For the first time, Indonesian maids working in Saudi Arabia will be guaranteed a monthly wage, time off, and contact with their loved ones, under a new agreement signed by the Gulf kingdom and Jakarta this week.
Human rights groups say the pact is a step towards ensuring the protection of foreign workers' basic rights in Saudi Arabia. But it fails to address a worrying trend of domestic helpers filing complaints of exploitation and abuse only to face counter-allegations by their employers of "theft, witchcraft or adultery," according to Human Rights Watch.
The penalties for these crimes are harsh in the deeply conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which practices a puritanical form of Islam.
"There's a real belief, and it's something that can be prosecuted through the Saudi courts, that black magic or witchcraft is real," said Nisha Varia, senior researcher for women's rights at Human Rights Watch.
"Domestic workers are especially vulnerable to these types of accusations because of cultural differences."