Why India fails to protect its domestic workers despite decades of abuse

Smith (not her real name), a home assistant in Delhi for 28 years, cannot forget the day when she was beaten by her employers.

The woman accused Smith, a woman, a woman of discrimination against a caste in the enshrined social hierarchy of Hinduism – of theft of her daughter’s earrings, and then refused to pay her.

“After many requests I faced her in public. It was then that she started abusing and beating me. I held her hands to stop the abuse, but the guards came and pulled me out of the housing company and closed the gate,” Smith says.

In the end, she was paid – a worthless Rupees ($ 11; £ 9) for a month of sweeping, washing and washing dishes – after a more compassionate family that intervened on her behalf. But she was banned from entering the housing community and did not interfere with going to the police because she believed that they would not take action.

Smith’s story is one of hundreds of thousands of accounts The cruel treatment, abuse and sexual attack, which are reported by domestic workers of India. Most are women, and many migrants in the country that look at themselves.

Last month, the Supreme Court of India expressed concern over their exploitation and asked the Federal Government to look at the creation of the law to protect them from abuse.

But this is not the first time an attempt was made to create such a legal base. Despite the years of propaganda by various groups and federal ministries, such a law has never been adopted.

Some bills proposed in 2008 and 2016 are aimed at registering home workers and improving their working conditions. The national policy, developed in 2019, aimed at the inclusion of domestic workers under the existing labor legislation was not implemented.

Sonya George with a self -employed Women’s Association (Sewa), which was part of an operational group that formulated a policy project, calls it one of “the most complete policy for home workers,” but says that consistent governments could not implement it.

As a result, a large army of India’s home assistants should count on the goodwill of employers on the basis, such as salaries, leave or even basic respect. According to official statistics, India has 4.75 million home workers, including three million women. But the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates the real number of 20 to 80 million.

“We have a patronage relationship with help, not in workers,” says Professor Neta from the Center for Women’s Development Studies.

“This supports the status of -kua and is one of the biggest obstacles to the regulation and legalization of internal work.”

As the things are standing, private homes are not considered an institution or workplace, so the internal work goes beyond the social protection scope, such as the minimum wage, the right to safe work, the right to combine and access to social insurance schemes.

At least 14 Indian states, including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Megala, Rajastan and Tamil Nadu, were instructed by the minimum salary for their home volume.

But among the home workers there is very little awareness that they can use these provisions, says Mrs. George, adding that the nature of the profession also causes problems.

Workers are scattered, and there is no mechanism to register and even identify them, as they do not usually sign any contract with their employers.

“We will need to create systems to register home workers – overcoming their” invisibility “is a big step towards regulating the profession,” she says.

This also applies to employers. “They are completely invisible in the system, which means to avoid responsibility and responsibility,” says Mrs. George.

The caste system also creates additional difficulties – workers from some caste may agree to clean toilets in the house, while others with slightly different castes cannot.

Ultimately, the entire concept of internal work should be revised, says Ms George. “Inner work is considered unskilled work, but this is not so in reality. You cannot take care of a sick person or cook food without being qualified,” she adds.

In addition to not passing its own laws or implementing its own policy, India has not yet ratified the Ilo 189 Convention – a landmark international agreement that aims to have internal workers the same rights and protection as other workers. Despite the vote in favor of the Convention in 2011, India does not yet meet all its provisions.

Mr. George says that the “moral obligation” corresponds to the ILO Convention. It adds that the adoption of the law will also help regulate private recruitment agencies and prevent the operation of home workers who go abroad.

Last year, the wealthy Hindu family spoke with headlines after the Swiss court found them guilty of using their home workers. The family was accused of review vulnerable Indians in Switzerland and force them work in your mansion for painfully long hours without proper payment. Family lawyers said they would appeal the verdict.

Apparently, the simplest explanation for decades of inaction in the end of the abuse of interest is the conflict of interest.

“In the end, people at the table who have the right to sign up for a bill or law are also employers of home workers and those who use status,” she says. “So, with any real changes in the system, we first need a change in our thinking.”

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