Sondos Alqattan
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Sondos Alqattan () is a
Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
i beauty blogger and
Internet celebrity An Internet celebrity, also referred to as an Internet personality, is an individual who has acquired or developed their fame and notability on the Internet. The growing popularity of social media provides a means for people to reach a large ...
who rose to international prominence after posting a video critical of a Kuwaiti government move to provide better protection and working conditions for
migrant domestic workers Migrant worker, Migrant domestic workers are (according to the International Labour Organization’s Convention on Domestic Workers, Convention No. 189 and the International Organization for Migration) any persons "moving to another country or re ...
. With some 2.4 million followers on Instagram, Alqattan was a popular 'social media
influencer A social media influencer, or simply influencer (also known as an online influencer), is a person who builds a grassroots online presence through engaging content such as photos, videos, and updates. This is done by using direct audience intera ...
' in the
Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...
and used by a number of beauty brands to promote their products. Although a number of brands were fast to desert her, since media coverage and online attention about the controversy has died down, her popularity has bounced back and she is once again attracting a growing audience – albeit with comments on her accounts disabled.


Video on domestic workers

In the video, originally posted in Arabic on July 10, 2018, Alqattan questioned the government move to protect workers: "The new laws that have been passed are like a pathetic film," CNN quotes her as saying. "For her to take a day off every week, that's four days a month. Those are the days that she'll be out. And we don't know what she'll be doing on those days, with her passport on her." The Guardian quoted the post, "How can you have a servant at home who gets to keep their passport with them? If they ran away and went back to their country, who'll refund me? I don't want a Filipino maid anymore." The new regulations, introduced as a result of an agreement signed between the governments of Kuwait and the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, allow maids a weekly day off, the right to retain their passports rather than have the documents held by their employers (their 'sponsors') and the right to transfer their visas to another employer. Kuwaiti law also mandates a maid will work 12 hours a day, with a one-hour break, be provided a personal mobile phone with internet connection and be given an annual holiday of 22 days. Employers pay a $2,000 deposit against the maid's visa, as well as government registration fees of some $2,000. The new agreement was the direct result of an incident in which a Filipina maid working in Kuwait, Joanna Demafelis, was killed and her mutilated body stored in a freezer for a year. The maid's employer, a Lebanese man, was sentenced to death in April 2018 for her murder. The incident prompted Philippine president,
Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...
, to order workers in Kuwait to return to their home country and ban the deployment of new workers to the country. Some 250,000 Filipinos live and work in Kuwait.


Reaction

Alqattan's original video prompted an international outcry and extensive media coverage. In response, Alqattan posted an unapologetic statement to Instagram, which intensified criticism. In further comments made to news agency AFP, she stated that the outcry was "unjustified" and did not require an apology. Her original video has since been deleted, although copies remain posted on YouTube. She has been quoted as saying the backlash against her is a "foreign media campaign" against her and "an attack on Islam, the Hijab and Kuwait". Following the backlash, a number of beauty brands disavowed her comments and announced they would no longer work with her, including Max Factor,
Shiseido is a Japanese multinational cosmetic company founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1872. Its product categories consist of: skin care, makeup, body care, hair care, and fragrances. The company is one of the oldest cosmetic companies in the world an ...
, Phyto,
MAC Cosmetics M A C Cosmetics is a Canadian cosmetics manufacturer founded in Toronto in 1984 by Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo. The company has been headquartered in New York City since becoming a subsidiary of Estée Lauder Companies in 1998. MAC is an acron ...
, M. Micallef and Chelsea Beautique. However, it appears she remains an active force in Middle Eastern online media, reputedly with
Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Dior, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained promi ...
. Repeated calls from media to Dior to enquire about its association with Alqattan have been ignored. In a subsequent statement, Christian Dior clarified that it does not have a business relationship with Al Qattan and stated that she attended their fashion show strictly in a private capacity.


See also

* 2018 Kuwait–Philippine diplomatic crisis, former diplomatic tensions between Kuwait and the Philippines which resulted in new Kuwaiti laws regarding the treatment of Filipino workers. * Ascia AKF


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alqattan, Sondos Living people People from Kuwait City Kuwaiti bloggers Kuwaiti women bloggers Social media influencers Year of birth missing (living people)