Ethiopian Female Domestic Workers in the Middle East: Expectations and Experiences
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Date
2013-10
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
In the past two decades Ethiopian women have migrated to Middle Eastern Arab countries in large numbers. The vast majority of the women migrate for domestic employment purposes. The last fifteen years, in particular, have seen private employment agencies play a significant role in the migration of Ethiopian women. The women are mostly live-in domestic workers, that is, they live in the households in which they are employed. Such isolation, unless mitigated otherwise, leads the women to experience loneliness and anxiety. In addition, it makes the women vulnerable to potentially abusive circumstances. This thesis explores the overall situation of female migrants to the Middle East. It explores the roles played by individual brokers and private employment agencies in facilitating the women’s migration. Based on ethnographic data, it depicts and analyzes migrant women’s pre-migration expectations and experiences. It also presents the women’s often-difficult migration experiences as told by them. Overall, the paper shows the difficult living and working conditions of Ethiopian domestic workers in the Middle East
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Social Anthropology