Female Domestic Workers in the Persian Gulf
摘要
This chapter interrogates the gendered dimensions of labour migration in the Persian Gulf, with particular focus on the structural positioning and lived experiences of female domestic workers. While the Gulf states remain heavily reliant on migrant labour, the feminisation of migration into domestic and care sectors underscores the intersection of gender, race, class, and legal status in shaping migrant precarity. The analysis situates domestic work within the broader frameworks of reproductive labour and global care chains, emphasising its historical devaluation, juridical exclusions, and sociocultural invisibility. Through the case of Qatar, the chapter critically evaluates recent reforms, including Domestic Workers Law No. 15 of 2017, while highlighting the persistent enforcement deficits and the private nature of domestic workplaces as barriers to the realisation of rights. Moving beyond narratives of victimhood, it foregrounds the agency of migrant women, who negotiate, resist, and reconfigure power relations, thereby revealing their multifaceted social, economic, and cultural contributions to Gulf societies.