Filipino Maids In Dubai Case Study

Exploration of the Dark Side of Dubai Featuring: Filipino Maids

Background Information:

According to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2015, “26.3 percent of Filipinos were found to be living below the poverty line” (Yap). This statistics reflects more than 26 million Filipinos that are struggling to earn the minimum income to meet basic food and nonfood needs (Yap). Under these struggling circumstance back home, more than ten million Filipinos decided to travel abroad to many gulf nations for job opportunities (Kelly and Thompson). In particular, Dubai, one of the world’s luxurious cities located on the Persian Gulf of the United Arab Emirates, has been a designation for Filipinos workers.

In particular, this research will

These conversations will be record through a phone or camera. I will also prefer to have this process videotaped, but will work with the participant with the confidentiality of this information. I hope to do this research through the USC Problem without passport program. This program involves taking the course SOCI-499: Forced labor and Human Trafficking in Dubai. According to Dornsife in which this course is offered, I will spent about 10 days with a professor to learn more about the culture in Dubai and the experiences of vulnerable migrant population (Parreñas). In addition, the professor will offer me advice on various techniques in ethnographic research to further refine this project. After these days of lecture, I will travel to Dubai for about 1 month to conduct my research. During my time there, I will hire a tour-guide that will acts as a research assistant to help me navigate the city and set up the environment for these interviews. My research assistant will make calls with employers and filipino maids to negotiate compensation for participation in these interviews.

During my time in Dubai, I hope to get data from three groups. Group 1 are the Filipino maids that has seek refuge from their employer. These participants will be located in a shelter set up by the Filipino labour office in Dubai.

Group 2 will consist of

What is it like to live in Dubai and being away from family? How are you adapting to this new life?

Do you feel a sense of community in Dubai?

What is your routines in the household?

Is there anything else you would be comfortable sharing about your experience with Dubai? Through this question, I hope to known about these maids their interactions with technology, social media, and other culture.

I hope to get at least 20-30 minutes interviewing with each maid to be able to sufficiently record the story. After conducting these interviews, I hope to draw connections to trends found in the experience of the filipino maids. This data will go in publishing a paper to contribute to the database of the experience of oversea workers.

Budget Section

The total cost of to conduct this research is $16764. This amount of money will go towards all the expenses to conduct research through the USC passport without problems program. Table 1 shows all the exact cost for all my expenses.

Table 1: Summary of Trip to Dubai

Fees

Cost (US$)

Reasons for Expenses

USC Tuition (according to

$6,664

Since the class is a 4 unit course and the rate is $1666 per unit, the cost will be