Advice for mistreated Housemaid’s
Important note
If your sponsor has sexually or physically assaulted you need to report this immediately and not follow the below process.
Call the Qatar Foundation Combating Human Trafficking (QFCHT)- 24 hour hotline 5565 3388 Email: [email protected] Office: 4491 2888 Or call the police- 999 Or call your embassy (numbers below)
Mistreatment may include;
- Physical abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Threats and verbal harassment
- Being overworked and not get getting a day off
- Not being allowed to leave your sponsors house ever by yourself
- Not being allowed to have your personal documents such as your passport (your sponsor should only keep this for a maximum of 1 week)
- Not being fed enough
- Not being able to communicate with your family back home or have access to a mobile phone or internet
- Not having appropriate accommodation provided to you
- Locking you in your room at night
If this is you, what should you do now?
It is important to remember that you are simply a staff member, living in your employers house and that you do not have to put up with an arrangement where you are being exploited. You have rights as a staff member/ human being and there are many ways to exercise your rights. Housemaids do not have to stay with their employer if they cannot come to an arrangement that suits both the employer and the housemaid. In short, you cannot be forced to stay.
First Step: Read your contract. Each contract outlines the terms and conditions of your employment requirements. If you do not have a copy of your contract then you have the right to ask for one from your employer. If your employer says that you do not have one then you should request one. Explain that you need to have a document that clearly explains what duties are required of you and the expectations that they have of you. Compare your contract to the one at the end of this document.
Most contracts stipulate the following:
Termination by the employee: the employee may terminate this contract on the following grounds, namely; sexual abuse, serious insult, inhuman and unbearable treatment, violation of the terms and conditions of the employment contract by the employer or their representative, sub-human working and living conditions, failure on the part of the employer to pay the salary/wages. The employer shall pay the repatriation expenses back to their home country.
Termination due to illness: either party may terminate the contract due to illness, disease or injury suffered by the contract worker. In which case the employer must cover the costs associated with repatriation of the worker back to their home country.
Your contract should also specify your hours of work, annual vacation and sick leave and conditions for accommodation and food.
Your contract is important because it is your legal benchmark that you can refer to when your sponsor is exploiting you. You only have to do what your contract says.
Second Step: Try talking to your sponsor. They are after all your employer. Explain to them clearly what is troubling you. You can do this in writing if it is easier.
For example write them a letter informing them that you are concerned about how many hours that they are making you work and that you need to get more sleep. Propose a solution that you think works for you such as suggesting that you only work from 7am-7pm with a specified lunch break. Also feel free to ask for a day off.
This is a good time to refer to your contract and inform your employer of where you think they are asking you to do things not covered in your contract- ie work too many hours, not give you enough food, not providing health care etc.
Third Step: You need to try to gain evidence of any exploitation occurring.
Hints on providing evidence:
- Take photographs of any physical proof of abuse such as bruises and cuts
- If you have access to a tape recorder try to record discussions with your sponsor
- Keep a copy of all letters that you give to the employer complaining about your working conditions
- Keep a diary of daily activities- including what time you started and finished work, what food you received and dates of receiving payments and the amount received
- Keep your receipts of transfers to your home country
- Get a witness, such as another housemaid, to write down what she has seen in regards to your treatment and sign it
Fourth Step: If your sponsor does not respond positively to your approach then you need to get outside assistance. Request to have an external arbitrator (third person) to assist in settling your dispute. This person could either be a representative of your recruitment agency or your embassy. You should try to get a representative from the recruitment agency first. This meeting might result in you having to change employers or be repatriated back to your home country. The decision may also be that your sponsor has not done anything legally wrong or they might get a warning and you may have to return to that residence. If you are unhappy with the outcome and process of the meeting you could ask for a representative from your embassy to attend.
Fifth Step: If your sponsor is not changing their behaviour and is still exploiting you and will not let you leave the house or take you to the recruitment agency or embassy. Then you could try to escape and make your way to your embassy. You must be very careful though because there have been some terrible cases of housemaids being abused on their trip to the embassy due to their vulnerability because they have no money or documents. In order to avoid this, try and get a friend to help you if possible and make sure you only get into a car of someone you trust. If you can, you should try to call the embassy first to inform them that you are coming, they might be able to assist you with transport. In order to assist in a quick repatriation to your home country try your best to get your passport and travel documents including your ID. It helps if you have a photocopy of your passport, your ID and Residence Permit.
Sixth Step: If you get caught trying to escape and are fearful for your safety then call the Police- on 999 or the Human Rights section in the Ministry of the Interior- 4489 0111/ 44890100 or 5550 4467 or email them on [email protected].
The new human trafficking law in Qatar stipulates:
Article 2 of the legislation provides a definition:
Shall be guilty of the crime of trafficking in human beings both used in any form or transmitted by a natural person or extradite him or harboring him or received by, or receives it, both within the country or across national borders, if done by the use of force or violence or the threat of them, or by abduction, fraud, or deception, or abuse of power, or the exploitation of vulnerability or need, or the promise of giving or receiving of payments or benefits in exchange for the consent of a person on the trafficking of another person having control over it, and all of that if these acts with a view to exploitation, whatever forms including sexual exploitation in prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation and child in that child pornography or begging, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery or servitude or the removal of organs or human tissue, or part thereof.
People implicated in human trafficking in Qatar will face 15 years in prison and a QR300,000 ($82,368) fine under a new anti-human trafficking law. Individuals or gang members found guilty of forcibly transferring, receiving or sheltering victims are also included in the law ratified by the Emir, Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani. The law comes into force with immediate effect (September 2011). The law includes a responsibility of providing shelter to a victim of human trafficking until the legal process has been completed. The victim would be given financial compensation. The victim would not be held responsible for the crime in any way, even if he or she broke Qatar's sponsorship or entry or residency rules. There is a shelter at the Qatar Foundation Combating Human Trafficking (QFCHT) that will house you and if this is filled up already then your embassy will provide shelter for you.
Important numbers
Fire, ambulance and police: 999
Water emergency: 991
Human trafficking hotline: 44912888/ 55653388
Labour Department: 4440 6554
National Human Rights Committee: 4444 4012
Hamad Accident & Emergency: 4439 4444
Department of Immigration Ph: 44621896
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ph: 974 4415000
Telephone directory assistance 180
Embassies
Philippines: 4483 1585/6871- or call Danilo Flores, Welfare Officer- 5517 1633
Indonesia: 4465 7945
Nepal: 4467 5681
Pakistan: 4483 2525
Eritrea: 4466 7934
Sri Lanka: 44677627/ 47
Appreciated!
Anyone heard about the news that came in Gulf times a week or so ago. A housemaid (i believe, a Filipino) has been killed by a Qatari and her wife. They beat her at midnight outside their home and then drove car over her. Their own son reported to Police which arrested the couple but that poor Housemaid is dead!
There are tons of such stories that you hear regularly but not much has changed. Lets hope future will be bright and better for these poor people who leave their relatives, friends and countries to come here and earn lawfully for their families back home!
Adriana I have seen some Arabs treat their housemaids or nanny's quite well so its not just western people who have common sense. Its just evil, uneducated people without any fear of God who behave as such with another human being. But don't forget that there are many nanny's or maids also who are wicked and want to make a quick buck so they cheat and do horrible things too. Its both ways.
My housemaid has told me HORRIBLE things about being employed with not only Qataris but Arab families in general. I don't understand that sense of feeling superior to other people in this planet just because they are your employees. I am very glad she is with us, I think what they should do is only be employed with western people who have common sense.
not too many can read their contracts either.. sometimes I think that slavish mistreatment is caused by slavish behavior and slavish mentality.. maids have to know their rights..
it's known, if you feel like a victim, you act like a victim.. If you act like a victim, you are likely to be treated as one..
So sad :(
Also please advice what an employer should do in the situation where the maid is not doing her work properly or act lazy or wants to quit unjustly and return back to her native place after just a few months.
An employer have to part away with a substantial amount to bring a maid to qatar.
Not allowed to use a mobile, no day off, some are allowed to use a mobile but not the internet, not allowed to talk to other maids or people, not allowed to receive any treats from other friends / nannies all these and more are such common practices adopted by many sponsors to protect their families. Its a shame but thats what I see and hear everyday in my own residential compound and from what my friends say.
Someone should check up on these maids and warn such sponsors!!!
If you treat a person well, what are the chances he or she will not treat you well?? Why would someone want to run away or be bad to a person who is nice to them? Simple logic isn't it?
not for housemaid, i.e for employees ? where they should report if they had mistreated from their employer ? Not physically but words or other kinds of intimidation ?
Not so many house staff can access the internet, but lot of us can do, also this is a good way to disseminate such informations, at least you can spread the news thru mouth, so if you have friends, or friend of a friend of a friend of a friend who are mistreated at work... :) :D then you know now what to do ;)
while there are so many people in need of this advise, sadly very few might be reading it really.
Good Advice. Sadly, not many have access to internet.