Indore nun fights for domestic workers’ rights

(December 04, 2010) A Catholic nun in Indore has led a demonstration of over 400 women domestic workers demanding they be legally protected against sexual harassment at the workplace. Sister Rosily Panajukaran also demanded other basic employment rights for these workers during the December 2 protest. The Servants of the Holy Spirit nun, who is the director of Indore Domestic Workers’ Solidarity, said those most vulnerable to sexual harassment should not have been excluded from the purview of a proposed Sexual Harassment Bill 2010. The Bill approved by the Union Cabinet recently seeks to ensure protection of women against sexual harassment at work place, both in public and private sector, whether organized or unorganized. However, domestic workers have been removed from the purview of the Bill. Women domestic workers, the largest workforce in India, were included in the bill when it was prepared three years ago but were later dropped from the final draft. It is estimated that in India there are nearly 4.75 million domestic workers employed in private households. Ninety per cent of these domestic workers are women. In our country among the all women who are employed domestic worker women constitute 15 per cent. The bill will become law once it is passed by parliament and approved by the Indian president. The nun said it was “injustice to exclude this section from the purview of legislation.” She also said women domestic workers are mostly illiterate and poor and could not bargain for better wages. The CBCI Commission for Labour has been making efforts to sensitize this issue in different ways with help of affiliated labour movements and units.