A Day Out and a Union: Lebanon's Domestic Workers Organize

Lebanon, a country of around 6 million, plays host to almost 250,000 registered migrant domestic workers according to official statistics. obtained this July. Estimates of the number of unregistered workers—those who have not received residency permits or work visas, and are thus in the country illegally—vary drastically, but could reach a hundred thousand or more. the sector is made up overwhelmingly of foreign labor (the number of Lebanese nationals willing to take such jobs is vanishingly low) and these women undoubtedly make up the country's largest female labor force. The hiring of domestic workers for live-in, full-time help is so common that their presence has altered residential architecture.