http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=61121&d=27&m=3&y=2005
Sunday, 27, March, 2005 (16, Safar, 1426)
Eye on Saudi Maids Reveals Child Abuse
Majed Al-Kinani, Asharq Al-Awsat
JEDDAH, 27 March 2005 - Many Saudi families have installed secret cameras
in their homes in order to monitor the behavior of their maids. The families
are supposedly interested in seeing how the maids treat their children,
especially since violence against children is increasing in the Kingdom.
Umm Sultan, a Saudi mother working in the educational sector, has had
more than eight maids in the past few years. She has had to change them because
of abuse of her children.
She said: "I suspected that my maid was abusing my child when he always
ran to me and said he didn't want to be with her." Umm Sultan decided to take a
friend's advice and install a camera to see what was going on. She said: "The
maid left my child crying for hours while she took a bath or watched TV. When
the child was hungry, she took the bottle, shouted at him and then threw the
bottle at him. In the end my child cried himself to sleep. I could not watch
the tape so I called my husband and showed it to him. The maid was deported the
same day."
Umm Sultan's story is generally typical of what the secret cameras reveal.
Maids, on the other hand, strongly object to being secretly filmed. They
said it was an invasion of their privacy. An Indonesian maid stated, "Nobody
has the right to film me or any other maid. We refuse to have our private lives
filmed. I will not agree to being filmed."
Foreign consular offices in the Kingdom have different opinions. Muhammad
Salheen, from the Indonesian Consulate, understands the motives that drive many
Saudi families to install secret cameras. At the same time, he pointed out:
"Just as Saudis are entitled to their privacy, so are maids. Saudis could avoid
the stress and violence which may come from their maids by specifying exact
work times and rest times. Many maids are driven to violence as a result of
stress because of the absence of laws and regulations related to their work."
Ahmad Ali believes that secret cameras are important in every house where
there are maids. He described his experience when he discovered that his maid
was beating his young child.
He said: "Thank God I discovered how my maid was beating my child,
because of secret cameras."
The secret camera business has brought huge profits to stores which sell
them. Ahmad Al-Shawi, the manager of a big camera observation company, said the
number of Saudi families asking for the service is increasing every month. He
said: "Secret camera prices vary. They run from about $550 to $1,300. The price
also depends on the size as most Saudi families prefer the smaller ones that
cannot be seen or discovered."
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