During a 1992 mission, we investigated sixty cases, one-third of which involved the rape or sexual assault of maids by their employers or a man with access to the employer's house. Well over two-thirds of these cases involved physical assault, including kicking, beating with sticks, slapping and punching. Asian embassy officials and other sources reported to us that these findings held true for the larger population of maids who fled their employers. Subsequent investigations by Human Rights Watch in 1993 and 1994, found that the patterns remained roughly the same as in 1992. We also found indications that such abuses are under-reported.
Maids face numerous obstacles to reporting abuse or mistreatment.
Many women are confined in their employers' homes. Others confront police refusal to investigate their complaints. In addition, the social stigma attached to certain types of abuse, particularly sexual assault, deters many women from reporting employer abuse to the authorities. Only a handful of the charges against abusive employers are investigated or prosecuted every year. In an April 1993 letter to Human Rights Watch, the Kuwaiti government stated that between February 1991 and February 1993, only fifteen sexual assault cases against maids were prosecuted.