Saudis and domestic help — ‘maid’ for each other
Sunday, September 14th, 2008Haya Al-Manie; 14/9/08
The presence of a housemaid in a Saudi house has become inevitable. If this inevitability is not because of her services, then it is because of the need to imitate others. This is a fact that everybody knows. The need for housemaids is connected to the ways Saudis live — women go to work, responsibilities for the social and educational welfare of children, men failing to help with house duties, few day-care facilities for children, large and spacious homes, extended families and increasing numbers of children. The net result is that the majority of families need to have housemaids. The truth of the matter is that some of us need more than one housemaid. The problem does not lie in hiring a housemaid, but in the problems these housemaids possibly bring to the home. Some of these problems are difficult to deal with, especially when they relate to the murder or abuse of children. Some of these crimes, such as thefts and absconding maids, can be surpassed. The problem of housemaids has increased tremendously. Even recruitment has become a problem for middle-income families, which constitute the majority of Saudi society.
