Abused maids in Saudi seek shelter in

RIYADH, Nov 20: After six months as a virtual prisoner, Mona took the first chance she got to escape the family she waited on hand and foot as a maid without ever being paid.

''I was being threatened by madame. She said she would kill me and no one would know because my family didn't know where I was,'' said the 35-year-old, who spoke on condition of anonymity and did not want her country of origin in Asia made public.

''When madame was not happy with my cleaning she would pinch me like this, or kick me. I was black and blue in the face. So I decided to go. One day madame was busy looking for a dress in a market. I put the basket down and just ran away.'' Mona's story is typical of many domestic workers in conservative Saudi Arabia, where oil wealth has transformed a traditional Bedouin society into a nation where home help has become the standard for even low-income families.

Al-Watan newspaper recently wrote that 89 percent of Saudi households have at least one maid. The total number of domestic workers is well over 1 million, including Bangladeshis, Indians, Filipinos, Ethiopians, Indonesians, Nepalis and Sri Lankans.

But the cultural problems inherent in this great meeting of Asia and the Arabian peninsula are huge.

The Saudi press often carries stories of alleged sexual abuse and maids dying in botched efforts to escape.

Strict Islamic rules of gender segregation -- making most Saudi women stay-at-home moms, who are prohibited from driving cars -- have helped create a dysfunctional relationship between worker and employer that often leads to abuse.

Some foreign embassies in Riyadh have even set up secret ''safe houses'' where maids can seek refuge from abusive employers while diplomats extract unpaid wages and passports -- usually withheld by Saudi employers -- before flying them home.

RUNAWAY MAIDS

A group of runaway maids, including Mona, interviewed by Reuters this month recounted similar stories of violence, withheld wages and forbidden contact with the outside world.

Like Mona, they too used assumed names to protect their identities for fear the authorities could bar them from leaving.

While Mona waits for six months of unpaid salary at 600 riyals a month, Sarah is holding out for the fruit of six years of her labour as a maid with a middle-class Saudi family.

''There was no salary at all. I expected it each month but they just said 'later'. Now it's six years,'' Sarah, 37 said.

''If the madame saw me sleeping during the day she would hit me and say 'goom' (get up), she'd hit me with a floor brush.

She said if you complain you'll go to prison.'' ''I was always crying and praying''.

Habiba, 18, who said she was regularly called names and beaten when she asked for her wages, hopes to retrieve eight months salary before her embassy flies her out of the country. She escaped when the family went to a wedding out of Riyadh and she was sent back alone with the mother of her ''madame''. ''We lost the house key so went to a relative's house. When they were sleeping I slipped out in the morning,'' she said.

The women all agreed their problems in the workplace mainly stemmed from Saudi fears that their maids would run away to find better jobs after securing part of their salaries. Saudi women also fear their husbands will show sexual interest in the maid.

Saudi men often take second wives, according to social custom and Islamic law, creating insecurity for first wives.

Mona was ordered by her madame to leave the room or cover her face with a veil whenever her husband was around.

''I only really saw him at the airport when I arrived. Once I was in the room with him and my 'tarha' (veil) fell off, so she smacked me,'' Mona said. ''She took all my cosmetics and anything that would make me look nicer.''

EXPOSED SKIN

In the face of criticism from rights groups, Saudi Arabia has taken steps to improve the workers' situation. The interior ministry has set up a social welfare office to handle complaints and Riyadh governorate runs its own home for maids in trouble.

The government also says that such cases are a minority in the country of 17 million nationals and some 7 million expatriate workers, mainly from poor Asian and African countries.

One Asian diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Saudis were often justified in fearing maids wanted to leave.

''There's a racket going on with many of them. They come here to work with an employer and then run away so that they can work freelance where they can earn more money. It's difficult for the authorities to track them,'' he said.

The maids usually have to hand over their first two months salary to the hiring agency as well as sometimes reimburse their bosses for various employment costs.

The Saudi employers pay agencies around 6,000 riyals in basic fees to hire a maid.

''If they run away you have still have to pay their flight home, and then you have to go through the process of paying for another to come from abroad,'' said Faisal, a Saudi in his 40s.

Faisal, who is married and has five children, said that a maid who allows any part of her body to be exposed is often seen by Saudi men as seeking their sexual attention.

Admitting to a sexual relationship with one of four maids he has employed, Faisal said: ''When your wife is sleeping or away and you find them bending over in front of you and showing their skin, things they wouldn't do in front of the wife...''.

Jasry, 23, who ran away with another maid from a violent employer, said the idea of sexual predators was a misconception.

''Some are like that, but not many,'' she said, adding; ''I'd like to go home now. I want my salary to go back and study.''

Reuters