Parker Schab

March 13, 2026

In October 2025 Saudi Arabia’s Kafala system, through which an employer had full control over a migrant worker’s citizenship status, was abolished [1]. While the termination of the Kafala system has been celebrated as a major human rights victory for migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, migrants working domestic jobs remain largely unprotected by both international labor laws and new labor rights provided by the Saudi government [2]. As of 2025, it is estimated that over 150,000 domestic workers from Kenya are performing private home jobs in Saudi Arabia [3]. Domestic work includes jobs such as cooking, cleaning, and childcare, many of which are typically performed by women. Reports indicate that since 2020, 274 of these domestic workers have died, many of them showing signs of physical trauma, electric shocks, and burns. Many of these women experience low pay, long hours, discrimination, and abuse, constituting a form of modern slavery and human trafficking [4]. Recruiting agencies for these employment positions capitalize on a poor economy and few job opportunities in Kenya, misleadingly promising Kenyan women opportunities for a better life in Saudi Arabia through domestic work [5]. Article 3 of the UN Palermo Protocol defines trafficking as the use of coercion or deception in order to exploit members of a vulnerable group [6].

Oftentimes, what is promised is far different than reality, as Kenyan women in Saudi Arabia are subjected to 16-hour workdays, little rest, and infrequent days off. Amnesty International reports cases of verbal abuse, discrimination, and physical and sexual assault [7]. Additionally, workers face significant economic hardship as the sparse wages earned are often withheld indefinitely [8]. Women looking to escape these working conditions and return to Kenya are largely unable to, as most have had their passports taken from them by their employers upon entry into Saudi Arabia [9].

Protecting Work in “Private Spaces.“

While the abolishment of Kafala under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 Reforms marks significant progress for the rights of many migrant workers, giving them greater vocational freedom and mobility without the needed permission of employers, more steps need to be taken to ensure that domestic workers are expressly included under the same labor protections that migrant workers in other industries will now benefit from. The labor rights that protect workers in public industries, such as construction and manufacturing, often fail to protect domestic workers, as enforcement and implementation are more difficult to monitor in private spaces [10]. The “private” nature of the household makes it harder for someone outside the home to witness poor working conditions. Migrant domestic workers are even less protected, as they exist in between the regulatory structures of their home country and the country they have migrated to for employment [11].

The conditions of Kenyan domestic workers in Saudi Arabia expose the fact that work performed by migrant women in private spaces are largely unaccounted for in the current international human rights landscape, with countless people receiving inadequate protection compared to workers in other labor industries [12]. According to an International Labor Organization report, labor laws do not protect 36% of domestic workers [13]. The discrimination and abuse that Kenyan workers face in Saudi Arabia must be understood through a human rights approach that aims to prevent discrimination and abuse based on gender.

Understanding the Treatment of Kenyan Women through International Human Rights Law.

The inhumane conditions that Kenyan women face, including being tied to one employer and being overworked, violate Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that “Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment” [14]. Article 1 of the International Labor Organization’s Forced Labor Convention 29, which Kenya has ratified, states, “Each Member of the International Labour Organisation which ratifies this Convention undertakes to suppress the use of forced or compulsory labour in all its forms within the shortest possible period” [15].

The 2011 Domestic Workers Convention No. 189 aims to grant more rights to migrant domestic workers through improvements in work conditions and pay guarantees [16]. Article 8 of the convention strives to restrict the deceptive practices of recruitment agencies such as those found in Kenya, establishing that “migrant domestic workers receive a written contract enforceable in the country of employment, or a written job offer, prior to traveling to the country of employment” [17]. Both Kenya and Saudi Arabia are yet to ratify the Domestic Workers Convention but must do so, as it would give significant regulatory protections to Kenyan domestic workers currently in Saudi Arabia. 

What Must be Done in both Kenya and Saudi Arabia

Kenya has a political obligation to protect its citizens who go abroad as migrant workers to ensure that their human rights exist when they are both in and out of the country. However, Kenya, unlike other countries that send workers to Saudi Arabia, has largely failed to monitor the well-being of its citizens abroad [18]. Instead, Kenya’s government continues to work closely with recruitment agencies, profiting from the remittances that get sent back to Kenya from domestic workers in Saudi Arabia [19]. Due to the economic benefits stemming from reliance on migrant workers, Kenyan president William Ruto has neglected to make any changes that might jeopardize the number of women going abroad to Saudi Arabia for work. 

International pressure must be put on the Kenyan government to coordinate with Saudi Arabia to reform the recruitment process by which migrant domestic workers get hired. Additionally, the two countries must ensure that after their arrival in the country, domestic workers are effectively protected from poor conditions created by their employer. Both countries need to take steps to ensure that the wage increases and regulations that other types of jobs have been granted after the abolishment of the Kafala will also extend to domestic workers.  

By recognizing that so-called “women’s work” in private spaces is equivalent to work in public spaces, the international human rights system, through the UN and ILO, will better fit the experiences of women working domestic jobs and allow them to be protected by numerous human rights conventions that in the past were limited in their scope. Until this is done, domestic workers, such as those in Saudi Arabia, will continue to suffer from low wages, long hours, abuse, and gendered and racial discrimination. As Saudi Arabia potentially continues implementing effective protections for migrant workers, it is essential that domestic work, largely performed by women in the domestic space, is not overlooked and is granted the same protections given to the broader working force.

Image Credits: Photo by USAID on Pixnio

Works Cited

[1] Economic Times. “Saudi Arabia abolishes Kafala system for immigrants, grants new rights to millions.”https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/work/saudi-arabia-abolishes-kafala-system-for-immigrants-grants-new-rights-to-millions/articleshow/124683842.cms?from=mdr

[2] Walk Free. “Saudi Arabia has moved to end the kafala system to strengthen worker rights”

https://www.walkfree.org/news/2025/saudi-arabia-ends-the-kafala-system-to-strengthen-worker-rights/

[3] Amnesty International. “Saudi Arabia: Migrant domestic workers face severe exploitation, racism and exclusion from labour protections.” https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/05/saudi-arabia-migrant-domestic-workers-face-severe-exploitation-racism-and-exclusion-from-labour-protections/

[4] ECDHR “Profit Over Protection: The Exploitation of Kenyan Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia” https://www.ecdhr.org/profit-over-protection-the-exploitation-of-kenyan-domestic-workers-in-saudi-arabia/

[5] Amnesty International. “Saudi Arabia: Migrant domestic workers face severe exploitation, racism and exclusion from labour protections.” https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/05/saudi-arabia-migrant-domestic-workers-face-severe-exploitation-racism-and-exclusion-from-labour-protections/

[6] Amnesty International. “Saudi Arabia: Migrant domestic workers face severe exploitation, racism and exclusion from labour protections.” https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/05/saudi-arabia-migrant-domestic-workers-face-severe-exploitation-racism-and-exclusion-from-labour-protections/

[7] United Nations. “Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime” https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/protocol-prevent-suppress-and-punish-trafficking-persons

[8] Amnesty International. “Saudi Arabia: Migrant domestic workers face severe exploitation, racism and exclusion from labour protections.” https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/05/saudi-arabia-migrant-domestic-workers-face-severe-exploitation-racism-and-exclusion-from-labour-protections/

[9] Amnesty International. “Saudi Arabia: Locked in, left out: The hidden lives of Kenyan domestic workers in Saudi Arabia” https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde23/9222/2025/en/

[10] Amnesty International. “Saudi Arabia: Locked in, left out: The hidden lives of Kenyan domestic workers in Saudi Arabia” https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde23/9222/2025/en/

[11] “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Vision 2030” https://www.vision2030.gov.sa/media/rc0b5oy1/saudi_vision203.pdf

[12] International Labour Organization. “10 years on, domestic workers still fight for equality and decent work.” https://www.ilo.org/resource/news/10-years-domestic-workers-still-fight-equality-and-decent-work

[13]  International Labour Organization. “10 years on, domestic workers still fight for equality and decent work.” https://www.ilo.org/resource/news/10-years-domestic-workers-still-fight-equality-and-decent-work

[14] United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights

https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

[15] International Labour Organization. “Forced Labour Convention, (No. 29)”

https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_INSTRUMENT_ID:312174

[16] International Labour Organization. “Domestic Workers Convention.” https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_INSTRUMENT_ID%2CP12100_LANG_CODE:2551460%2Cen

[17] International Labour Organization. “Domestic Workers Convention.” https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_INSTRUMENT_ID%2CP12100_LANG_CODE:2551460%2Cen

[18] New York Times. “Kenyan Workers Get Abused Abroad. The President’s Family and Allies Profit.” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/world/europe/kenya-president-saudi-arabia-maids.html

[19] New York Times. “Kenyan Workers Get Abused Abroad. The President’s Family and Allies Profit.” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/world/europe/kenya-president-saudi-arabia-maids.html