Friday, February 1, 2008

Jordan Maids In The News


Jordan is for once in the British news, BBC, and for the first time the word Jordan is used for the country and not for the stupid supermodel.

But this time, this news post is not going to make Jordan's popularity go up. It will go down. This is because it is talking about the bad conditions Phillipinie maids are having to go through, which most Jordanian citizens already know.

You should go to the actual article to read what it contains, but I'll add some highlights.

* * *

There are more than 150 women here who have fled their jobs.

"My boss [meaning the mother of the family] pulled me by my hair, she slapped me, she beat me, she pulled me crudely by my clothes and tried to put her slipper on my mouth."

Stories of physical abuse are common and some of the former maids say they have been raped.

One girl, who came to Jordan when she was 19, says she is owed four years' salary.

I started at 0600 and finally stopped at midnight. I was only allowed to eat once a day at 1200.

I was only allowed to take a bath once a week, on Fridays. I was only allowed to sleep by the washing machine.

4 comments:

  1. Inhuman, these people have psychological problems .. bs Khaled i know many families treat their maids very well , the phillipinie maid who works for my family has her own room and bathroom , she can go out for shopping and talk to her friends at anytime, she is a good one really ... on the other hand i know some who stole things or talk to foreign men, or even escape for no reason !

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  2. Good job for bringing this issue into focus.

    It's so sad. It's shameful, and hopefully it will all change

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  3. I have to question the credibility and the info in this report. I have been living in Jordan for 3o years now and i know this talk about inhuman treatment is not realistic. Maybe there are some scattered cases here and there, but it is definitely not the norm. On the contrary, most of the maids here are living in a very good conditions.

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  4. Wesam: Indeed.

    Qwaider: Yes, it is.

    Bilal: Although this is not the majority of families with maids, it still exists. You cannot deny it.

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