Half a million maids in Kuwait

KUWAIT: A study by the committee for the National Project for the Awareness of Domestic Workers announced recently that the main problem encountered by domestic workers in Kuwait is mistreatment by employers and non-payment of salaries.
According to the committee findings, 85 per cent of women hw work as domestic servants and maids in Kuwait suffering humiliations, including insulting verbal attacks by their employers. At least 14 per cent of sponsors allow their children to insult maids.
The study also indicated that the number of maids in Kuwait increased between 2000 and 2006 up to 83.3 per cent in which in 2000 the number of maids was 263,681 while in 2006 the number increased up to 489,305, most of them impoverished Asian countries.
Previous estimates have placed the number of domestic workers closer to one million or more. According to Kuwait law, a family of five is entitled to employ three domestic servants including maids, cooks and drivers. It was not clear if the recent statistics included all domestic help or maids only.