“Form committees to protect domestic workers”

District-level committees should be formed to protect domestic workers against harassment and exploitation. A resolution to this effect was passed at a conference organised here by the Women Development Resource Centre on Monday as part of 16 Days Activism Against Gender-based Violence to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The resolution said that the committees should have special powers, with domestic workers as members.

It appealed to the government to immediately implement the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence Act. Vigilance committees should be formed at district and taluk levels to prevent trafficking and sexual exploitation of girl children, it said and wanted the government to immediately ban the ‘sumangali thittam’ that prevented girl children from pursuing education.

By other resolutions, the conference appealed to the government to strictly enforce the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act and create a secure workplace for women; take steps to ensure a minimum pay of Rs.9,000 per month and other privileges announced by the Union government for domestic workers and open cooperative stalls to sell flowers by producers without the intervention of middlemen.

About 200 woman workers participated in the conference in which they shared their experience of domestic and other forms of violence. They pointed out that girl children were subjected to violence and food discrimination, which deprived them of vital nutrients to grow up.

S. Selvagomathi of Society for Community Action Trust explained how absence of employment opportunities for women led to discrimination in education of children.

This resulted in child labour and girl children getting employed as contract workers. The government, she said, should create employment opportunities for women in the unorganised sector and ensure their protection against sexual harassment.

Manohari Doss, Director, Women Development Resource Centre, said that society should be sensitised to gender justice and it should look at issues concerning women as social issues.

Women should be empowered politically, for which reservation was necessary in legislature. Mary Maxi welcomed the gathering and Jeyaseeli proposed a vote of thanks.