Experiences like Sothea's are common among Cambodian migrant maids. During the past year, human rights groups have been overwhelmed with complaints of abuse and exploitation of maids by Malaysian employers and the Cambodian job agencies that recruit the workers.
Such abuses, critics say, are indicative of the lack of legal protection for the hundreds of thousands women who migrate from the poorest Southeast Asian countries to work as maids in the wealthier nations in the region.
With no opportunity to call her family or her job recruitment agency, which only visited her once toward the end of her employment, Sothea was isolated in her employer's home. Escape was difficult because under Malaysian law, a migrant's working permit is bound to the employer, who also keeps the worker's passport.
Only when she was informed in late November that her contract was up did Sothea realize that the nightmare was over. She was given back her passport and promptly put on a flight to Cambodia.