Earlier this month, social media celebrity and makeup artist Sondos Al Qattan sparked global outrage after saying domestic workers shouldn't get days off.

On Monday, the social media star remained unapologetic over her comments, despite the backlash. According to AFP, Al Qattan said the backlash was "unjustified and did not require an apology."

"All I said was that the employer was entitled to keep the servant's passport, and that many Kuwaitis and Gulf nationals agree with me," she stated.

A number of international brands have since cut ties with the influencer, including Max Factor Arabia. 

"Max Factor Arabia is taking this incident very seriously and have immediately suspended all collaborations with Sondos," a spokesperson told Gulf News.

In a video that was widely shared on Twitter, Al Qattan criticized the new employment contracts which included reforms to laws that would enhance the rights of Filipino domestic workers who live and work in the Gulf state.

"For people who want to go get a Filipino domestic worker, what are these ridiculous work contracts you've got to sign?" she said in the video.

"Even worse, is that they get a day off every single week! What's left? Honestly, with this new contract, I just wouldn't 'get' a Filipino 'maid.' She'd only work six days a week and get four days off a month," she added.

The reforms came weeks after the Philippines' president, Rodrigo Duterte, asked nationals to return back home after learning of the ill-treatment of workers in the country.

"But, how can you have a 'servant' in your house who gets to keep their passport with them? Where are we living? If they ran away and went back to their country, who'll refund me?" Al Qattan said.

Social media users were quick to hit back at Al Qattan, criticizing her for having such a perspective ... and for not backing down.

"It's normal that she gets to keep her passport!! And you're surprised she gets a day off, that's the least she should get," one user wrote.

Millions of domestic workers across the Arab world are forced to fight for basic rights, due to the fact that they're governed by the kafala system. 

The system exists in different forms in the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon. 

According to Human Rights Watch, it's a form of legislation "that gives sponsoring employers substantial control over workers and leaves workers vulnerable to situations of trafficking and forced labor." 

The kafala system, which has been called "modern-day slavery" by rights groups, legally binds domestic workers to their employers, giving them very limited legal protection. 

Under it, domestic workers across the region are left exposed to human rights violations.

A UAE-based woman recently filed a lawsuit against her husband of four years and asked for a divorce, accusing him of horrifically abusing her during their marriage.

The woman and her husband met online while she was applying for a job at his company in the UAE. They married just three days after they first met and the abuse victim then flew from her home country to Ajman to move in with her husband.

In her court case, the woman alleged that her husband was violent towards her right from the beginning of their marriage. She also stated that he only married her in order to use her skills and erpertise to grow his company.

According to Emarat Al Youm, the woman worked with her husband for four years but never received a salary. 

After years of abuse, the husband decided to kick his wife out of his house and terminate her contract at his company. Alone in Ajman, the woman roamed the streets for four days and was left starving. 

Desperate, she went to her husband's office, begging him for money to buy food. However, he refused and violently beat her, breaking several of her fingers. The woman was then hospitalized and later reported the incident to Ajman Police.

After leaving the hospital, the woman was referred to Himaya, a local organization that aims to protect women and children's rights. 

Officials at Himaya tried to arrange counseling sessions for the husband, but he refused to attend. That's when authorities issued an arrest warrant against him and referred him to public prosecution. 

The victim also filed for divorce and her case is still awaiting trial. She will not be able to return home before the divorce is finalized. 

As Himaya do not have a shelter for abused women in Ajman, they're trying to help find the victim a place to stay while she waits for justice to prevail in her case.

In addition, the organization's officials are now calling on authorities to help build a women's shelter in the emirate.

Even though the issue is also widespread in the UAE, hundreds of domestic violence cases often go unreported in the country due to social norms and stigmas.

In a moving blog post about her own experience with such abuse, UAE-based artist Fathima Mohiuddin broke the barrier of silence, writing: 

"Domestic abuse. Domestic violence. Domestic bullying. One person having such a profoundly heavy effect on another person that it changes them forever, is something that we need to talk about."

In her post, Mohiuddin wrote about being subjected to abuse herself and stressed the need for women across the region not to remain silent about it.

"Make some space for the people that hurt in silence behind closed doors. Leave a seat for them to come to sit in when they're strong and ready. Or better yet, go sit next to them and make a case for domestic abuse. Lift the stigma, lift the rock, light the shadow. What we don't talk about, doesn't matter," she ended her post.