Evaluating the Legal and Policy Measures in Protecting Unorganised Domestic Workers in Delhi

Abstract

Women’s economic independence is one of the main criteria for women’s empowerment and gender equality. Around 90% of the women in India work in the informal sector. As per the estimation of the International Labour Organization, over 20–80 million domestic workers operate in India. The Central and state governments have taken various legal and policy measures to ensure the rights of domestic workers. This empirical study in Delhi indicates that most domestic help workers could not get the minimum wage. Their work remain uncertain and insecure, and they lack access to welfare measures. Most strikingly, when a considerable number of domestic workers face sexual harassment, they remain unaware of legal safeguards and therefore cope with it on their personal levels.