RESULTS OF SAFE HOUSE SURVEY PROVIDE SPECIFIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000438

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP, G/TIP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/14/2018
TAGS: PHUM PREL KCRM KWMN SMIG ELAB MU
SUBJECT: RESULTS OF SAFE HOUSE SURVEY PROVIDE SPECIFIC
EXAMPLES OF ABUSE

REF: A. MUSCAT 425

B. MUSCAT 426

Classified By: Ambassador Gary A. Grappo for Reasons 1.4 b/d.

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) Summary: Using a survey designed by Post, the
Philippine Embassy in Muscat recently interviewed 30 women
seeking shelter in its safe house who had run away from their
Omani sponsors in response to alleged mistreatment.
According to the survey results, which Post compiled and
analyzed, many of the women faced physical, psychological
and/or sexual abuse. Most claimed they were paid less than
their contracted wage for work often in excess of seventeen
hours per day. Less than half of the women said they had
lodged a formal complaint of abuse with Omani authorities; of
the complaints that were filed, none resulted in criminal
investigations into possible trafficking. End summary.

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SURVEY BACKGROUND
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2. (C) In an effort to collect specific examples of
trafficking in Oman, poloff developed a survey for use with
third country national women seeking shelter in safe houses
maintained by their respective embassies in Muscat. The
Philippines, Sri Lanka and India are the only countries that
currently operate safe houses, which in most cases act as a
place of refuge for women who came to Oman to work as maids
and subsequently ran away from their sponsors citing alleged
abuse. Poloff approached all three embassies and asked if
their staff would be willing to conduct the survey and share
its results. The Philippine Embassy agreed and later
supplied poloff with the completed surveys of 30 women who
sought shelter in its safe house during the month of April

2008. Poloff was not present when the survey was conducted
and therefore cannot vouch for the Philippine Embassy's
interview methodology. However, the results corroborate
anecdotal evidence of trafficking that Post has collected
from other sources.

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Symptoms of Abuse
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3. (C) The survey asked women to identify all the types of
abuse that they had faced in their sponsor's household. 43%
of the 30 women who participated said that they had been hit
by a member of the sponsor's family; 60% claimed that they
had been threatened with physical or some other form of
punishment. One-third asserted that they had been forced to
work extra hours for the sponsor's extended family, and 40%
claimed that their sponsors had provided them with
insufficient food. 25% of respondents alleged that their
sponsor or a member of his family had touched them sexually;
two claimed that they were the victims of attempted rape, and
one stated that she was raped. Each of the women said that
her sponsor had withheld her passport and none of the women
had travel documents with them when they arrived at the safe
house.

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Wages
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4. (C) The survey also asked women about their contracts and
working conditions. The average contracted wage among the 30
respondents was 69 Omani Riyal (OR) (USD 180) per month.
(Note: On March 1, 2007, the Philippine government instituted
a minimum wage requirement of USD 400 (150 OR) for Filipina
nationals working as maids overseas, which it attempts to
enforce by having its embassies review and approve contracts
before allowing its nationals to depart the Philippines for
overseas employment. The highest contracted wage among all
30 women was 120 OR (USD 311) and all but ten of the women
said that they arrived in Oman after their government's
policy went into effect. End note.) Many of the women
claimed that their sponsors did not abide by the contract,
however, and paid them less than the agreed wage. The
women's reported actual monthly wage averaged 64 OR (USD
166). In return for their salaries, the women alleged that
they worked an average of 17.5 hours per day for their
sponsor and his extended family. Two-thirds of the women
reported that their sponsors had withheld all or part of
their wages for an average of two months. One woman claimed
that her sponsor withheld her salary for four months, half of

MUSCAT 00000438 002 OF 002


the total amount of time that she worked for him before
running away.

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Omani Government Action
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5. (C) Only 43% of the women participating in the survey said
that they had lodged a formal complaint with Oman's Ministry
of Manpower (MOM) or the Royal Oman Police (ROP). Most of
those who had contacted authorities reported that their case
was settled out of court and that they were either being
assigned a new sponsor or preparing for repatriation to the
Philippines. The other 57% of survey respondents said that
their cases were "under negotiation" with their sponsor.
(Note: Post assumes that the Philippine Embassy, perhaps with
the facilitation of the MOM, is negotiating on behalf of
these women with their sponsors per its established practice.
End note.) The Philippine Labor Attache told poloff that he
would look into the status of these women's cases.

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Comment and Next Steps
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6. (C) The data from this survey provide a snapshot of the
kind of abuse that domestic employees may face in Oman and
thirty specific cases, some of which could rise to the level
of trafficking, that appear to warrant further investigation
by Omani authorities (refs A & B). The Philippine labor
attache told poloff that he was willing to conduct the survey
with other groups of women in the embassy's safe house over
the next six months and share the results with the Embassy
for analysis. Post will continue reaching out to the other
two embassies that operate safe houses to encourage their
involvement - the Sri Lankans currently are in possession of
the survey but have not provided Post with any results to
date. Data from a larger sample of women may help draw a
more complete picture about the possible scope of abuse and
trafficking among maids. End comment.
GRAPPO