foreign maids in lebanon escape abuse through suicide.

Human rights groups are up in arms on the account of the myriad of suicides committed by foreign maids who have been severely abused while working in Lebanon.  To make matters worse, it seems as if the Lebanese government is doing little to prevent such abuse.   According to CNN, 10 women working in Lebanon as maids have died by either hanging themselves or falling off a tall building in the last 7 weeks!

Suicide is one of the two leading causes of death of migrant workers–the other being dying while attempting to escape from employers. Wissam, a Lebanese activist, started a blog about the suicides when he noticed that 4 Ethiopian maids working in Lebanon committed suicide within a ten day period in October.

These women are typically coming from places and countries such as Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Nepal, Madagascar, and Indonesia. They come to Lebanon in search of work in order to gain money to support their families back home.  When they obtain such job, they usually begin working more than 10 hours a day and most women are not allowed any time off.   Some have not been fed properly.  Wages are withheld. Both physical and verbal abuse occurs.

These women are far away from their families, passports confiscated, and they are  literally locked and hidden away from the world.  This abuse is not only in Lebanon but it exists throughout all of the Arab states.  In the Arab states, a cultural prejudice and racism exists that allows for violence.  This racism targets the foreign maids: they come from poorer countries, they have darker skin, and well, they are women.

Because these women are working in private households, they are not covered under Lebanon’s labor laws which allows the abuse to flourish.  Labor laws both in Lebanon and throughout the Arab States must be rewritten to include those working and living in private households or the abuse will never stop and the lives of countless women will be lost[via CNN].