Insights From Our Study on Domestic Worker Mistreatment in Saudi Arabia
Housekeepers from East Africa face severe abuse, including physical violence, malnutrition, and sexual assault, in Saudi Arabia. Here's what our investigation revealed about the international domestic worker trade.
Reporters Justin Scheck and Abdi Latif Dahir conducted extensive research, traveling across Kenya and Uganda, from bustling urban areas to remote rural communities. They uncovered numerous accounts of young women embarking on domestic work in Saudi Arabia, only to return home with injuries, trauma, or in some cases, not at all.
Over the past five years, at least 274 Kenyans, predominantly women, have died in Saudi Arabia, with 55 deaths occurring last year alone—double the number from the year before. Autopsies often left more questions than answers. One Ugandan woman's body showed severe bruising and signs of electrocution, yet her death was classified as "natural." Alarmingly, many women were reported to have fallen from high places, such as roofs or balconies.
This situation is puzzling, given that the recruitment of East African women is conducted by reputable companies and overseen by the governments of Uganda, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia. While outdated Saudi labor laws have been criticized by worker advocates, our investigation sought to uncover additional factors contributing to these tragedies.
We spent nearly a year interviewing over 90 workers and their families, and scrutinizing employment contracts whenever possible.