Beyond Kafala: Employer roles in growing vulnerabilities of women migrant domestic workers

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dc.creatorAbdulrahim, Sawsan
dc.creatorCherri, Zeinab
dc.creatorAdra, May
dc.creatorHassan, Fahed
dc.date2023-02-01
dc.date2024-03-14T12:09:04Z
dc.date2024-03-14T12:09:04Z
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-27T15:31:55Z
dc.descriptionWomen migrant domestic workers (WMDWs) constitute 7.7 percent of migrant workers worldwide, of whom more than a quarter live and work in the Arab region. In Lebanon, as in other Arab countries, WMDWs are recruited through the sponsorship system, Kafala. Under this system, a potential migrant worker can only obtain legal residency and a work permit in the country of destination if she is sponsored by a specific employer. Once in the destination country, the worker cannot transfer to a new employer unless granted permission by the original sponsor. The system heightens the social, economic, and legal vulnerability of WMDWs and has been described as unfree or bound labor and a system of racialized servitude. Yet, Kafala is not a written policy but rather a collection of administrative procedures, customary practices, and socially acceptable norms that are maintained by various players throughout the migration process. The question then arises as to whether advocacy efforts that focus on abolishing Kafala as a legal term would mitigate employers’ exploitative practices that violate the workers’ rights and freedoms, particularly in a country like Lebanon. This policy brief is based on a study carried out under the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Work in Freedom project designed to mitigate the exploitation and forced labor of women migrating from South to West Asia to work in the domestic and garment sectors. This brief explores knowledge, awareness and attitudes to Kafala by employers in Lebanon.
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/140195
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/107045
dc.languageen
dc.publisherCentre of Excellence for Development Impact and Learning
dc.publisherInternational Food Policy Research Institute
dc.relationhttps://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134673
dc.relationhttps://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136639
dc.relationhttps://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2022.2059448
dc.rightsOpen Access
dc.sourceAbdulrahim, Sawsan; Cherri, Zeinab; Adra, May; and Hassan, Fahed. 2023. Beyond Kafala: Employer roles in growing vulnerabilities of women migrant domestic workers. CEDIL Evidence Brief 7. London, England; and Washington, DC. Centre of Excellence for Development Impact and Learning (CEDIL); and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.51744/CEB7.
dc.subjectgender
dc.subjectmigrant labour
dc.subjectemployment
dc.subjectmigration
dc.subjectdomestic work
dc.subjectwomen
dc.subjectlegal system
dc.titleBeyond Kafala: Employer roles in growing vulnerabilities of women migrant domestic workers
dc.typeBrief

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