The report, prepared by a sub-committee formed under the Parliamentary Committee on Women, Children and Social Welfare, said, more shockingly, almost half of them killed themselves failing to overcome the trauma caused by sexual exploitation and mental torture meted out by their employers.[break]
According to the report, 19 Nepali women died in the West Asian country since 2008. While 10 women died due to various reasons ranging from road mishaps, heart attacks and unknown illnesses, nine committed suicide. Most of them had landed in Lebanon through different illegal channels.
The committee was formed to assess the situation of Nepali women working in Gulf countries, particularly in Lebanon, following complaints of them being subjected to sexual harassment, mental torture and financial exploitation. The committee took over three months to prepare its report.
According to the report, wives of Muslim employers in various Gulf countries, including Lebanon, fear that their husbands might marry other Muslim women as polygamy is a widely-accepted norm in their societies. Therefore, the wives of Muslim employers themselves coerce foreign housemaids, including Nepali women, into serving as their husbands´ mistresses.
If any woman refuses to be mistress, she has to undergo mental and physical tortures, the report says. In such cases, employers do not even provide housemaids with their due salaries and the victims ultimately find no option but to commit suicide.
´Take strict measures´
In its report, the parliamentary committee has recommended to the government to end the persistent sufferings of Nepali domestic workers anywhere in the Gulf region by adopting several strict measures.
The committee has asked the government to crack down on agents functioning illegally as well as irresponsibly and make sure that only licensed manpower agencies send Nepali workers for overseas jobs.
For this, the committee has asked the government to set up offices of the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) in all 75 districts. The government should also form a body for women workers to lodge their complaints, says the report.
The committee has asked the government to ensure that every Nepali woman worker gets some sort of orientation training before leaving for overseas jobs. It is believed that many Nepali workers are subjected to harassment for not knowing basic skills or Arabic language.
In Lebanon alone, the report says, 9,410 Nepali women are working at present. On November 26 in 2009, the government had decided to bar Nepali women from making their own arrangements to go to Lebanon and other Gulf countries following cases of exploitation.
Just last month, the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (DoLTM) decided to allow Nepali women to work as housemaids in four different Gulf countries where Nepali embassies exist. Nepal does not have its embassy in Lebanon.
Related story
Foreign ministry assures safety of Nepalis in Lebanon, issues n...
