""Obedient and for sale": Migrant domestic workers in Iraq"

For many women from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and other countries in the Global South, limited opportunities, high unemployment, and political or economic instability in their home countries push them to seek work abroad. These women typically pay local agents around $500 USD for contracts signed upon arrival. Many endure long hours, low wages, and harsh conditions, far from what they were originally promised...

…My curiosity led me to a Facebook group based in Iraq with over 10,000 members hiring domestic workers.

The group was created in October 2023. There are four active administrators and one moderator. I reviewed more than 500 posts and approximately thousands of comments and replies, most of which were shared anonymously or under pseudonyms.

Scrolling through the posts, the tone shifts rapidly, from routine advice to control, suspicion, and mistreatment of workers...

Another user chillingly admits to confiscating her Nigerian domestic worker’s passport for six months and offering to sell her for $4,000, describing her as “healthy” and capable, but unwilling to care for children. This post, and the ones that follow, reveals a clear sign of human trafficking...

Other posts in the group include withholding wages, enforced isolation, limited phone access, and threats of deportation—all clear indicators of exploitation and control...