Domestic workers continue to be vulnerable to abuse, HIV: survey
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060817/cth1.htm#4

Chandigarh, August 16
Domestic workers in and around Chandigarh continue to work in
exploitative conditions besides remaining vulnerable to HIV/AIDS due
to low level of awareness about the infection. The first-ever survey
conducted to explore the intervention between migration, reproductive
health, access to healthcare and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS among
domestic workers has thrown up significant trends.

About 10.8 per cent of those interviewed admitted to physical/sexual
abuse and though the rest did not directly admit they had been
abused, they said they were uncomfortable answering the question. Of
the 10.2 per cent who admitted to abuse, 9.8 said they had been
abused by the employer. Three fourths said they had never got a
holiday even on festivals. And 20 per cent said they were still
working 11 to 16 hours a day.

The survey has been jointly conducted by Namrata, a volunteer with
the Chandigarh chapter of the National Domestic Workers Movement
(MDWM) and Dr Avnish Jolly engaged with HIV/AIDS advocacy projects.
The need for such a study could not be underscored in the wake of
incidents of violence against domestic workers in Chandigarh,
Panchkula and Mohali. A case in point is the one involving Punjab MLA
Gaganjit Singh Barnala, who faces the charge of rape at the hands of
his masseuse.

Data collected by NDWM suggests the majority of women do not have
access to or knowledge about modes of safe sex (condoms) and are
acutely inadequate in their knowledge about HIV/AIDS and routes of
its transmission.

About 22 per cent of 1000 women in the age group 15 to 45 covered by
the survey feel HIV/AIDS spreads by a mosquito bite, 18 per cent feel
it is transmitted by shaking hands and 17 per cent feel that hugging
causes HIV.

The risk of infection is high considering most women interviewed
belong to the reproductively active age.

HIV/AIDS apart, as many as 65.3 per cent women had no idea about
sexually transmitted infections; 15 per cent still prefer to go to
traditional healers, though 48.8 per cent visit private/government
clinics for treatment.

Insofar as access to healthcare in government hospitals is concerned,
a major deterrent is lack of adequate proof of employment and low
education level. More than half of the respondents, who mostly come
from Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand belt, have not registered with the
respective police stations. Only 39 per cent of them have taken
primary level education and a whopping 98.5 per cent have had no
vocational training in their lives.

Detailing nuances of the survey, Namrata, who has been associated
with NDWM for the past three years and has rescued scores of domestic
workers trapped in exploitative surroundings, said, "Even the social
profile of these workers is telling. As many as 75 per cent of them
claim to be Hindus as they feel they have better prospects of job if
they say so. Only five workers who were interviewed said they were
Muslims; 19 said they professed Christianity. Most of these women
have migrated from Jharkhand and Chattisgarh areas."

As they have little or no family support in their place of work, most
of them are living with their partners. In such a situation, it
becomes critical to provide them proper information about the
transmission of HIV/AIDS and modes of safe sex. But a majority of
them have no access to free condoms. Addiction was also found to be
common in the surveyed group, with 62 per cent admitting to a history
of addiction.

The NDWM plans to submit details of the survey to the Chandigarh
Administration and the Governors of Punjab and Haryana.