Joanna Demafelis, 29, had been sent to Kuwait in 2014, after she was hired as a maid by a married Syrian-Lebanese couple, Mona Hassoun and Nader Essam Assaf, who had moved to Kuwait. She had not been in contact with her family since 2016. Marks on her body when she was found suggested she was tortured or strangled to death. According to the police, her body probably remained in the freezer for over a year. The couple Demafelis worked for has since been sentenced to death under Kuwaiti law. Seven deaths of Filipino workers were investigated at the same time in the Arab nations this year. This particular case set off a diplomatic crisis between Kuwait and the Philippines, the latter of which sends off around 2 million people to work overseas every year, with a majority of the female migrants destined to work in people’s homes.