‘Not My Parents’ House’: the Disciplining of Ethiopian Women Migrant Domestic Workers in the Gulf States

Abstract

Based on the principles of discipline as developed by Michel
Foucault, this article argues that Ethiopian migrant domestic
workers in Middle Eastern countries find that they have safer
migration experiences if they submit to multiple forms of
disciplining of their bodies and characters to fit the normative
ideals of the compliant, obedient and unthreatening domestic
worker (Foucault, 1977). Physical, sexual and emotional harms have
been well documented where domestic workers are trapped within
the homes of their employers with little recourse to external
resources or assistance if required. Although exact figures are
unknown, large numbers of Ethiopian women find themselves in
such a position of vulnerability, particularly as they tend to travel to
countries in the Gulf States and Middle East where legal
frameworks for labour migrants remain weak (ILO, 2011).
Discipline, in the Foucauldian sense, helps vulnerable Ethiopian
women migrants negotiate the perils of domestic labour in the
Middle East