From Exclusion to Resistance: Migrant Domestic Workers and the Evolution of Agency in Lebanon

Social Media and the Dynamics of Radicalization and Violent Extremism among Female Migrant Workers

“…place of work) renders a migrant domestic worker in Lebanon illegal. Moreover, as we argue in Mansour‐Ille and Hendow (), the exclusion of domestic work from the Lebanese Labour Code imposes a legal impediment to the recognition of the Domestic Workers' Union by the Ministry of Labour.…”

“…In the Middle East, where migrant domestic workers are employed under the kafala , or sponsorship, system, as in the case of Lebanon, the legal status of the domestic worker is automatically linked to that of the employer, who must be a citizen or a legal resident. In this way, the state delegates its authority to the employer, who then takes on the primary responsibility for the status and well‐being of the migrant domestic worker and is held legally accountable for any legal violations committed by the worker (Jureidini ; Mansour‐Ille and Hendow ). The system has been criticized in the academic and policy literature for facilitating the exploitation of migrant domestic workers in what has been frequently described as ‘slavery‐like’ conditions, including withholding the passport and legal documents of the migrant worker, denying or withholding the worker's wages for prolonged periods, withholding or limiting access to food and water, providing the worker with poor living space, denying or limiting leave, subjecting the worker to long working hours as well as verbal, physical, and sexual abuse and exploitation (Hamill ; Mansour‐Ille and Hendow ; Nasri and Tannous ; Pande ).…”

“…Yet even when laws and regulations did exist, they offered lower forms of protection to domestic workers than regular or formal workers (ILO ). Moreover, often regulations impose strict barriers to moving into different labour sectors (even for those who possess the appropriate qualifications to do so), or to changing employers (Mansour‐Ille and Hendow ; Paiewonsky ).…”

Challenging infrastructures of domestic labor: Implications for labor organizing in Lebanon and Belgium

“…While the Ministry of Labor has still not recognized the union and opposed its inaugurating conference, more than 300 migrant domestic workers gathered in January 2015 during the foundation congress at the headquarters of FENASOL (Mansour‐Ille & Hendow, , 14). Due to the Ministry's hostile reaction, the formation of the union managed to attract media attention demonstrating increased collective organization and activism to policymakers and employers and constituting an empowering message for migrant workers (Shavisi, ).…”

“…Due to the Ministry's hostile reaction, the formation of the union managed to attract media attention demonstrating increased collective organization and activism to policymakers and employers and constituting an empowering message for migrant workers (Shavisi, ). The organizing of currently 500 domestic workers who live and work in very isolated and exploitative conditions would not have been possible without the previous efforts of community spaces and NGOs such as the Migrant Community Center, Insan (a human rights NGO), Kafa (a feminist and secular NGO struggling against patriarchal structures and violence against women), and the Anti‐Racism Movement which also cooperates with unions from countries of origin such as the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (O'Regan, ; Mansour‐Ille & Hendow, , 14; ILO, , 29). Participant observation of these efforts showed that most women who joined the union did so after longstanding participation and politicization in community organizing through which they did not only gain the necessary social involvement but also confidence both in themselves and the community.…”