the health care professionals
Being invited to do a workshop for health care professionals in Qatar has been one of the most unique experiences I’ve had in the course of Relentless’ work. The slavery situation in Qatar is unlike any other country I’ve previously visited and required quite a bit of homework in preparation. Even so, the health consequences, how to provide trauma-informed care, and the principles of establishing protocols, is essentially the same.
I was invited by the Qatar Foundation for Protection and Social Rehabilitation, under which operates the Qatar Foundation to Combat Human Trafficking, to present a one-day workshop to health care providers, and on day two, another workshop to social workers and staff at their aftercare shelter.
Why is Qatar so different? What does it look like to have up to 95% of a country’s workforce made up of immigrant laborers? Picture this: ALL the workers at my hotel, all the airport staff (except immigration officials), and a good portion of the health professionals I encountered were foreign. The social workers and most of the staff of the shelter were Qatari, however.
All forms of slavery occur in Qatar, but the most prevalent and “open” forms are labor exploitation – specifically construction work and domestic workers. Labor laws, specifically the kafala system, binds all immigrant workers to their employers for their legal stay in Qatar. The employer has an immense amount of power over the worker and this applies to ALL foreign workers in Qatar. For example, if a British executive working for a company wants leave home (or just to leave, period) he must get permission and an exit permit from her employer. If the company doesn’t want to let her go, or doesn’t want to pay her, she can’t leave, unless she runs away. This would also be true for all of the foreigners I interacted with. In this way, all are vulnerable to being enslaved by the nature of the system. Poor migrant laborers from South Asia (for example) may have an even tougher time due to their vulnerability within the system. . If they aren’t paid, they still can’t leave unless they run away. None of the labor laws include domestic workers, so they are particularly vulnerable. I must say that Qatar can’t be held 100% accountable (although they could do more) as there is also some culpability in the source countries where the enslavement can begin by unscrupulous recruiters before reaching Qatar.
Although sex slavery does exist it is so hidden as to be virtually non-existent (virtually not discussed). Although quite a few domestic workers are sexually abused and exploited, it is still considered primarily labor trafficking. What is worse, any unmarried woman (foreign or Qatari) who is pregnant for ANY reason is imprisoned. There are a few instances in which the Foundation can help the woman, but this can be difficult. Child trafficking is also reported to be decreasing, especially with the use of robots as camel jockeys, but there are still children who working as laborers under falsified documents. My colleagues working there also told me that there was a fair amount of child abuse, but this wouldn’t be considered trafficking – just another sad reality.
A good resource to learn more about the situation in Qatar (and slavery in general) is The Guardian with their Special Report on Qatar.
Most of the participants at the health provider workshop already had some experience in identifying and working with trafficked people. It was mostly likely a self-selection in that those drawn to such a workshop already had some knowledge and experience with these matters. Therefore, they came primed to dig deeper and we had a great discussion. It was clear from the very first session that my host and I needed to adjust our program to meet the needs of the participants and it turned out to be a much more interactive and fruitful workshop than I had anticipated. I learned so much and am so glad to have facilitated the discussion. There were some definite take home messages and actionable points on which to build. I certainly look forward to continuing to work with the Foundation and the health facilities in building sound interventions. Please click to this article in the Gulf Times to read about the workshop.
some of the social workers serving trafficked women in Qatar
The workshop with the social workers was no less interesting! About a dozen of us sat around a conference table and had a good discussion for several hours. I went along with a few key talking points, but no set agenda so we had a very good discussion in which their specific questions were addressed regarding urgent and emergent health care issues in the shelter, raging from HIV to questions about the practice of voo-doo. We also spent a good amount of time discussing self-care and prevention of burnout and secondary trauma.
It was a privilege and an honor to be invited to participate in Qatar’s efforts to abolish slavery. As with every nation, there is a long way to go and I’m ready to assist them.
The lovely cover and binder for the participant’s certificate. I got one too and I’ve never had a nicer one!
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