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Domestic worker

A migrant domestic worker holds a placard during a march demanding basic labor rights as Lebanese workers in Beirut, May 3, 2015. More than 200,000 workers mostly women from Asia and Africa work as maids in a country of 4 million people, many also come fr

Could a court case in Lebanon shift attitudes toward migrant domestic workers?

Justice

In a rare case, an Ethiopian domestic worker in Lebanon is taking her former employer and the agency that hired her to court over accusations of slavery and slave trading. The woman, identified as M.H., alleges that she was underpaid, locked up and assaulted over several years. Activists are hoping it will help change the worker sponsorship program in Lebanon.

Several African women sit in a room with light blue walls, next to luggage and personal belongings.

Migrant workers stuck in Beirut in wake of blast

Four women sit crosslegged on the floor of a windowless room. Around them are suitcases and bedding. A baby is wrapped in a blanket nearby.

‘Discounted maids!’: How ads trap women in modern-day slavery in Jordan

Jobs
Nora Suselo (R) and her mother Gladys, domestic workers in Cape Town, South Africa.

South Africa’s tradition of domestic work continues post-apartheid

Justice
Ai-jen Poo, Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, stands with National Peoples Action to demand accountability for the financial crisis on May 20, 2012, Washington, DC.

She’s an organizer of America’s domestic workers — and, now, a certified ‘genius’

Business

Demand for British-trained butlers rising in Middle East, China

Business, Economics and Jobs

As the developing world becomes more affluent, many of the newly rich are wanting to have butlers and other personal servants. The gold standard for those personal servants is butlers trained in the United Kingdom, which has created a demand that far outstrips supply.

States consider reforms to help domestic workers move out of shadows

Conflict & Justice

Many domestic workers get stuck in jobs that pay them low wages, subject them to long hours and sometimes even expose them to physical abuse. And because many are undocumented, they don’t, or can’t, speak up. But some states are trying to change that.

Demand for British Butlers on the Rise in Middle East and China

Arts, Culture & Media

Demand for British butlers is up. But they are not getting jobs in stately English manors and are likely to be working abroad in China and the Middle East.

Indonesians Call for Rights in Egypt

Conflict & Justice

Egyptians are not the only ones demanding human rights in a new Egypt. Another group is also seeking protective rights in Egypt – foreign domestic workers.

Desiree Cooper on ‘The Help’

The film adaptation of “The Help” has been out since last week, and reviews are mixed. Some say the film depicts the lives of African-American domestic workers with too much levity. Discussions abound about the movie’s treatment of the sensitive relationship between white women and black domestic servants –  many of them negative. We’ll discuss the […]