Abuse hotline for domestic workers

LONDON: Lebanon has launched a 24-hour hotline for female domestic workers to allow them to report abuse or mistreatment and receive help.

The country hosts more than 200 000 migrant domestic workers, according to the International Labour Organi-Sation, employed under the “Kafala” sponsorship system, which binds them to a single employer and leaves them vulnerable to abuse.

Social workers operating the hotline will document complaints and provide referrals to health care, legal assistance and relevant government institutions.

Lebanese Labour Minister Sejaan Azzi said: “Every domestic worker now has an address to turn to to lodge a complaint in the event she is subjected to any kind of harm or violation of her dignity, and that address is the ministry of labour.”

The Kafala system, used throughout the Middle East, requires migrant workers to seek permission from employers to change jobs and excludes them from the protection of labour laws.

Many of Lebanon’s domestic workers are from Ethiopia, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Maids are often forced to work long hours, deprived of food and wages, or threatened and physically and sexually abused. – Reuters