Maids, Slaves, and Prisoners: To be employed in a Saudi home

National Review, Feb 24, 2003 by Joel Mowbray

At her new employers' home in a college town in Illinois-the husband and wife were both college students-Maryam was denied a bed and forced to sleep on the hard floor. Because she could read and speak English, her new employers would hide newspapers from her to keep her ignorant of the outside world. She was still forbidden to contact her family, and was prohibited from talking on or even answering the telephone. Just as in Saudi Arabia, she was passed off to the employers' friends, leaving her precious little time for sleep. She was lucky; an associate of her employer who came into contact with Maryam would eventually help her escape.

Like Maryam, Fatima was a Filipina Muslim. She, too, answered an agency ad to work in Saudi Arabia. She signed on to be an English tutor; but when she arrived, she reports, "I was turned into the maid and butler, as well." She soon came to regret her decision: At one point she had a serious ear infection, with a 104[degrees] fever. Her employers would not take her to the hospital or even allow her to see a doctor-they insisted, rather, that she clean their very large and elegant bathroom. To this day, Fatima has chronic migraines and ear infections as a result of not receiving treatment.

When Fatima worked for Saudis in the U.S.-a diplomat's family in northern Virginia-the doors were locked inside-out and outside-in, making it impossible for her to exit the house. When she demanded her back pay at the end of the contract term-she was paid only $200 of the contracted $800 per month, and hadn't been paid at all in the previous three months-the female Saudi employer accused her of stealing. To "prove" that Fatima was a thief, the woman had her strip naked, place the palms of her hands against the wall, and spread her feet apart. The Saudi woman proceeded invasively to search Fatima's body. After that, Fatima decided to escape; but it would take several attempts over three months before she proved successful.

When the four children for whom she was responsible had Saudi playmates over, Fatima "interviewed" the other children. Over the course of the afternoon, Fatima learned three vital pieces of information: 1) that their nanny was a Filipina; 2) their mother's work schedule; and 3) their home phone number. After Fatima eventually managed to swipe a key-allowing the employers to blame a four-year-old Saudi child with a penchant for picking up and moving or hiding random objects, including keys-she called the Filipina nanny. They agreed to meet at a Metro station in suburban Maryland. The woman agreed to wait for Fatima for one hour-a deadline Fatima barely met, since a Saudi friend of her employer had given chase to the cab that was Fatima's "escape vehicle."

A third woman-Kaswanti, a Muslim from Indonesia-has a similar story. She also toiled in a Saudi diplomat's D.C.-area home-and was literally worked so continuously that she was never afforded time to bathe or change into clean clothes. (She was, in fact, not "allowed" to do either.) During her one horrifying month in the U.S., Kaswanti lived in total fear: If she was caught eating or sleeping-both of which were prohibited-she was beaten. When she did eat, it was snacking on scraps when no one was looking.