2018 was the beginning of a fruitful partnership with The International Labor Organization, where the unjust “Kafala” system in the country is the basis of years of “modern slavery”. Migrant domestic workers are deprived of their basic rights in the houses of their employees, and are usually treated in an inhumane way. They rarely have their own private place to sleep in, their passport is confiscated upon their arrival to the country and they can only call their families if the employer approves. Migrant domestic workers unfortunately have no rights and are merely treated as “belongings” whether for the employment office or the employer.
Fe-Male in partnership with ILO established a network of 15 youth in 2018 and mobilized them to raise the awareness on the rights of MDW promote a culture of fair and humane treatment in the household and their communities in a project titled “My Fair Home” which is implemented in the Middle East and Gulf as part of the global “My Fair Way”. The activities of the project revolved around engaging youth in sensitizing activities that would change the public’s attitudes and behaviors towards MDW, where the campaign aimed at educating employers of domestic workers about their rights and responsibilities to ensure a decent and rightful work environment. Since then, Fe-Male, through the youth network, roamed the country online and with supportive and awareness raising messages and activities.
The youth network visited eight universities targeting more than 400 students sensitizing them on the topic and encouraging them to create the change in their homes. The youth were also able to obtain more than 1000 signatures for the fair treatment of MDW’s pledge and they helped in the launch of Fe-Male’s online social media campaign that highlighted the suffering of the MDWs under the “Kafala” system.
Aside from the very interactive and fruitful offline activities, the online social media, mainly the work on “My Fair Home” Facebook page, was an eye-opener on the rights of MDWs where it reached almost 6 million people and engaged more than 600K people in the different videos, info-graphs, and interviews produced for this purpose (https://www.facebook.com/myfairhome/).
In the year 2019, the youth network proudly helped in organizing and attended ILO’s regional meeting that was held in Beirut, where they shared their experiences on what works and what doesn’t while advocating for the cause. They are now members of the regional “My Fair Home” network which includes several countries, namely Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar.