The Kafala System – A Gateway into Slavery & Human Trafficking

Author: Katie Shevlin

The familiar sound of blasting car horns and the babble of Arabic chatter drifted up to the balcony where I sat with my coffee. It signalled ‘business as usual’ on the congested streets of Beirut.

It was reassuring. The day before, I’d been driven through suffocating clouds of black smoke. Rising from heaps of burning rubber tyres, thrown onto blazing bonfires by angry crowds of men. I welcomed the arrival of my French flatmate Arielle, who joined me with a pot of tea. She reckoned it would be safe enough to explore the city – albeit with caution. Being an Arabic student living in the city, I trusted her advice gleaned from local networks.

Glancing over to the flats opposite, a young Asian woman dressed in a white work uniform stepped onto the balcony. Getting down on her hands and knees, she began scrubbing the surface of the lengthy veranda with active vigour. As she did so, a frowning Lebanese woman towered over her cross armed, scrutinising the frantic cleaning.

Aghast and confused, I turned to Arielle, who casually explained live-in maids were common in Lebanon. Seen as ‘property’ and ‘treated like dirt’. So, although things seemed pretty normal on the streets of Beirut, a darker side began to unfold. The kafala system, an inherently abusive sponsorship arrangement, leaves migrant domestic workers vulnerable to a gateway into slavery and human trafficking.

They call it the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, a frequency bias. You know the way you notice something new, at least it is new to you and suddenly you are aware of it all over the place? In reality, there is no increase in occurrence, it is just that you have started to notice it. No prizes for guessing what I began to see everywhere.

On reaching to close the bedroom shutters to get dressed, a middle-aged Black women was hard at work on the balcony directly opposite. Looking drawn and exhausted, she wore a shabby nightshirt and a yellow scarf sitting askew on the side of her head. Heavy blankets were shaken over the balcony and given their weight, she’d perfected the knack of throwing them high in the air to land perfectly on the elevated clothesline. 

Given the close proximity of living spaces, when our eyes met I flashed over a friendly smile. The look of alarm etched on the woman’s face in return took me aback. In a flash, her back was turned and she hastily unwound the wide canopy. And when the blank screen dropped, she was out of sight.

My heart sank at the possibility that perhaps fear was behind her failure to return a friendly gesture. Perhaps, she was warned not to communicate with others? Staying in what was a relatively low-income neighbourhood of Beirut, I found it surprising that domestic workers were hired there at all. However, they’re excluded from Lebanese Employment Law, including the National Living Wage ($450 per month). Instead they’re governed by the oppressive kafala system – when salaries vary significantly or not paid at all.

Ethiopian women waiting for their sponsor at Beirut Airport – even though the Ethiopian government has banned women for working in Lebanon.

Image: courtesy of the author.

Migrant domestic workers in Lebanon are trapped in a web woven by the kafala system. At any one time, there are over 250,000 women in Lebanon – mainly from the poorer African and South East Asian countries. They expect to complete their contract before returning home to the families. The families who sorely depended on the dollars wired from abroad for their survival. The legal residency of the worker is tied to the contractual relationship with the sponsor. Leaving workers vulnerable to exploitation and abuse – with little prospect of redress. 

The written consent from sponsors, essential to change jobs or return home early, is rarely granted. The systematic and harrowing abuse of migrant workers is endemic in the reports available. Women suffer regular beatings and are assaulted for minor errors, imprisoned in small rooms,starved, deprived of sleep, banned from leaving the house and passports are routinely confiscated.

More extreme reports tell of sexual abuse and exploitation. Often resulting in torture and murder. According to the activist group ‘This is Lebanon’ two migrant domestic workers die in Lebanon every week. Either murdered, suicide or a murder disguised as suicide. Others fall/pushed from balconies – some while trying to escape.

Image: courtesy of the author.

It was time to head out. The narrow chaotic streets led me the way to downtown Beirut. The distinctive scent of mint and lavender filled the air and I thought an outdoor market could be near. I love markets, they always provide a unique opportunity to experience a new culture and soak up the vibrant atmosphere. While sampling street food and being amazed at the mixture of goods on offer. 

Wading deeper into the sprawling market, locals crowded around stalls displaying everything from underwear to parts for bicycles. People shoved or elbowed their way to the front, shouting over each other, grappling to catch the vendors attention. In the thick of the bedlam, a forlorn Asian woman trailed behind her employer. With her tiny frame and wide eyes, she looked more like a 13 or 14-year-old child.

Like me, she looked out of place. Wrapped like a parcel in the middle of a crowd of Muslim women. Their heads covered in an array of eye-catching veils and scarves. Whilst her long black hair blew freely in the breeze. She was waiting patiently, while her sponsor painstakingly held and gently squeezed one tomato after another. 

Studying the red flesh until she was satisfied – then continued the search for more. If you’re like myself, you’ll pick up a bag of oranges, quickly scan for any rotten ones and then throw them in your basket. So, the scrutiny and care some women take when selecting fresh fruit and veg never fails to amaze me, when I travel around the world. 

Without any cue or eye contact, the maid instinctively lifted the bag of carefully selected fruit and added to her already heavy burden. Armed to the teeth with interest and curiosity, I enjoy learning about people’s lives when I travel. Although I was eager to speak to a domestic worker any attempt seemed futile. The women, rarely alone or out of reach. 

Or as I’d considered earlier, could a smile even be dangerous? Ras An Nabaa was by no means a tourist hotspot and English not widely spoken. It crossed my mind that perhaps these circumstances, whilst oppressive for workers, may actually be welcomed by employers. It added another layer of armour, to the already strict conditions that stopped domestic workers from seeking help. There were no passing tourists.

Arielle believed ‘the Lebanese were racist’. Whilst taken aback by her rather sweeping statement, it became clear from the reports that much of the prejudice towards these workers is underpinned by racism. Anecdotal evidence suggests that nationality and skin colour were important detriments of salary. 

Many choose to employ Bangladeshi women. They are the least expensive to recruit and work for the lowest salary. Followed closely by Indonesians and Ethiopians. Who are routinely paid less than $200 a month – for a 7-day week, with no set work hours. Women from the Philippines are said to be the highest earners at $300+ a month. Whilst some women are treated well by employers and considered to be part of the family; many others are mistreated.

I never made it far out of Ras An Nabaa that day. I came across a small, modest, restaurant and chatted to Beria who ran the place for her father. She was as desperate to use her polished English skills as I was to hear them. The muted TV screen was flashing ‘breaking news’ style headlines. Behind the screen, men, their faces distorted with anger, were punching their fists into the air. Glancing over at Beria for some clue, she threw back her head and laughed “everything is fine!”. I was not convinced.

A boy with badly stained front teeth appeared, carrying a small wooden crate piled high with plump, shiny aubergines. The 15-year-old Ahmed a Syrian refugee with Afghan green eyes, sported an Elvis-esque quiff. Beria had given him a job, “so he can eat and get a small allowance for cigarettes and transport”. 

She often provided  food for his 6 siblings, orphans living in the Shatila refugee camp, on the outskirts of the city. The racism experienced by Syrians in Lebanon, meant they were rarely offered jobs and struggled to survive. Being a Christian, Beria had wanted to help. It seemed like racism seeped into the lives of many people in Lebanon. Just like in many other countries. 

I headed home after a scrumptious dinner of kofta served with a side of mutabbla, (garlic mixed with baked aubergines). I wrapped it all up in warm flatbread – straight from the oven to my plate. It was early evening and as usual the streets were pretty sparse of women. Having little need to go outside except to go shopping, they were behind closed doors – along with their maids.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katie Shevlin’s passions in life include travel, writing, research, photography and contributing to the fight to eradicate violence against women. Having travelled to over 60 countries, she has been able to blend her interests, to raise awareness of women’s oppression, and its manifestations, in countries around the world. Attempting to speak to women to learn about their lived experience is crucial, especially in the developing world, since quite often it is the first time anyone has shown an interest in her life and opinions.

Find Out More

If you are interested in learning more about the campaign to end the kafala system, Katie recommends following ‘This is Lebanon’ on Facebook/Twitter. A group of activist women, many previously employed as migrant domestic workers, they offer women support to escape their abusers. Also assisting them practically, by confronting employers to battle for individual workers human rights. Having travelled widely, I have written other accounts of violence against women, mainly in Asian countries. Please contact Katie for further information or to let me know you are interested in this topic:

katieshevlin62@gmail.com

07488767877

If you would like to read more of Katie’s blogs about women around the world and solo female travel

Feminism in spite of all

Author: Ana Pardo

Estrella de Diego, a female Spanish curator, recently shared a peculiar work situation through her social media. Her male colleagues had suggested that she try to workon subjects other than feminism or projects involving female artists, which had been her focus for several years. De Diego is currently professor at Universidad Complutense de Madrid and considered a major expert of feminist art theory in Madrid.

They advised that she was at risk of being ‘pigeonholed’, and inquite a patronising way, it was suggested that she should try and speak about different topics. This led De Diego to ask herself,  what did being ‘pigeonholed’ mean? Why were male critics, art teachers and curators not given the same pejorative label when they spend years and in most cases, most of their professional livesworking on the same topic?

When it comes to female artists or work made by women in art galleries and museums, the numbers and statistics are outrageous and they are still repeated and maintained everynow and then. The Guerrilla Girls group have over the last decades repeated the same action to signal this inequality. In 1989, they claimed that less than 5% of the artists in the modern art section of the MET were female, but 85% of the nudes were female. In 2004, numbers differed very little: 3% of female artists versus 83% of female nudes. And finally, in 2011, according to their poster, there were less than 4% of female artists in the modern art section but 76% of the nudes were female. These statistics repeat worldwide: Among a collection of more than 1160 oeuvres, there are, in 2020, only six works made by three female artists in Prado Museum in Madrid: Clara Peeters, Artemisa Gentilleschi and Sofonisba Anguissola.

Leaving aside some purple washing attempts (meaning art institutions include a number of activities linked to feminism to give the impression that they have achieved gender equality when they actually have not), in recent years, there have been numerous attempts to bring this imbalanceinto the spotlight.

Perhaps one of the most polemical was when Michelle Hartney undertook guerrilla action at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2018. There, under the label of iconic paintings from Pablo Picasso or Paul Guaguin, she offered feminist guidelines, explicitly highlighting the macho, chauvinist attitudes of these painters, who are considered to be among the genius figures of the 20th century.  The aim was not – as critics of the action accused – to take down the paintings from the gallery, but to widen the context of those iconic paintingsto the viewers.

Months after, feminist activist artists Guerrilla Girlsalso undertook a similar action called ‘Three ways to write a museum label wall when the artist is a sexual predator’, highlighting the sexual abuse perpetrated by some artists, which is still frequently ignored.

Both actions were visually engaging and broadcast worldwide, and the controversy rose. But it seems to be that when itcomes to feminism and art, there is always some controversy.

Months before Hartney took action, some newspapers reported that the Baltimore Museum of Art was selling part of its collection – specifically works from Andy Warhol, Franz Kline, Kenneth Noland or Robert Rauschenberg and buying works of female and African American artists from Amy Sherald to Jack Whitten, including Isaac Julienand Mary Reid Kelley. Again there was some controversy when the director of the museum openly claimed that there were some gaps in their collection due to conscious or unconscious prejudices, and that the museum wastrying to rectify this.

To help understand the museum’s actions, it is interesting to bear in mind that more than 65% of the Baltimore population are African American, and the museum director took actionas a way of integrating the museum with its local population.

The question is, would there have been the same controversy if instead of selling a painting from Franz Kline to buy the work of a female artist, the museum had used the proceeds to purchase another mainstream piece? It would seem thatmore than 30 years after the Guerrilla Girls first started signalling the difficulty women had to enter in museum collections, we’re still trapped in the same debate. Although the situation has improved, there are a scarce number of women who make it into exhibitions or receive awards. When attention is drawn to this fact, or women take action to address this problem, we are still at risk of being ‘pigeonholed’.

It is important to bear in mind that the equal participation of women in any profession, especially in the art and culture field (for these are the spheres I am more familiar with) is not a feminist question. It’sa democratic question. Women are not a collective, we are not a minority, we are 50%of the world population and the fact that we are still not included equally, female artworks still struggle to reach the art market, and female artists and criticsare not awarded is a result of a structured system based ongender inequality-patriarchy.

Related to thisquestion of patriarchy comes the last question I would like to pose -the question of gender quotas that is sadly still present in the art world.

Only when critics and curators claim thatthewider integration of women artists in a world still dominated by men is needed, is the gender quotaquestion taken into account.Suddenly, when gender quotas are discussed, the question of artistic quality becomes far more important – despite the fact that an unspoken quota of sorts has always existed, which favours male artists. The quality of the work by female artists who benefit from gender quotas is scrutinised far more than that of male artists. The fact that female artists usually have to deal with more difficulties and obstacles to reach the same levels achieved by male artists is often overlooked.

If equal representation within the art community is to be achieved, female artists must resist claims that focusing on that lack of equality results in their being ‘pigeonholed’. As much as the dominant male voices in this community want to silence us, we must continue to fight. 

After four years living in Edinburgh, Ana has recently finished her PhD in History of Art at Edinburgh University. During this time, she has been involved with different art projects related to the promotion of emerging artists, constantly questioning the role of the critic in Art History. Both in Edinburgh and in Spain, her homecountry, she has been involved in different activist groups focused on questions of migration (Migrant’s Pride), feminism (Feminism in Edinburgh) or political ones (CREE, Consejo de Residentes Españoles en el Extranjero).

Let us work past the fragility of our privileged identities and enact a structural change in our system

Author: Maria Angel-Ferrero

The Faculty

Image: Courtesy of the author

In the past weeks, we’ve been witnessing a global movement against racism, discrimination, injustice, dehumanization.

The role of Academia and Education has never been more important. We can do better. We need to do better.

The moment we are going through requires us to develop informed, necessary, and meaningful conversation around racism.

We have become blind to numerous forms of racism happening in Academia, such as the underrepresentation of Black, Latinx, Muslim, Jewish, and indigenous faculty and students. Or the lack of diverse perspectives in our syllabus. If we acknowledge that racism exists inside Academia we can then develop the skills to work past the fragility of our privileged identities and enact a structural change in our system.

We need to do better, Professor Jasmine Roberts explains.

The reason I started The Faculty was to open the conversation about a better Academia. I wanted to create an open space where academics, educators, scientists, students, and everyone who wants to disrupt the education and scientific research system can share stories and thoughts. A place where we can question ourselves and our systems and enact the change we all need. A place where we share ideas and develop actions to change our approach to education, science, and research.

The Faculty is a place where academics, educators, scientists, students, and everyone who wants to disrupt the education and scientific research system can share stories and thoughts.

As the editor, I would like to call all academics and non-academics to join the discussion on how we can make our classrooms, curriculum, and schools a more inclusive one. I would like you to help us lead the change and share your insights on how we can talk and educate ourselves and others about race and ethnicity. I believe that together we can lead the change. So if you want to contribute to the conversation, please join us here.

My most sincere gratitude and appreciation to all the faculty, staff, students, professional educators, post-grads all around the world who are joining the conversation and have shared with us their most personal stories, inviting us to lead the change and do better.

But I wish to take a moment to acknowledge Jasmine Roberts, Uju Asika, Indu Viswanathan, Jessie Dumont, Beth Bradford, Ph.D.and Gus King.

I believe this is just the start. The start of a genuine change. You are welcome to join the Conversation, please join us here.

Maria Angel Ferrero is Assistant Professor in Finance and Entrepreneurship at the University of Montpellier School of Management (IAE), in France. Her teaching pedagogy is based on active learning approaches and the use of technology and gamification. She is highly involved with the entrepreneurial ecosystem in France and Colombia always in the quest for providing students with better entrepreneurial education and learning experience. Her cross-disciplinary research brings together behavioral finance, psychology and entrepreneurship theories and approaches to explore the behavior and thinking of entrepreneurs. In 2016 she was awarded the prize for Best Ph.D. Thesis in Corporate Finance awarded by the French National Association of Finance. She runs a blog on Medium.comwhere she shares her toughts on education, science and pedagogical innovation. You can find her in social media twitter @mangelferrero , Medium @miss.startup , Instagram @miss.startup

Transformation of lives: How does empowerment of Black housewives correlate with economic productivity? 1994- 2011; Eastern Cape in South Africa

By Ntombizifikile Mkoyana for WomenBeing Magazine

This script aims to highlight how transformation and empowerment of Black housewives lead to economic productivity. Women empowerment refers to offering training, sharing of skills and knowledge to enable women to be marketable and or financially able. This writing will also talk about human rights violation and examine if the end product contributes to the paralysis women’s abilities. Housewives are perceived as different from women who go to work and earn a salary. This writing talks about the authority that empowerment offers to women’s en route to a marketable sphere where many obstacles like gender inequality and different pay scale do still exist. Housewife is a female who is unemployed and stays at home to look after the family and the home, her main roles are to clean the house, cook, look after the children and home maintenance.

The transformation and empowerment of Eastern Cape housewives towards building economy efficiency have measured an increase in the past few years. Before 1994, housewives were the casualties of socio-economic and political agenda driven from racial segregation. Women had limited resources if any were within their disposal at all. Restricted social engagement and the absence of empowerment painted a different image about these women’s abilities. The conflicting views discredited housewives who were then assumed to be parasitic individuals with zero contribution towards economic growth. These women were always subjected to scrutiny that made them being perceived negatively, stigmatised, aligned and identified as direct contributors to poverty. These judgements were recorded despite the time spent by these women nourishing their children with love, rendering full parental care and maintaining family stability. Even today the housewives’ credentials and abilities towards economic growth are easily declared dubious.

This study focuses on two categories of women: some working at Magwa Tea (Lusikisiki) and those in Ntabankulu who were offered scholarships by Hayi Le Mbila (Funded by Canon Collins Trust UK). The sampling was done by the researcher as she engaged directly with the scholarship programme and involved in talking with women employed at Magwa Tea. In total 100 women aged 22- 56 were interviewed. Women were asked similar questions, based on disruption to jobs and workforce.

Disruption to jobs

The 2011 disagreement between the management and the Magwa Tea employees led to uncertainty and or job insecurity. Many of the women interviewed gave similar responses. N (a 50-year-old, the names are omitted) one of the employees said, “it was a terrible situation, I was worried because I had my financial budget and commitments (school uniform, feed my children, pay my bills and continue paying the builders) when the problems started.” The ability of this lady demonstrates how empowerment led to employment, and later economic independency as she was paying the builders for home improvement. The job security was the key factor.

Workforce

Similar answers were obtained. The only difference was on taking on extra shifts when there was a shortage of workers. B (a 26-year-old) mentioned that the presence of the majority of women gave made her feel safer, as their united voice boosted their confidence in knowing that “women are capable too”. She spoke about how she took more shifts when there was a shortage so that she could earn more. She mentioned that extra cash gave her financial freedom to save.

Rural women provide, work hard and once empowered they know their fundamental rights. If given a chance they maintain food security (buy food, grow their vegetables and take paid work).

Picture by South African Tourism on Flickr.

No changes were made to the picture. Creative Commons attribution fulfilled.

Independent researcher under the Global Support Services Consultancy (South Africa and U.K.) and mentor of the CEO/ founder of Dali’s HEN (H – health, E- education & N -nutrition).

§Why we need to rethink female leadership

There is power in embracing, not ignoring, our cyclical nature as women.

By Natalia Bonilla for WomenBeing Magazine

When I first read a feminine leadership article in Forbes magazine calling it “the future”, I flipped out.

How could feminine traits be considered powerful in the workplace?

In a time when 79 % of top executive positions are held by men according to Hays 2017 report, it is easy to take for granted that the only model of leadership is the hegemonic masculine one.

Women who try to reach top positions are often confronted with this expectation that they should behave like men do to get a job or maintain a power position.

When meeting this expectation, female leaders are posed with this question of whether or not they are betraying their inner voice, personality and agency.

It shouldn’t be this way.

After surveying more than 60,000 people in 13 countries The Athena Doctrine, research led by John Gerzema and Michael D’Antonio, revealed how people were fed up with a hyper-masculine type of leadership that exerted control over teams through aggression, tyranny, manipulation and even, violence.

The report which was later published in a book also revealed the leaders of the “future” should be more empathic, tolerant and open to collaboration.

The thing is we don’t question the concept of leadership itself and we should start to.

We take it for “granted” that leadership is associated with masculine traits instead of wondering, which of those traits have been normalized as a form of power and why?

Masculine leadership has ruled through centuries by males and also by female leaders, from high profiles like Queen Elizabeth I and Margaret Thatcher, who have recurred to this management style to maintain “influence” or exerting “violence” to persuade others.

We need to rethink female leadership in the US and worldwide because, in order to succeed in the current entrepreneurial ecosystem, it often implies women may suppress their feminine qualities to “be taken seriously” because that is how the game plays out.

And I’m not talking about wearing or not wearing makeup, dressing “girly” or putting on high heels.

I’m talking about expectations such as “show force when talking”, “a strong presence”, “an unwavering determination”, “a go-getter attitude”, a “hunger to achieve results”, “a long to-do list”…

These are expectations that harm our relationship with ourselves as women, as leaders and as CEOs.

As a business coach and researcher, I have worked with the extremes: female leaders embracing or rejecting their feminine qualities while disregarding or obsessing over their masculine ones.

How are the dynamics?

Those who reject their femininity to the extreme become consumed by competition, envy, emotional disconnection and feel a strong desire to dominate an Other.

Those who embrace their femininity to the extreme become consumed by sensitivity, the beautiful world of dreams and ideas and showcase a lack of order, confidence and materialization in the physical world.

It is easier to talk about how charming feminine leadership is while disregarding the masculine leadership but that is not the case.

Neither is right or wrong.

To my understanding, this kind of pattern does not help form better leaders because feminine and masculine leaderships do not cancel each other out.

They complement each other, just as the balance between masculine and feminine energies help human and leadership growth.

If we don’t first heal our notions of “what a leader is” and “what leadership should be”, progress in our workplace and in our personal lives will be slow and even stagnant.

If we don’t heal our notions with “our femininity” and “our masculinity”, we will keep exteriorizing thoughts, behaviours and actions harming the growth of our personal relationships and, of course, our enterprise.

Embracing masculine and feminine traits in our leadership will only strengthen our chances to become better leaders, women and humans.

So, finally, I want to leave you with these questions to reflect upon:

Answer:
• What is femininity to you?
• How do you express femininity and in which areas of your life do you allow yourself to do so?
• What is masculinity to you?
• How do you express masculinity and in which areas of your life do you allow yourself to do so?
• What is leadership to you?
• What should a leader be?
• Ultimately, what kind of leader do you want to be?

Let your responses guide you to the type of acceptance work you need to do or have.

May you allow yourself to be more and do less, work smarter and not harder to achieve your dream goals.

—

If you seek guidance to develop these leadership skills for you or your team, look forward to helping you grow.

Schedule a 15 min. commitment-free clarity session with me here or write to me at hello@nataliabonilla.org

Natalia Bonilla is an international female leadership & business strategy coach, conflict journalist and news producer with more than 10 years of experience in 12 countries. She holds a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Puerto Rico, a M.A. in International Relations from the University of York, a Pg.Dp. in Peace and Conflict Journalism from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

You can follow her on Facebook @nataliabonillaprojects, Instagram @nataliabonillainc and @luminainc.

One Monday in 2017, Hannah was on the way home from her lunchbreak. She walked past a small group of men and women with rosaries in their hands, murmuring prayers outside the Chalmers Sexual Health Centre in Edinburgh. A member of the group handed her a leaflet as she was passing by, and Hannah realised that this was a vigil ‘to pray for the end of abortion’, as stated on the leaflet. 

Read more on Page 32 of WomenBeing Magazine.