Migrant domestic workers have long been framed as passive victims

of the Kafala system, a migration surveillance mechanism that legally

binds incoming migrant workers to the employer who sponsors their

visa. They are depicted as individuals trapped in an exploitative

relationship with little recourse to legal protection, their voices muted

by their circumstances. This publication, however, questions this

image of helplessness and victimhood.

It shares the personal testimonies of ten incredible women who came

to Lebanon as migrant domestic workers and chose to stand up against

the oppression of the Kafala system.