‘Girl workers exploited sexually’

A study on the health status of adolescent girls working in the textile mills under the controversial ‘Sumangali Scheme’ or ‘Thirumagal Thirumana Thittam’ has revealed that most of them working in hostile working conditions are being physically and sexually exploited.

On studying the case of 193 girls from the district, including 44 girls still working in textile mills in western Tamil Nadu under ‘Sumangali Scheme,’ ‘Vaan Muhil’, a Palayamkottai-based NGO, believes that collective intervention by various arms of the government alone can stop the poor adolescent girls from being physically and mentally preyed upon by employers and their subordinates.

Under this scheme, girls from poor families are approached by brokers of textile mills, who lure the parents with the promise that the girls would be given a lump sum of Rs. 30,000 at the end of the contract period of three or four years besides the daily wages, boarding and lodging. However, the young workforce, mostly in the age group of 13 to 18 years, is forced to work in hostile working conditions for longer duration.

A total of 193 girls from 34 village panchayats in four blocks, eight schoolteachers, eight village health nurses, nine parents, eight local body representatives and eight self-help group members were selected for the study conducted between October 2014 and February 2015. “Since all girls employed under this scheme are being forced to work for more than 12 hours a day without any safety gadgets, they, who did not have any ailment before joining work, are now suffering from menstruation and respiratory problems, ” said M.A. Britto, director, ‘Vaan Muhil’.

Narrating the problems they had to encounter at the workplace, a couple of girls said they would be compelled to work for longer duration amidst sexual harassment by male supervisors.

“Sanitation, food, shelter, workplace, etc., will be at its worst to make the life and health of the hired girl workers’ life miserable,” they said.

“Whenever raids were conducted we were dumped in a dark basement for hours together.”

Mr. Britto suggests that mills should be compelled to strictly follow the labour welfare laws while the officials should ensure alternative livelihood for these girls.