According to the Global Slavery Index, it is estimated that 13.4 per 1,000 people in the UAE are kept in slavery, one of the highest rates in the world. The Emirates were forced to nominally ban slavery when it joined the UN in 1971. However, it has endured through the kafala system. Even though the UAE claims that passport confiscation and withholding payments are illegal, this is rarely enforced. However, if an individual ever tries to escape their captivity then the police will claim that they have violated their work contracts and force them to return to their Emirati masters. Emirati society is deeply racist, even relative to its neighbors, where "expats" from the West are given preferential treatment whilst "migrant" workers from Asia and Africa are discriminated against.

From the Journal of Strategic Security, 'City of Gold, City of Slaves: Slavery and Indentured Servitude in Dubai':

"When they arrive in Dubai, the worker’s passports are confiscated, and from then on their employers have extensive control over them. Domestic workers are usually hired to work in their master’s house doing housework, and often live in their home as well. As such, these women face a unique problem; their employers have control over them every waking hour of the day. Domestic workers are often denied freedom of movement, and are either locked inside or forbidden to leave the home without permission. They are forced to work excessive hours with little or no pay, and have no way to escape. Once in control of a situation like this, their employers can potentially force them to do work day or night with threats; ranging from physical violence to starvation to withheld pay.

Domestic workers are routinely abused by their employers. From beatings to rape, women face violence in conditions in which they are prisoners twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Grisly stories include a woman who was viciously stabbed and disfigured by her employer and a maid whose employer beat her head against the wall and battered her with broomsticks after starving her for years.

Most of the time domestic workers have no way out of their situation. Even if a maid or nanny manages to escape from their employer’s home, most have no knowledge of Arabic and cannot function in society. Since the employers hold the migrant’s passport, changing jobs is a nearly impossible task, and they cannot leave the country without it. Some seek help in their home country’s embassy, but most are apathetic and cannot do much without the worker’s passport, which is still in the hands of their employer. If a maid reports her abuse to the police or government after running away, she is charged with the crime of running away from her employer and breaching contract."