Remove the Invisibility Cloak

In many Indian homes, there’s a sad story playing out behind closed doors. Women who work as domestic helpers face terrible things like physical attacks, hurtful words, and even sexual abuse. Their experiences are heartbreaking, from being trapped in apartments while their employers go on vacation to enduring terrible acts like rape and abuse.

These women work in what’s called the informal sector, where there aren’t many rules to protect them, and they don’t have much power to defend themselves.

The official number of domestic workers is said to be around 4.75 million, but experts believe it could actually be much higher, maybe even up to 50 million. This huge gap shows how hard it is to keep track of these workers and make sure they’re treated fairly. Unfortunately, government programs meant to help them, like the e-Shram portal, haven’t reached many of them. And most of them don’t even know their rights under the law.

Living where they work often means long hours, privacy issues, and feeling unsafe for these women. Many of them come from rural areas hoping for a better life, but they end up stuck in low-paying jobs without much hope of moving up.

Fixing this problem needs more than just changing laws. We need to change how society sees and treats these workers. Employers need to be more aware, and communities need to support those who are vulnerable. Strengthening the rules and making sure they’re followed is also crucial to making sure these workers are treated with respect.

Knowing how bad things are is just the first step. We need to take action to make things better. We need to make sure domestic workers are paid fairly, have protections like social security, and can speak up if something’s wrong. India’s progress shouldn’t happen at the expense of these workers’ well-being. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and rights, no matter what job they do. It’s time to make sure that happens.

_{Repurposed article originally published in the Telegraph}