By Victoria Yan
BEIRUT, June 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Migrant domestic workers are seen as less than human in Lebanon, the director of a new film that exposes widespread abuse of such women said ahead of a screening in Beirut on Tuesday.
“Shouting Without a Listener” follows three Ethiopian women who arrive in Beirut to work as live-in housekeepers under Lebanon’s kafala sponsorship system, which binds them to one employer and prevents them from travelling.
The story, which was written by an Ethiopian former domestic worker turned campaigner and is based on real events, depicts the physical, verbal and psychological abuse the women face – and the difficulty of obtaining justice.
“The abuse is not a secret,” director Elie Berbary told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“It’s widely known amongst Lebanese, but not spoken about. This is an issue in our society. Most people don’t care. They don’t see their (employees) as humans, as equals.”
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have blamed the kafala system, which exists in many parts of the Middle East, for the abuse of migrant workers, who they say are vulnerable to exploitation because they cannot change jobs.
A migrant worker dies from “non-natural causes” every week in Lebanon according to Human Rights Watch, with suicide among the leading causes of death.
The criticism has led to some nations reforming the system and in March, Lebanon’s new minister for labour Camille Abousleiman set up a committee to look at the system.
“Whether we should focus on revisiting in the current system, or eliminate it all together … it’s all on the table,” said the ministry in an email.
