The Exploitation of Migrant Domestic Workers

Due to a lack of legal protections in the countries where they work, migrant domestic workers often suffer through wage theft and unreasonable salary deductions, unlawful termination, passport confiscation, being forced to sign documents in a language they did not understand, physical abuse, sexual harassment and rape and even being murdered by their employers.

In countries with high poverty rates, like the Philippines, India, Kenya and Uganda, workers often go overseas for economic opportunities and send back remittances to their families back home.

Powerful people have economic interests in the recruitment agencies that are in the business of exporting domestic workers. Due to the profits that they gain, these powerful people ignore the abuses that these domestic workers face in foreign countries.

"‘They treated me like an animal’: how Filipino domestic workers become trapped. Migrants from the Philippines make up a huge percentage of domestic workers around the world. But when their employers are abusive, visa restrictions force them to choose between enduring more suffering or becoming illegal" by Margaret Simons for The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/oct/26/how-filipino-domestic-work…

"Why Maids Keep Dying in Saudi Arabia. East African leaders and Saudi royals are among those profiting off a lucrative, deadly trade in domestic workers." by Abdi Latif Dahir and Justin Scheck for The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/world/africa/saudi-arabia-kenya-ugan…

"Philippine lenders and labor agents fleece workers seeking overseas jobs, interviews and confidential documents show. Domestic workers hoping to improve their lives overseas risk exploitation and abuse. Many end up burdened with crippling debts owed to recruiters, go-betweens and traffickers." by Katie McQue for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
https://www.icij.org/investigations/trafficking-inc/philippine-lenders-…

"The Invisible Workforce: Ending the exploitation of domestic workers once and for all" by Sarah Pierce for King's College London
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/ending-the-exploitation-of-domestic-workers

"‘Tools more than humans’: HK domestic workers fight for rights. After years of exploitation and abuse, Hong Kong’s 340,000 migrant domestic workers are fighting back in the courts." by Peter Yeung for Al Jazeera
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/1/tools-more-than-humans-hk-domes…

"Why India fails to protect its domestic workers despite decades of abuse" by Cherylann Mollan for BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp3j0e79q52o