Beaten, trapped, abused and underpaid

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has failed to protect female migrant domestic workers from beatings, hunger, overwork, underpayment and forced labour, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday, urging authorities in the Gulf State to end the traditional kafala visa sponsorship system, which perpetuates much of the exploitation.

In a new report, HRW said the kafala system, which decrees that a domestic worker cannot move to a new job before their contract ends without the employer’s consent, trapped many women in abusive conditions. There are at least 146,000 migrant domestic workers in the UAE, most of them from Asia and Africa.

“The UAE’s sponsorship system chains domestic workers to their employers and then leaves them isolated and at risk of abuse behind the closed doors of private homes,” said Rothna Begum, Middle East women’s rights researcher at HRW. “With no labor law protection for domestic workers, employers can, and many do, overwork, underpay and abuse these women.”
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