The Labour Ministry has banned women from travelling abroad to work as domestic workers.
The ban covers all tasks performed inside an employer’s home, including maids, cooks, house managers, personal assistants, hairdressers, and home nurses. It also includes jobs in cafés and coffee shops such as barmaids, waitresses, food and beverage servers, and counter staff.
On 1 April, the ministry issued a warning to all employment agencies banning women from travelling to work in a number of specified occupations.
The move comes as part of efforts to regulate the employment market for Egyptian women and ensure that the job opportunities offered are in line with the applicable professional standards.
According to the ministerial decree, all companies that violate these instructions will be suspended.
Labour Ministry Spokesman Abdel-Wahab Khedr said the decision was taken on the basis of reports monitored by the Labour Representation Office in some Arab countries and out of the ministry’s keenness to regulate and organise the overseas labour market while safeguarding the rights and dignity of Egyptian female workers.
According to Khedr, there are no official or accurate figures on the number of females working in these fields abroad. However, the number of Egyptian workers, both male and female, in the Gulf region alone has reached three million.
Solaf Darwish, a member of the House of Representatives’ Labour Committee, affirmed that the minister’s decision was made within the framework of preserving the dignity of Egyptian women and providing them with a safe and suitable working environment.
Darwish told Al-Ahram Weekly that the government has for years been working to empower women and qualify them to hold various positions. “The decision is not entirely new, as similar decisions had been issued, one in 2008, when former minister of labour Aisha Abdel-Hadi made the decision, but the latest comes in a more comprehensive form, especially regarding certain jobs such as domestic work, home nursing, and employment in places where women may be exposed to risks,” she said.
Darwish explained that the decision came after monitoring a large number of problems and complaints received from labour offices abroad, including cases where some women were exposed to risks and difficulties. “The aim of the decision is protection, not to belittle the value of any profession, since no honest work is shameful. Rather, the issue concerns the extent to which protection is available for women while working abroad,” she said, adding that some of the contracts under which women travel abroad for work may carry inaccurate job titles.
For example, a woman may travel under a contract as a “house manager” while in reality she works in other occupations, exposing her to serious problems. Therefore, according to Darwish, it was necessary to conduct a careful review of contracts and ensure that there are real guarantees to protect women before travelling.
She also noted that there are alternatives and job opportunities in Egypt in the same fields as domestic services. These jobs already exist in Egypt and are currently occupied by other nationalities, and therefore they could represent suitable job opportunities for Egyptian women in their own country, where family and legal protection are available, instead of travelling and working in conditions that may be difficult or unsafe.
Hamdi Imam, chairman of the association which regulates the work of employment companies, affirmed that the decision does not ban women from working abroad in general. Instead, it regulates their employment within the framework of official and safe professions, such as medicine, nursing, engineering, law, and other jobs within institutions and companies. Imam noted that overseas employment agencies are committed to implementing the decision and rejecting any contracts that violate it in the future.
He stressed the importance of rejecting any exceptions to these rules, stressing that not abiding by these exceptions strengthens the protection of female workers and prevents them from being exposed to legal or professional risks.
Feminist and lawyer Nehad Abul-Qomsan criticised the Ministry of Labour’s decision. “I am certain of the good intentions behind the decision, but protection does not come from preventing women from travelling; rather, it comes from providing a safe environment that guarantees their rights while working. Do we protect women by preventing them? Or do we protect them while they are working?” Abul-Qomsan asked.
She added that prohibition is not a solution but an implicit admission of the inability to provide protection. She warned that such decisions could lead to the creation of a black market and open the door to illegal channels that are even more dangerous than organised travel. “A woman who needs to work will work in all cases, but the question is, will she work under the protection of the law, or at the mercy of brokers?” she said, adding that real protection is establishing clear mechanisms that guarantee their rights, not banning them.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 9 April, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
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