Female Domestic Workers: A Sociological Investigation

Sociology

There has been a significant increase in the number of female domestic workers in India in recent times. The domestic service is now accepted as an important category of livelihood. The domestic labour debate was particularly prominent in the western academia amongst feminists in the 1960s and 1970s. The steep decline in agrarian produce and livelihood security in rural areas has caused migration of rural people to urban areas. The number of female domestic workers is constantly growing in the informal sector of urban India. Domestic work has remained unorganized, unrecognized and unrewarding for the domestic workers. The domestic workers are denied of minimum wages, healthy work period, safe working conditions and other benefits in the absence of trade unions and state intervention. The female domestic workers do not have support networks and civil society support under the existing circumstances. They experience exploitative situations and multi-faceted abuses. The national and international legal instruments are largely ineffective under the existing circumstances.

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