This Kuwaiti MUA Has Been Dropped By Brands After Saying Domestic Workers Shouldn't Get Time Off

Al-Qattan was referencing laws introduced last year that aimed to provide some protections for domestic help employees who work in the Persian Gulf region's notorious Kafala system, whereby employers routinely confiscate a worker's passport.

In 2015, workers in Kuwait were finally given some protections, with the country's national assembly passing a law requiring employers to give them one day off a week, 30 days of annual paid leave, and other basic employment rights, according to a Human Rights Watch report from the same year. In 2016 and 2017, the government passed legislation attempting to ensure a basic minimum wage for household workers. The most recent HRW report on Kuwait noted, "Migrant workers remain vulnerable to abuse, forced labor, and deportation for minor infractions including traffic violations and 'absconding' from an employer."

In Kuwait, there are an estimated 600,000 domestic workers — mostly women from Asian or African nations and often from the Philippines. These workers are often abused. According to a monitoring group, roughly 120 Filipino workers died last year, with the majority recorded as suicides.