Debunk Quarterly

A magazine of non-fiction and reportage

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

WRITER COMMENTARY: “I can buy your government,” @chepkemoi_D recalls her employer telling her, implying her country could not save her. #EscapingDomesticSlaveryinSaudiArabia

Watch the full conversation: https://t.co/7KYArxuCjs

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/PnUfkiaFbx

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

“I kept shooting successive WhatsApp messages to my agent, as if I were a hostage in distress (I kinda was, and would soon become a hostage-proper). The messages went unanswered, and as if reading my mind or getting a heads up from my agent, my boss confiscated my phone.” @chepkemoi_D
#EscapingDomesticSlaveryinSaudiArabia

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/PnUfkiaFbx

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

“She dragged me into her bathroom, where we found a single strand of hair lying on the floor, next to the toilet. I had failed to earn the day’s wage. With hands and eyes swollen - hands from beatings and eyes from crying - my boss asked me to first apologise for using my hands to shield myself against her assault.” @chepkemoi_D
#EscapingDomesticSlaveryinSaudiArabia

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/PnUfkiaFbx

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

“The biggest injustice my agent had committed against both my host and myself was to lie to my employer that I had exceptional culinary skills and could whip up a gourmet meal, whatever my hosts’ palates desired. And so from get-go, I was expected to read a variety of recipe books, follow the instructions then fix meals for the family.” @chepkemoi_D
#EscapingDomesticSlaveryinSaudiArabia

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/PnUfkiaFbx

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

“I was being employed by a man who wanted me to take care of his daughter and her daughter, his granddaughter. All I can say is the family seemed powerful and well connected.” @chepkemoi_D
#EscapingDomesticSlaveryinSaudiArabia

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/PnUfkiaFbx

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

Let’s be honest, Kenyans get a special kind of excitement when they spot the “KWAHERI KENYA” sign at JKIA, right? 😅@chepkemoi_D was no exception. And guess what? When she arrived at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, a Saudi agent welcomed her with a rose—it was the first rose she'd ever received! #EscapingDomesticSlaveryinSaudiArabia

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/PnUfkiaFbx

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

WRITER COMMENTARY: @chepkemoi_D describes her initial resistance to travel to Saudi Arabia and how her agent persuaded her to go. #EscapingDomesticSlaveryinSaudiArabia

Watch the full conversation: https://t.co/ITNh2TsiR8

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/PnUfkiaFbx

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

“The tragedy is that by the time you realise you have been played, the culprits have already been paid and have most likely spent the money. I accepted the Nairobi truism ukichengwa chengeka.” @chepkemoi_D

#EscapingDomesticSlaveryinSaudiArabia
Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/PnUfkiaFbx

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

“When I received a text message from a friend offering to connect me to a labour broker, I quickly packed my bags and rushed back to Nairobi.” @chepkemoi_D
#EscapingDomesticSlaveryinSaudiArabia

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/47WR8kN5f8

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

“Home had always been my sanctuary. When dreams became nightmares, when everything was closing in, I always went home.” @chepkemoi_D
#EscapingDomesticSlaveryinSaudiArabia

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/47WR8kN5f8

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

WRITER COMMENTARY: "My story is basically about how the death of my father led me to become a slave." @chepkemoi_D

Watch the full conversation here: https://t.co/6Es8IreGvE

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/47WR8kN5f8

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

Here's where things started going downhill for @chepkemoi_D and her family 👇🏿#EscapingDomesticSlaveryinSaudiArabia

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/47WR8kN5f8

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

Remember Nairobi Half Life’s plot? Mwas, the village boy, heads to Nairobi dreaming to be an actor but ends up nearly destroyed by the city's intense hustle. @chepkemoi_D, also from a village and full of dreams, was convinced her life would never end up like Mwas. At least, that's what she thought. #EscapingDomesticSlaveryinSaudiArabia

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/PnUfkiaFbx

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

‼️TW: This story contains themes of abuse and other bodily harm. Reader discretion is advised.

In 2021, @chepkemoi_D landed in Saudi Arabia with hopes to better her life and her family's. Shortly afterwards, things took a dark turn, the kind she’d only watched in documentaries and heard about in horror stories. Just a year later, she was hitting headlines, trending on social media, and suddenly became the latest poster girl for domestic slavery. Now healed and in her own words, @chepkemoi_D shares her story of #EscapingDomesticSlaveryinSaudiArabia.

Watch the full conversation: https://t.co/qQq505hPbU

Read the full story: https://t.co/PnUfkiaFbx

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

WRITER COMMENTARY: Hadassah reflects on her healing journey, self-discovery, and gradually opening up to the world. #NowWeSkate

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/gTK4LuYWVV

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

“My coach had placed a skateboard on the ground beside my feet and asked me to step on it. Reluctant to try and fail, I shook my head dissenting, claiming not to know how to do it. He was adamant. ‘‘Step on it,’’ he’d said. As soon as I set my foot and weight on the board, a brief skid ensued followed by a fall.” #NowWeSkate

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/pxanrnxSnF

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

WRITER COMMENTARY: “When I decided to live, I decided to give myself a chance.” #NowWeSkate

Watch the full conversation: https://t.co/4X6306O6QH

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/gTK4LuYp6n

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

“My days morphed into one long unending day which carried neither warmth, colour, nor life. It was just me cowering in a corner while my demons went berserk.” #NowWeSkate

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/gTK4LuYp6n

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

Having honest friends is usually such an advantage. The kind who tell it straight, no sugarcoating. So when Hadassah’s friends told her to shape up or ship out, she really couldn’t blame them. #NowWeSkate

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/pxanrnxSnF

[Debunk Media @debunkdotmedia]

“Growing up, my brother would do the most annoying things, like practice wrestling moves on me, but beyond envy for the kind of mum our mother was to him - she spoilt him rotten, that thing they say about mothers and their sons - I thought the world of him. I found some rest in his house.” #NowWeSkate

Read the full story (reader discretion is advised): https://t.co/pxanrnxSnF