Women in Qatar: Insult, marginalization, and foreign workers doomed to rape

Ahmed Adel

In a report on the situation of domestic workers in Qatar released in October, the human rights organization Amnesty International revealed that foreign domestic workers were subjected to ill-treatment, including physical abuse, as well as sexual exploitation.

After interviewing 105 women, the report said that about 85% of them said that they regularly work more than 14 hours a day, rarely or never get days off, and that employers withhold their passports. Some women also mentioned that they were victims of sexual assault crimes.

Insulted, slapped and spat on

Amnesty International clarified that in 2017 Qatar issued what was known as the Domestic Workers Law, which stipulated limits on working hours, mandatory daily rest times, a weekly day off, and paid leave, but this law was not implemented or applied.

Some workers reported that they were not being paid regularly, while 40 women described being insulted, slapped, or spat on.

Steve Cockburn, head of the Economic and Social Justice Program at Amnesty International, said, “The introduction of the Domestic Workers Law of 2017 has been seen as a positive step for protecting workers’ rights in Qatar. Unfortunately, women’s stories make clear that these reforms were not implemented or applied.”

The organization explained that there are about 173,000 foreign domestic workers in Qatar, noting that some of the women it interviewed are still holding their jobs, while some of them have left work but are still in Qatar, and others have returned to their home countries.

Starving employment

Other women said they were afraid of being rejected by their employers’ endless requests, even when they needed a break, while at least 23 women said they did not get enough food and felt hungry while working in Qatar.

Some women described sleeping in narrow rooms, in some cases on the floor or without air conditioning, and the organization emphasized that this highlights the failure of the Qatari authorities to conduct inspections of workplaces.

Regarding physical and sexual violence, five women said that they had been sexually abused by their employers or visiting relatives, and that sexual abuse ranged from harassment to rape. Most women felt unable to file a police complaint for fear of retaliation from their employers.

The organization stated that Qatar has failed to hold abusive employers accountable, which means there is little deterrent to future violations, and no automatic investigations are conducted into practices such as passport confiscation and non-payment of wages, which indicates forced labor.

Qatari women are suffering

In February 2020, Qatari women launched a hashtag on Twitter through which they talked about crimes committed against Qatari women and claimed their rights, chief among them the enactment of a law criminalizing domestic abuse, as it is a felony, and the establishment of institutions to protect women and children from abuse to contribute to their rehabilitation and stability, as well as the right of women to financial independence and the right of movement and travel without restrictions, just like men.

Among the rights that Qatari women demanded also include ending arbitrariness in matters of completing legal and governmental procedures without a guardian, as well as canceling permission to work on the part of the husband in some governmental and non-governmental agencies, and her sharing with her husband in guardianship over her children.