Chan'ad Bahraini

If any of you have seen Lukas Moodysson's recent film Lilja 4-ever, then you will definitely recognize this story, which occurs all too frequently in Bahrain and around the Gulf. Says the GDN:

An Indian housemaid was raped by her sponsor, locked up and beaten by her employment agency and then put on a plane before she could complain to the police, according to human rights volunteers. (Continued)

Although we read such stories in the newspaper everyday, sadly, these are but a few of hundreds of such cases that go unreported on the island. In some cases the women are raped by just their sponsors, and in other cases their sponsors force them into prostitution. Again, thanks to the Migrant Workers Group (MWG) for picking up on this case and raising awareness of it.

Because it is something that is so prevalent the MWG should make a package to be given to all female domestic workers arriving at the airport. The package should detail their rights, make them aware of the prevalence of abuse here, provide emergency numbers to the MWG, and let them know what to do to get help in the unfortunate case that they are mistreated. Because the biggest problem is that the women themselves don't seem to be aware of what they may be getting in to when they arrive here, and have no idea where to go for help.

I don't know if they've shown Lilja 4-ever in Bahrain but I hope they do so. I will try to contact the Bahrain Cinema Company and see if something can be done (if they haven't shown it already).

This entry was posted on Monday, July 05, 2004 at 7/05/2004 05:29:00 pm. Permalink