THE Labor Ministry in recent statements said it would knock on the doors of countries exporting housemaids to sign contracts with them for the recruitment of labor. This is unbelievable. Our society is complaining about the rise of unemployment among its citizens, especially women. It has also witnessed aggressions and violence by housemaids against our innocent children to the level of murder. Yet, this very society has made the search for housemaids a national issue and a crisis that threatens the stability of family. The Labor Ministry has geared up all its energies and efforts roaming the world in search of a solution to this problem. Let me ask an innocent question, even if some people describe me as backward. Do all Saudi families need housemaids? I do not think so. Members of most Saudi families usually work together to do their house chores. Modern equipment and recent technologies are being used to run households. Therefore, I see no need for a housemaid even if the wife is a working woman. In many Western countries the women are working but still they do not have housemaids. Another question: Do the Saudi women go out for work because of the financial need or are they imitating other women around the world? Are our women just responding to intensive media calls asking them to go out to work or are they doing this because they need the money they get from their jobs? I am sure that a number of our working women are not in dire need of their monthly salaries for which they sacrifice the comfort of their families and children. Someone may argue that women work to cover their financial needs and provide a service to her society. I will agree with him if only her work is not at the expense of her family duties. I ask all families to get together one evening in an open conference to discuss their real need for a housemaid. They may decide they are not necessary. In such a case, the family will be protecting itself against the evils some housemaids commit including violence, murder and sorcery. They will also be saving the money they spend on the salaries of housemaids and will not have to deal with their different cultures and social norms. I suggest to the men whose wives insist on having a housemaid to offer them the monthly salary of the maid. This may cause the wives to have second thoughts about recruiting a housemaid. I hope the Labor Ministry will knock on all doors to solve the problem of unemployment, not the conundrum of importing maids.
