The apparent suicide of Ethiopian maid, Alem Dechasa-Desisa, in Lebanon highlights the dangers faced by expatriate domestic workers in the Middle East.
Thousands of African and South East Asian women leave their homelands with the promise of a better life to take up jobs as domestic workers or maids in the Middle East. These women aim to send the money earned back to relatives in their home countries. These domestic workers often suffer mental, sexual and physical abuse silently in the homes of their employers unaware of the laws in the countries in which they reside. The women are also often afraid to report to the authorities.
Alem Dechasa-Desisa hung herself after being humiliated by her employer who dragged her across the streets before forcefully shoving her into a car. The assault was filmed and has been broadcast on Lebanese TV. She was thereafter taken to hospital where she later hung herself. Reports of the mistreatment of women who leave their impoverished countries in search of opportunities which do not exist in the said countries can no longer be ignored. We hope that the unfortunate death of Alem Dechasa-Desisa forces the governments of the Middle East into taking steps to prevent the frankly deplorable treatment which domestic workers of maids are subjected to in these countries.
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