An Empirical Study On The Vulnerable Sector Of Domestic Helpers

Abstract

Domestic helpers are the backbone of the Indian economy, as they support thousands of men and women working in other sectors of economy, thereby supporting development of the country. But, they form vulnerable segments of the country’s labour force. The condition of domestic helpers at present and in past had not been very conducive. Their work, may sometimes be invisible but they are at disadvantage position due to lack of enactment of laws & policies, particularly for this sector of society. Due to the demand for domestic helpers tremendous growth in placement agencies has been noticed in metro and big cities. In absence of legal protection except in few states this has led to severe exploitation of women and children like depriving from salary, long working hours, long standing, situation of malnutrition, total cut-off from their family members, sexual exploitation by agent during transit and office of agency, and employers, unfavorable living and sleeping conditions and suicides etc. Domestic helpers can be: part time worker, full time worker and live-in worker. This paper attempts to formulate a framework for the protection of domestic helpers through empirical work. For this purpose, empirical research has been conducted and presented here.