BANGKOK: A Philippines woman who fled Saudi Arabia and is currently receiving therapy after experiencing sexual abuse at the hands of her sponsor for 8 months recently sat down with Bikyanews.com to talk about the situation she faced and what other domestic workers from Southeast Asia can do in order to see abuse before it happens. T, who asked not to be named, said her experience is "similar" to other women from the region who head to the Arab gulf for work and hopes that more efforts will be established to ensure abuse can be stopped. Bikyanews.com: You fled Saudi last month because of sexual violence against yourself. Can you tell us a little about what happened? T: It began the first week I was there at the house. I was taking a shower and I thought nobody was home. Then I heard the door open and the husband walked into the bathroom and started to watch me bathe. I asked him to leave many times but he refused. He said that he had a right to watch me in his own house. I was so scared. Bikya: Did you tell anyone about this? T: I tried to talk to the wife and even called my embassy, but they said that if nothing happened, I couldn't prove anything. It was not good. Bikya: Then what happened? T: I tried to work and do my duties, because I was there for one-year to make enough money to buy a house for my family back in the Philippines. I would work hard. The husband, however, began to touch me and grab my behind while I would do the house work. When the wife wasn't there, he made me where just my underwear as I cleaned. I kept telling him no, but he would say that if I didn't, I wouldn't get paid. And I needed the money and the job. Bikya: And then it started to get physical? T: Yes. The last two weeks I was at the house, the wife and the two children had gone to Dubai for vacation and the husband stayed because he said he had work. Instead, he stayed at home and the first night he got into my bed, and forced himself on me. He ripped my clothes and raped me. He did this for the next two weeks. I would be at home working and he would just come up to me and rape me. [tears] I didn't know what to do because he hadn't given me my check. I was so scared he would kill me if I did anything. Bikya: But you were able to escape finally? T: Thank God. One day he went out to get something and left the door unlocked. I packed a small bag and just left. I couldn't do it any more. It was too much. I had my passport and I took some money they had in the house. I went to the airport and took the next flight out. It was to Bangkok and I got away. Bikya: You have been in Bangkok for a month now. How has that been now that you are seeking assistance? T: The women here have been so helpful. We all have similar experiences in the Gulf and we are trying to get our minds and bodies to be healthy again. It is a process and I get to stay here until I feel ready to go back home. Bikya: You said that many other women have similar experiences as you had. What would you tell women who are thinking of taking a job in the Gulf? T: I would say to be careful. What we have gone through is unbearable, but there are good families in Saudi and we just need protections for this kind of thing to stop. BN
