DS Proposal - The exploitation of migrant kenyan domestic workers in the arabian peninsula

Can you imagine if you went to work in another country because they were offering you a better paying job and when you got there the confiscated your passport held you hostage said you couldn't send back any money or return home until you had completed an undefined amount of work. This sounds like something out of a horror movie or an episode of SVU but sadly this is the reality for hundreds of thousands of women working within the Arab peninsula. African women especially peak my interest because I am an African woman but for the sake of my digital story I'll be focusing on the tales of Kenyan women working as domestic workers within the Arabian peninsula. This topic has been highlighted and documented and receives news coverage in Kenya but I feel that it's necessary for me to reignite the story. After the 2022 World Cup in Qatar much of the world became aware of the kind of migrant worker abuse that occurred in Qatar and the wider Arabian peninsula. Thousands of Southern Asian men Travel to seek better employment opportunities and support their families back in their native countries. This is the same case for Kenyan women who moved to this area to find domestic work. I feel that if the world's attention is still somewhat grabbed by the system, I should highlight the stories of women from my home country and their experiences thus far. Domestic work in Kenya is fairly common for middle and upper class Kenyans and it relies on the lack of employment opportunities for low educated Women.  I personally have benefited from the system and have had domestic workers within my house my entire life.  Many of them migrate from rural areas to urban areas for better jobs. Domestic workers who have worked within my household themselves have made that journey in search of better employment outside of kenya.  It's a growing trend that more and more women are willing to take the risk to make this journey and I don't blame them. It's hard to get figures on the exact number of women who work in the countries but estimates range in the hundreds of thousands.

Insert section of BBC eye documentary: https://youtu.be/6CPCZAU47YQ?t=130

Some people have extremely positive experiences and are able to achieve their goals but the systems in place make it too easy to exploit these women. The Kafala system is a system that allows private citizens to sponsor the immigration of workers and gives them total control over their immigration status, employment and housing. In most situations employees need their sponsors permission to enter and exit the country.Leaving your workplace (the house) is a offense that can result in imprisonment or the termination of your visa and deportation even if they are fleeing abuse. Additionally companies exist to target vulnerable women and connect them with clients.Some of these organizations may exist in good faith but a lot of them aid in the human trafficking of these women towards the Arabian Gulf.  Once these women are brought to the country their passports are confiscated and they are sent to work.

Insert news clip describing agencies: 

https://youtu.be/d9Eod6YAUTA?t=193

Insert testimony of women talking about having their passports taken and clips from BBC eye documentary.  https://youtu.be/6CPCZAU47YQ?t=130

Tales of  what can only be described as abuse exist all over the Internet ((search screen recording of scrolling through Saudi Arabia testimonials on YouTube)  yet many women still make this risky Journey.  Additionally, even if a woman were to escape her abusive employment but still wanted to remain in the country scrupulous individuals the take advantage of this exact situation exist.  These people are known as ‘Dalas’ in swahili 

Insert clip of Debra Nyanchoka talks about these middlemen and their motivations. 

https://youtu.be/W9wA5wFb66U?t=135

In this kind of situation Escape feels almost impossible and returning to financial and security doesn't seem like an option for many women. It begins to become more understandable how easy it is to get trapped in a cycle of human trafficking and worker abuse.  The International Organization for Migration (IOM), is aware of the issue. They do run programs to help migrant workers return to their home countries. However, it is often hard to access undocumented workers. 

Testimony of a woman explaining the exploitation and how hard it is to escape this system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9wA5wFb66U&t=102s&ab_channel=TheluckymumDebraNyanchoka

The International Organization for migration (IOM)  is aware of these issues and they do run programs to help workers return to their home countries but even these systems are not enough. Sometimes even getting to these places is extremely difficult when on the run and undocumented.

Some women do manage to make it home however the bear scars that will go on with them for the rest of their lives. (find extra clip of woman detailing story)

The unluckiest woman in these situations often end up losing their lives with no clear explanation about the circumstances of their death. Here is the story of Bernard Njenga who learned his wife, Esther Thuku, had died in Saudi Arabia, where she had been a domestic worker for three years.

<iframe src="https://www.voanews.com/embed/player/0/6611865.html?type=video" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="640" height="360" allowfullscreen></iframe>

(https://www.voanews.com/a/6611865.html)

Final news report from 3 months ago https://youtu.be/dXou42X0mmE?t=47

So why am I telling you this what can you even do? I honestly don't have an answer and it doesn't seem that the government of Kenya has a clear answer. Some decide to blame the government and some place the blame on the countries that take advantage of these women. There is no real clear answer on how to stop human ambition and the desire for a better life people will always want to improve their circumstances and I will never blame the women who choose to do this. I leave you with a thought and hopefully a Feeling that'll cause you to continue to spread this message to somebody else. Here's a few organizations that you can support if you see fit that Aid in assisting women in these kind of situations and other workers outside of domestic work.

Migrant assistance: Describe organization and provide links 

https://twitter.com/MigrantAssist?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E585363976663527424%7Ctwgr%5Eb507156846f8fb84161d08d6007b1a9c9bcbee29%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fstepfeed.com%2F4-ngos-fighting-for-migrant-worker-rights-in-the-middle-east-6191

The anti-racism movement: Describe organization and provide links

https://armlebanon.org/about-us/ 

International Organisation for Migration

https://twitter.com/UNmigration?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E573445481642229761%7Ctwgr%5Eb507156846f8fb84161d08d6007b1a9c9bcbee29%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fstepfeed.com%2F4-ngos-fighting-for-migrant-worker-rights-in-the-middle-east-6191