Ethiopian woman is first domestic worker in Lebanon to file slavery case against employer

Ethiopian domestic workers gather with their belongings outside their country’s embassy in Beirut in June 2020. (AFP)

• The 40-year-old accused her former employer of illegal confinement, torture, verbal and physical abuse, and intimidation over a period of eight years
• The woman was allegedly held in captivity and her family feared she was dead because they did not hear from her for more than seven years

DUBAI: An Ethiopian woman has become the first migrant domestic worker in Lebanon to lodge a criminal complaint accusing an employer of slavery.
In the lawsuit brought against a Lebanese dentist, the 40-year-old Ethiopian accused her former employer, a woman, of illegal confinement, torture, verbal and physical abuse, and intimidation over a period of eight years, during which she claims to have been treated as a “slave.”
In a short video posted online, the woman said she started working for the Dentist in February 2011, and alleged that she called her a “black slave” and used other bad words against her.
“I went to work in Lebanon to earn money and help my mother,” she said in the video.
The woman’s family feared she was dead as they did not hear from her for more than seven years.
Court documents allege that she was forced to work 15 hours a day, seven days a week and only received payment for 12 months of service. She also accuses her former employer of cutting her off from the world by locking her in an apartment, as well as beating, insulting and threatening her.
Following public pressure after her situation became known, the worker was released in 2019 and returned to Ethiopia, where she currently resides.
According to documents obtained by Arab News, Legal Action Worldwide, a nonprofit organization that provides legal assistance, offered advice to the worker before she left Lebanon.
Fatima Shehadeh, LAW’s Lebanon Program Manager, told Arab News on Friday that although her organization assists dozens of migrant domestic workers in cases related to forced labor and similar situations, the Ethiopian woman is the first to bring a criminal case in the country based on such accusations.
When asked whether the legal team representing the woman had also lodged a civil lawsuit against the employer seeking compensation for financial, moral or emotional damages, Shehadeh said that a request for compensation was submitted but she declined to reveal the details because of client confidentiality.
A judicial source told Arab News that the employer denied the woman’s accusations when questioned by prosecutors and pleaded not guilty at Baabda Criminal Court on Thursday. During the hearing, the accused asked presiding Judge Rania Yahfoufi for an adjournment until she can hire a lawyer to defend her when the court reconvenes on March 31.
“We are pleased we are moving forward with the fight for justice,” said Antonia Mulvey, LAW’s executive director. She added that thousands of migrant domestic workers are reportedly subjected to torture, physical and emotional abuse, and gender and race discrimination.
“(Her) case is critically important for challenging the human rights violations committed against MDWs because of an exploitative and abusive migration-sponsorship system that excludes them from Lebanese labor law, leaving them without any rights or legal protection,” she said.
The worker’s legal team also asked for an arrest warrant be issued a second suspect, an employee of the recruitment agency through which she was hired, but the request was rejected.