Migrant domestic helpers, or maids, fulfil important roles from childcare and cleaning to cooking and elder care in their employers’ homes. In Asia, millions of women, mainly from developing countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, and Myanmar, leave their homes and families to take on these jobs in wealthier nations, thinking that these jobs would secure a better future for their children and help them provide for their families back home.

However, for a horrifying number of these women, the promise of getting a better life turns into a living nightmare. We assume that this is only in fiction, where people are controlled, dehumanised, and oppressed, but it isn’t confined to the pages of a novel or the screens. Instead, it is happening in our current day and age, a dystopian horror story playing out in their employers’ private homes, largely unacknowledged by the world.

When these women arrive in cities like Hong Kong, Singapore, or parts of the Middle East, they are unaware of what their future holds. Their passports will often be confiscated by employers or agencies, preventing them from returning home unless approved. Their communication with the outside world is frequently restricted, isolating them from their family and friends.

These women are “trapped” in their employers’ homes, leaving them to work inhumane hours that stretch from dawn until well past midnight, often with little to no days off. Their measly wages are a mockery of fair pay for the amount of work they do daily, and it’s barely enough to cover the expensive recruitment fees for their agency.

At this point, they are not just in a poor working environment, but a system that allows them to be abused. There have been many instances where women have been tortured to death in these wealthy households.

Piang Ngaih Don, a 24-year-old domestic helper from Myanmar, who came to Singapore to work, tragically passed away due to a brain injury inflicted through abuse. Her abusers were none other than her employers, Gaiyathiri Murugayan, Kevin Chelvam, and Prema Narayanasamy. Gayiathiri’s husband, Kevin, was working in the police force during the timeline of the abuse, and was suspended after the domestic worker passed.

Piang Ngaih Don was abused in the most inhumane way possible. She was tied to the window grills at night to prevent her from leaving, and she was also physically abused. She was found to be extremely underweight and malnourished after her death.

There are also experiences of women like Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, an Indonesian domestic worker tortured and starved by her Hong Kong employer, or Kartika Puspitasari, who was tied to a chair in a diaper while her employer was on holiday, which shows the extremes of how these women are being dehumanised. 

These are only a few gruesome cases of the abuse of migrant domestic workers. There may be countless others who suffer in silence, their injuries unseen, and their deaths dismissed.

A study conducted in 2024, on migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong, by Mission for Migrant Workers and Christian Action, shows upsetting numbers. These women are reporting physical assault, mistreatment, and even being put at risk on the job.

The kafala system, a sponsorship system used in the Middle East, legally ties a worker’s visa to their employer, effectively enslaving them. Without the employer’s consent, they are not allowed to change jobs, leave the country, or even report abuse.

The nature of domestic work itself, performed within the confines of a private residence, makes them more vulnerable. Their well-being is quite unregulated, which is why a lot of the abuse goes unreported, and it enables employers to treat them as personal slaves rather than human beings with rights.

This is slavery hidden under the guise of “legal work”, and in today’s society, it’s linked to the oppression of women from less developed countries. It is also a conflict of class, where the desperation of the lower income is taken advantage of by the privileged. It manifests global economic inequality, where wealthier nations’ demand for cheap, compliant labour exploits basic human rights.