Slavery and misogyny are alive and well in the Sharia state of Saudi Arabia.

No point in asking where the feminists or the people still railing about U.S. slavery seven generations after it ended are on this--they only care about getting cash for themselves and destroying white men. Brown men (and women, I'm sure the majority of beatings of household help are done by the wives) can do whatever evil they please.

At 17, Rizana Nafeek was sent to Saudi Arabia after the tsunami to work as a maid and make money for her family in Sri Lanka. But after only a few weeks and no child care training, her employers put her in charge of their 4-month-old baby. The baby died, and Nafeek was charged with murder, tried without an attorney and sentenced to death.

About 1.5 million Sri Lankans work abroad, according to the country's labor statistics. Eighty percent of the women working abroad are employed as unskilled domestic workers, primarily in Saudi Arabia.

Varia says domestic workers are vulnerable to mistreatment. When Human Rights Watch sent a team of investigators to Saudi Arabia last year, Varia says the group found egregious abuse.

"The most commonly reported abuse is unpaid wages," she says. "It's routine for employers to take the passports of workers, and in order for the worker to leave the country, they have to get their employer to sign an exit visa."

Varia says that because domestic workers in Saudi Arabia are not protected by labor laws, they don't have access to training, paid leave, reasonable hours or even one day off.

"They're not seen as real human beings," she says.

"It is socially accepted to lock your domestic worker inside the house. There are employers who forbid their workers to make phone calls home or write letters or talk to neighbors," says Varia, who interviewed domestic workers' employers in Saudi Arabia.

But I am the evil, close-minded bigot for thinking that this is a bad thing. It's a beautiful, peaceful culture, no worse than any other--nay, much better than the horrible, terrible, intolerant, fascist state Chimpy McHaliburton has wrought! None of this would have ever happened if it wasn't for the illegal war in Iraq!

*blink*
Sorry. Got a little carried away there. Made an extra pot of coffee this morning...