Shedding light on the issue of “modern day slavery” faced by domestic workers in Kuwait and many other Gulf countries, the Kuwaiti blogger and social media influencer Sondos Al Qattan has been dominating social media the past week.
While Al Qattan’s followers demanded that she apologizes and retract racist remarks she made criticizing new laws in Kuwait, she went to the media on Wednesday to hit back at her critics accusing them of launching an attack on Islam, hijab and her country, Kuwait.
Earlier on Monday, three international cosmetics brands including Max Factor and ABH Cosmetics who have mutual business with the blogger; announced cutting ties with Qattan, as a result of public calls for a boycott of businesses linked to her.
“Max Factor Arabia was shocked by the comments made…regarding the new labor law in Kuwait,” a spokesperson said. “Max Factor Arabia is taking this incident very seriously and have immediately suspended all collaborations with Sondos.”
ABH Cosmetics wrote on their social media: “Her comments contradict the core values of ABH. We will never condone any hateful, discriminatory views.”
In response, the blogger vowed to have her followers boycott the brands that severed relations with her.
Al Qattan came under fire last Thursday after releasing a video on her Instagram, in which she criticized new labour laws passed in her country.
According to the new legislation in Kuwait, each maid is allowed to take a one hour break out of 12 hours working a day, the maid must also be provided with a mobile phone with internet connection in addition to a one day holiday per week.
In the video, Al Qattan appeared while addressing her government saying the law won’t guarantee the employers’ rights as she might be exploited by the employee. She also went to say that maids often do not provide the expected service expected, meanwhile, the employer pays a hefty amount of money to recruit a Filipino maid.
Al Qattan, who has more three million followers on social media, faced a fierce backlash from social media users around the world. She was called racist as her demands are similar to those of the old days of slavery.
The living conditions of domestic workers in the Gulf state and other countries have been raising concern. The last diplomatic crisis between the Philippines and Kuwait was triggered by the murder of a Filipina maid in Kuwait by her employers. She was killed and her body was hidden in a freezer for a year and a half by a Lebanese-Syrian couple.
