Domestic help in the UAE: Maid for trouble?

Domestic help in the UAE: Maid for trouble?

Asma Ali Zain and Amira Agarib / 22 April 2014

It could be ill treatment or mental illness that leads a human being to the point of a violent breakdown and force him/her to take lives of innocent children. Khaleej Times explores the maladies affecting domestic help in the UAE and finds caution, awareness and a change in attitude are needed

For children, their caregivers are the people in whom they place their utmost trust. And if that trust is broken, it could forever impact their lives psychologically and physically.

A recent case in which a maid allegedly attacked three young children of her employer with a cleaver and poured boiling hot water over them shocked the nation. She reportedly claimed that she was being ill treated by her employers.

This is not the first time that such a case has hit the headlines. Earlier this year, a maid allegedly strangled an 11-month-old infant after she was refused a leave by her employers.

In the UAE, most maids are not trained nannies. Besides looking after children, they are also burdened with other household chores, which is why most of them complain of being overworked.

In 2012, 1,258 crimes involving maids were recorded in Dubai alone. In 2011, 1,395 similar crimes were recorded and in 2010, 1,276 were reported.

According to the police, crimes involving housemaids went up 20 per cent in 2009 as compared to 2008. In 2009, 451 crimes involving housemaids were recorded, up from 341 in 2008. In these cases, 17 children were assaulted by the domestic workers.

Police said 13 cases of assault on children were recorded in 2013 compared to three in 2012.

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Domestic help in the UAE: Maid for trouble?