So after few days of me writing a post about domestic workers sexuality in Jordan. A new baby born is found abandoned under Abdoun Bridge. After investigation, it turns out that the parents of the baby are a female Asian house maid and a male Arabian house guard.
I just wish I have a larger voice where I can reach larger audience before something like this happens, but what I can do, I am just a blogger! I don’t write in daily newspapers and I don’t appear on TV, I am neither a government official where I can take some action. But in the other hand, maybe it is just a bless that my voice doesn’t reach out, because the reactions of the officials and the society at large is just too absurd (check out Pheras’s dismay of official’s reaction) where I am starting to believe that it may be better to keep things ignored.
According to Suher’s Bushnaq, a writer at Al Ra’e newspaper in her article yesterday 12/9. She believes that we are giving our domestic workers a lot of freedom and that with such freedom we are subjecting our selves and our families a lot of potential risk. She brilliantly calls at the most popular Jordanian newspaper to subject our domestic workers with more slavery conditions than they already endure.
And to make her article more professional, she sure had to consult a social counselor which I have no idea from where did she get her degree because I believe that social counselors should know at least with basic human rights concepts. The quoted social counselor name is Rabab Allam. She said that people should NOT give their domestic workers any day off including weekends! (Notice the tone of slavery and the violation of every law of workers rights). She also asked families to keep an eye on their maids and restrict their freedom (as if they have any).
Bushnaq goes on describing how families after hearing the news of the baby are taking stronger measurements to prevent such condition to happen to their maid. Those who used to let their maid go out to the supermarket and owning a cell phone are stripping them from such luxuries. We are basically doing a group punishment for all domestic workers in Jordan for what we perceive as an unaccepted behavior from two people.
This case is really hitting on my nerve. The stupidity and ignorance of our society is highlighted like never before. Acknowledging our maids sexuality means tightening their freedom instead of respecting their choices. Instead of punishing them, why don’t we try to sexually educating them and provide them with condoms to at least have safe sex? But as we say in Arabic ‘Faged al shay’ la yo3teeh’ (One that he doesn’t have a thing, can’t give it)
And I leave you with Khalife Omar ibn El khattab saying ‘Matta esta3battom al nas, wa qa waladathom ommahatehom a7raran’ (When did you enslave people and their mothers born then free?)
May God be mercy on us!
Fadi Zaghmout فادي زغموت 
This is so sick, so blind, so BACKWARD! Put them behind bars to keep them safe? OM MY.The only way they could escape abusive employers was those little trips to the trashcans and dukaan. I think we need to reevaluate the need of importing foreign slaves. There are plenty of poor women in Jordan who would love the income, and the have the family connections t keep abuse from happening. Well, insha’allah.
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Just a small correction. It was Khalifa Omar ibn El khattab in response to what the son of Amro ibn el 3aas did (slapping a man in the street)It makes me sick the way we are violating the human rights. Not only are we depriving them from thier basic humanity. We’re rubbing it in as a right!
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I can’t help but cry reading this. Its complex! Its sad, its real. And your voice is heard Observer believe this. If there was not people like you who spoke up when put a light on ignorance then we continue to live blindly. So I Glad you wrote this blog. Much love, light and peace your way Warrior~~Marie~~
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hey….Agree. As we said previously, the whole situation of the maids should be reviewd and the laws of labor should be observed… Enough already with twisting law for our own benefit…As for Pheras. If understood correctly, i think you misunderstood his comment man…
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Fadi, you inspired me to write about this too. I don’t know how to do the cool ‘word link’ thing, so just wanted you to now. 🙂
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i agree with you completely on the human rights issue… but it is one more issue to fee frustrated about.. you demand our society to provide sex education for these workers in addition to safe sex… mmm do you think it is rational demand to be asked from such a scocity that has failed in providing these rights for its own members??! to tell you the truth… it is just another episode from the silly show we are living in…
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Kinzi, you are totally right, thanks for writing about it.Qwaider, thanks for the correction. I thought it is Omar, and then did a quick search where I read mistakenly that it is Amer! :S. Marie, I am sorry that this made you cry. And really hope that my voice is heard.Thank you Marie. Lots of love for you..Whatever, I guess that my link to Pheras’s post implied something different that what I intended it to be. I changed the text of the link, hope this clear things out?Yes labor laws should be looked after and improved.Nidal Abutarbush, yes, my solutions are hard to implement in a society that doesnt acknowledge its own sexuality. So sad!
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When society is not our safety net. When our community fails to help us clean up. When the environment we live in is so morally hostile. If one makes mistakes, gets into trouble, is confused, scared, desperate… where/how would one dispose of the unwanted? And where does one go to seek support, guidance, healing with as little judgment as possible?When an incident like this happens, surely it’s a cry for attention. It is the silenced call of despair! It is the deafening plea for help! This should be wake up call for us all to really take a look at ourselves and our issues, challenges, and of course the good stuff, but to really focus on that which has been neglected. And it’s going to be terrifying when we do, because we will find the ugly, the bad, the foul… and it’s going to feel overwhelming and confusing and scary and shameful and insulting and and and…. but we better get to it sooner than later, because the result of ignoring it and shoving it under the carpet, well… that’s just going to be bad.. sort of like a festering infection.
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Enough said by The Observer… All I have to say is that I agree with you!
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ArabianMonkey, thank you for the wise words. This is definatly a call for attention. Unfortunatly most people are numb. They don’t realize what is happening and dont realize how society is failing them. In the contrary, they treat is as always, shove it under the carpet and apply more inhuman restrictions.DM, it is good to see you around. I am glad you agree 🙂
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ah..I am seeing some interesting posts lately. Good job Observer. I gotta agree but the first thing that needs to be done is to stop generalizing & stereotyping and to increase people’s awareness in GENERAL. inno sara7a, enough stupidity. Kinzi- please we don’t want poor jordanian women as housemaids. In case they have an illegitmate affair, then one of them will end up “sleeping with the fishes”.
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WHAT??? This is so sick! when did we become a community like this??? i hope someone could react so fast and stop this from increasing!
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Hamza, Thanks man, I am glad you find my latest posts interesting. Yes, we need people to start reading more. Maher, it is sad, isnt it?
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