NEPALI WOMEN MIGRANT WORKER IN GULF

When Asha departed her native Nepal to take a job as a domestic worker in Dubai, she was excited at the prospect of saving money to support herself and her family. Once established in the United Arab Emirates, however, she found herself earning a fraction of what she had been promised. She discovered her low wages were due in part to the fact that the recruitment agency that had facilitated her employment was siphoning off more than a third of her monthly salary.

With financial help from one of her brothers, Asha was able to return to Nepal after more than a year in the UAE. And eventually she did receive a portion of the fee she had paid the recruitment agency to place her abroad. But that was only because she personally confronted the recruiter who had misled her. Accessing justice through more formal channels, whether in Nepal or in the UAE, hadn’t seemed a viable option.