Here’s an interesting piece of investigative journalism appearing in Saudi Gazette. It appears to be a translation of an article appearing in the Arabic language magazine Roaa. It tells the tale of a female reporter who went underground, posing as a maid, to see how Saudi domestic servants might be treated by Saudi employers.

An ugly story results.

Her conclusions are that while it may be fine for a Saudi woman to work as a maid, she should avoid working for a Saudi family. In her instance—and this is a single case she is reporting—the males in the family were suggestively predatory. The woman of the house, dictatorial and conspiratorial. The stories of other Saudi women who have worked as maids, as reported, tend to bear that out. Those working for foreigners fared better. The article does not shed much of a good light on Saudis as employers.

Saudi housemaids: Putting concept to test

JEDDAH – Resolved to go through with it, I had a last minute meeting with my editor-in-chief to discuss what would happen should anything untoward befall me, and he kindly responded by saying he would gladly publish my obituary on the first inside page of the next issue of Roaa magazine!

I had already approached an employment agency who found me a position, and having equipped myself with a tiny hidden camera and audio recorders mascarading as music devices I contacted the agency to obtain the address of my new workplace. They refused to give it to me, however, saying that instead the agency would take me there by car. The nervous refusal to go into any details disturbed me slightly. I went to the agency’s office and waited, and eventually a Saudi driver was arranged to take me to the unknown destination. As I set off with my photographer colleague Hayat secretly in tow I tried to get as much information from the driver as possible concerning the experiences of girls who had previously worked for the agency. His responses came with a sardonic smile.
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