weekly day of rest, work hour limits, paid holidays and compensation."
From Human Rights Watch:
"The high death toll of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, from unnatural causes, shows the urgent need to improve their working conditions, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on the official steering committee tasked with improving the situation of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon to investigate the root causes of these deaths and develop a concrete national strategy to reduce them.
Since January 2007, at least 95 migrant domestic workers have died in Lebanon. Of these 95 deaths, 40 are classified by the embassies of the migrants as suicide, while 24 others were caused by workers falling from high buildings, often while trying to escape their employers. By contrast, only 14 domestic workers died because of diseases or health issues.
“Domestic workers are dying in Lebanon at a rate of more than one per week,” said Nadim Houry, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. “All those involved – from the Lebanese authorities, to the workers’ embassies, to the employment agencies, to the employers – need to ask themselves what is driving these women to kill themselves or risk their lives trying to escape from high buildings.”
Interviews with embassy officials and friends of domestic workers who committed suicide suggest that forced confinement, excessive work demands, employer abuse, and financial pressures are key factors pushing these women to kill themselves or risk their lives. An official at the Philippines embassy told Human Rights Watch about one Filipina worker whose employers accused her of stealing a piece of jewelry. The employers beat her and locked her inside the house, he said. She ended up committing suicide.
A 2006 survey of 600 domestic workers in Lebanon conducted by Dr. Ray Jureidini, of the American University in Cairo, found 31 percent of the women saying that their employers did not allow them to leave the home. "
From The Daily Star:
"Leading human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) spoke on Tuesday of "the urgent need" to improve the working and living conditions of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, saying that "at least" 95 women had died between January 1, 2007 and August 15, 2008.
There are thought to be some 200,000 domestic workers, mostly from Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, and the Philippines, working in Lebanon. A great number of these work as live-in maids and are often forced to work long hours without a weekly break or sufficient food. A 2006 survey conducted in Lebanon by Dr. Ray Jureidini of 600 migrant domestic workers found that 56 percent worked more than 12 hours a day and 34 percent were not allowed regular time off.
According to a 2005 survey by the non-governmental organization Caritas Lebanon, 90 percent of employers retained the passports and other legal documents of their employees, seriously limiting their freedom of movement. Many workers are also forcibly confined to the house and denied regular, if any, payment of their salaries.
On top of all that, Lebanese labor laws do not protect domestic workers, making them vulnerable to exploitation and human rights abuses."
These stories were also reported in: Dawn ~~~ CNews ~~~ Fox News ~~~ BBC News.
Women of History Blog - Domestic Workers In Saudi Arabia
Regardless of what countries these women originated from or which countries they seek work in, no woman should be treated in such a way. There is no justification for violence against women.
No comments:
Post a Comment