International Journal of Applied Management Research

SEPTEMBER 2013 vol: 5 Special Issue, ISSN: 0974 8709

THE DOMESTIC WORKERS FACED BY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

S. Srinivasan*, Ilango Ponnuswam**
*Guest Lecturer, Department of Social Work, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli.
**Professor & Head, Department of Social Work, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli.

Introduction
Unorganized sector workers constitute the most neglected class in Indian workers. Among the unorganized sector workers in the
fulltime women domestic workers are considered as the most neglected people. In India domestic work is the oldest and part-time
occupation for the women in India. Male chauvinism has been playing a vital role from the period of kings rule. Women were not
allowed to go for education and job placement in the organizations. There were asked to remaining in the houses and to do the
household work. At present the work culture has been changed due to the social changes, new economic policies, caste
polarization, degradation and depletion of natural resources, loss of traditional culture and institution. All these factors have
increased the poverty level of the people. Especially they have made a great impact on women. Today people migrate from rural
areas to urban due to globalization and privatization. Job opportunities are available only in town and the cities. Due to illiteracy,
poverty, broken family, divorced families, sexual violence, loss of husband, alcoholic partners and parents, dowry, women take up
domestic work.
As working couples are employed in organized sectors they
are in need to servants to take care of their children, cooking
food, cleaning works, cleaning vessels, etc. Many of the
sophisticated families need servant as fulltime domestic
workers. As women go for the domestic work they are ill
treated by the house owners. More work is demand from
them with the low salary. Sexual abuse and harassment by
the owners are also increasing more. They are not allowed to
take leave for any family and personal matters. They are
exposed to many problems in the society. They also must be
treated as a woman in the society. So that to know about the
domestic worker researcher have taken this study to find out
the working and living condition of domestic workers.
Violence against women is a common phenomenon.
However, the more overt forms of physical violence,
particularly sexual violence is recognized as violence
against women but more subtle forms often tend to get over
looked. The latter category includes domestic violence.
Domestic violence is perpetrated by persons in intimate
family relationship. Research from several parts of the world
indicate that perpetrator of domestic violence are
predominantly male and violence is usually perpetrated
against female sexual partner (other categories like
daughters, old parents, sister are also subject to domestic
violence). The act of violence includes physical and sexual
attacks and threats. Article 1 of the Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence Against Woman adopted by the UN
General Assembly defines violence against women as any
act of gender based violence that results in, or is likely to
result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm, suffering
to woman, includes threats of such acts, coercion or
arbitrary deprivation of liberty whether occurring in public
or private life. The Vienna Accord of 1994 and the Beijing
declaration and platform for action (1995) have
acknowledged that domestic violence is undoubtedly a
human rights issues.
Objective of the study

To know the demographic details of the

respondents
To study the working pattern of the domestic
workers

To study domestic workers knowledge about

Welfare Board and Government special schemes
To study the vulnerability facing by the domestic
workers

Material Methods
The research used descriptive research design. Though many
studies conducted earlier in domestic workers which may
give various information on the working and living pattern.
This study tries to focus on the specific problem of women
domestic workers and their knowledge related to Welfare
Board and Government Schemes. The researcher using the
purposive sampling method for this study because on many
occasions women domestic workers were not available
during the working time and in the morning and evening
times. So the permitted time only can get information from
them. So the researcher adopted purposive sampling for this
study.
Review of Literature
The Domestic workers in the cities thus emerged to meet the
demands of work force in the families. The demand for
Domestic work was initially met from the vast unemployed
work force in the cities. However, when the demand for
Domestic work exceeded the supply additional work force
came from nearby areas. There is no universally accepted
definition of Domestic workers, A National Study on
Domestic Workers of CBCIS commission on justice,
Development and peace defines a domestic worker as a
person who is employed to do household chores on
temporary or permanent basis. It does not include works like
gardening, driving, dairy or poultry work. Women are
considered as dependents or associates of male members in
the family 70 percent of the female migration is assumed to
be because of marriage. It is true that women migrate not
only for the marriage related reasons but also in search of
employment, the wife, mother, sister is forced to migrate
because of economically motivated males. Despite the
overwhelming of migration flows, the role of women in
migration is neglected; female migration rests heavily on the
patterns of how the labour market incorporates. Women
migrants, the main type of womens migration in Indian
context is a survival migration, women migrate in groups or

individually to work in the profession of domestic work for

the survival. Domestic workers are officially unaccounted
and not recognized, as they are yet to find a place in
census/labour statistical reports. Domestic workers are the
easiest prey to all kind of exploitation, Domestic workers are
not respected in society, their work is considered menial and
they are called servants, Ayahs, dai etc. Sexual abuse
and harassment by employers and other male increases the
vulnerability of these girls to HIV/AIDS, the live-in or full
time domestic workers are the most vulnerable since they
are in individual situations. The job security question tends
to override all factors.
Decent work for domestic workers
Domestic work is one of the worlds oldest occupations.
Domestic workers may cook or clean, or care for children,
the elderly or the disabled, tasks that have been traditionally
assigned to women in the vast majority of societies and that
have been largely uncompensated. However, domestic work
may also include gardening, chauffeuring or providing
security services, tasks more often performed by men. In
developing and developed countries alike, the domestic
work sector work absorbs significant numbers of workers,
many of whom belong to the poorest segments of society
with little access to other work or employment, generally as
a result of limited educational opportunities. In many
countries, domestic work is performed to a large extent or
even exclusively by migrant workers, mainly women, who
migrate in order to earn money to support their families in
their home countries.
According to the most recent global and regional estimates
produced by the ILO, at least 52.6 million women and men
above the age of 15 were domestic workers in their main
job. This figure represents some 3.6 per cent of global wage
employment. Women comprise the overwhelming majority
of domestic workers: 43.6 million workers or some 83 per
cent of the total. Domestic work is an important source of
wage employment for women, accounting for 7.5 per cent of
female employees worldwide.5 These figures are estimates
based on available official statistical data, which means that
the actual number of domestic workers is likely to be much
higher. Available data show, that domestic work is a
growing economic sector.
Domestic Workers Position in India
South Asia continues to have worst indicators with regard to
violence against woman in the world. In addition to common
problem of violence against women, south Asia has
particular regional and cultural practices that accentuate the
problem of violence against women in the region. In India,
Sections 498A, 304B of Indian penal code (IPC) and
recently enacted law on the The Protection of women from
Domestic Violence Act, 2005 are pieces of legislation
which deals with problem in different ways. The two
sections IPC are criminal laws and The Protection of
Women Domestic Violence Act, 2005 provides civil
remedy to this violence. The section 498A IPC defines
cruelty as any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is
likely to derive the woman to commit suicide or cause grave
injury or danger to life, or health (whether mental or
physical) of the woman; or harassment of the woman where
such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person
related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property
or valuable security. The punishment for cruelty against
wife is imprisonment for a term that may extend to three

years and shall also be liable to find. The section 304B

Stipulates punishment for the crime of dowry death. Section
3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and section 406
of Indian penal code for criminal breach of trust are also
made applicable to marital dispute where cruelty is
involved. Owing to the paucity of research and the taboos
surrounding admission of violence against women in the
family, the actual number of facts of violence are probably
not known. The fact that abuse is generally condoned by
social custom and considered part and parcel of marital life,
rather than a crime in itself is a grim indication of its high
incidence. According to Indian Crime report 2001 (last
figures available) following figures throw some light on
pervasiveness and magnitude of domestic violence in the
country.
Nature of Employment
The employment is normally of informal / unwritten nature
and is based on the recommendations
of
either
the
employers friends of existing workers. The person
recommending a likely worker also stands as guarantor. At
the time of entering into employer employee relationship
terms are agreed upon and are respected till the time the
relationship is cordial. The employment relationship
however could be terminated by either of the parties even
without giving any notice, the notion of notice is flouted by,
both, employer and worker by creating an uneasy situation.
As such there always exist a sense of uncertainty in the
minds of both employer and domestic worker. When the
relationship turns sour, the employer may decide to with old
all the agreed benefits and the domestic worker has no
remedy to this effect. The domestic workers in the urban
areas used to be the domain of the male workers since they
could also be utilized for accompanying the family members
(usually going girls) to outside house visits. Another factor
that went against female domestic workers was the social
problems such as visit by male friends of the workers.
However, the influence of the city life led to preference for
non-domestic works by male workers. New employment
avenues due to ongoing development activities also raised
the level of wages being demanded by the male workers.
Consequently the preference for female workers who were
not only more submissive but were also willing to work at
lower wages. The male counterpart (either husband or father
or brother) did not object to payment of lower wages since it
was seen as additional income and more decent than
working at the construction site. The increase cases of
murder and thefts also went against the male domestic
workers. A national survey of the city of Mumbai show that
in Mumbai almost 90 percent of the domestic workers is
female.
Support systems and strategies for organizing Domestic
Workers
The domestic workers movement (DWM) was started in
1985 through a process of the domestic workers coming
together and organizing themselves into a collective group.
DWM functions under the labour Commission of the
Catholic Bishops conference of India (CBCI). It actively
involved in lobbying, advocacy campaign and network and
child domestic workers. The movement provides legal
assistance to the abused / victimized domestic workers and
works to rehabilitate them. It has networks with NGOs at
the National and International level.

Legal Status
The need for greeting legal protection to domestic workers
was felt as early as in 1959 when a bill entitled the domestic
workers (condition of services) bill was introduced but it is
yet to take the shape of an act. The domestic workers have
no legal statuary in the eyes of law. They do not come under
the maternity benefits act. The workmen compensation act,
the equal remuneration act. They are not covered even by
the minimum wages act as domestic work is not a schedule
employment as such the employers are not bound by
minimum for employing a domestic worker, consequently.
There is no fixed timing nor is there any fixed rate of wages.
It differs with time and geographical location. A landmark
judgement by Supreme Court delivered on September 30,
2002 had declared that the domestic workers are not
workmen. The immediate ramification of this judgement
is that a domestic worker can not approach a labour court to
seek justice against excesses of his / her employment.
State Legislations
The government of Tamil Nadu has formed a Board for the
unorganized workers enlisting the domestic worker. Tamil
Nadu is the first state in India to include the domestic
workers in the last of recognized unorganized workers. In
Maharastra the code of conduct for employers was passed
on the 30th January 2000 in responses to the sustained effort
to the domestic workers movement. The Government has
asked the domestic workers to get registered within the
labour welfare centre. So, that action could be taken against
the errant employers. This code of conduct for employers is
seen as a step toward the domestic workers. Also in
Maharastra, the Government has decided to provide various
benefits for the domestic workers based on the
recommendations of a committee constituted a few years
ago to study the problems faced by the unorganized workers.
Under section taken recently, domestic servants and other
employed in the unorganized sector are eligible for social
security benefits like provident fund. Weekly holidays and
annual paid leave with leave travel allowance. This will be
implemented Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur, and Pune on an
experimental basis. In Karnataka, the domestic workers
movement with network organization had presented the
demands of domestic workers to the Karnataka Government.
The Government has included the domestic workers in the
unorganized workers bill which is drafted, not finalized yet.
Rights of Women Domestic Workers
This Act may be called the Protection of Women from
Domestic Violence Act, 2005. It shall extend to the whole of
India except the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Following
important definitions need to be mentioned here:
Aggrieved person means any women who is, or has been,
in a domestic relationship with the respondent and who
alleged to have been subjected to any act of domestic
violence by the respondent. Domestic incident report
means a report made in the prescribed from on receipt of a
complaint of domestic violence from an aggrieved
person.Domestic relationship means a relationship
between two person who live or have, at any point of time,
lived together in a shared household, when they are related
by consanguinity, marriage, or though a relationship in the
nature of marriage, adoption or are family member living

together as a joint family.Medical facility means such

facility as may be notified by the state government to be
medical facility for the purpose of this Act. Monetary
relief means the compensation which the magistrate may
order the respondents to pay the aggrieve a person, at any
state during the hearing of an application seeking any relief
under this act, to meet the expenses incurred and the losses
suffered by the aggrieved person as a result of the domestic
violence. Respondent means any adult male person who is
or has been, in a domestic relationship with aggrieved
person and against whom the aggrieved person has sought
any relief under this Act. Provided that an aggrieved wife or
female living in a relationship in the nature of marriage may
also file a complaint against a relative of the husband or the
male partner. Shared household means a household where
the person aggrieved lives or at any stage has lived in a
domestic relationship either singly or along with the
respondents and includes such a household whether owned
or tenanted either jointly by the aggrieved person and the
respondent, or owned or tenanted by either of them in
respect of which either the aggrieved person or the
respondent or both jointly or singly have any right, title,
interest or equity and includes such a household which may
belong to the joint family of which the respondent is a
member, irrespective of whether the respondent or the
aggrieved person has any right, title or interest in the shared
household.Shelter homes means any shelter homes as may
be notified by the state government to be a shelter home for
the purposes of this Act. This act defines the expression
domestic violence as any act, omission or commission or
conduct of the respondents shall amount to domestic
violence in certain circumstances. It includes causing
physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal and emotional or
economic abuse. Physical abuse means any act or conduct
which is of such a nature as to cause bodily pain, harm, or
danger to life, limb or health or impair the health or
development of the aggrieved person and includes assault,
criminal intimidation and criminal force. Sexual abuse
includes any conduct of a sexual nature that abuses,
humiliates, degrades or otherwise violates the dignity of
woman. Verbal and emotional abuse includes insults,
ridicule, humiliation, name calling and insults or ridicule
specially with regard to not having a child or a male child,
and repeated threats to cause physical pain to any person in
whom the aggrieved person is interested, Economic abuse
includes: Deprivation of all or any economic or financial
resources to which the aggrieved person is entitled under
any law or custom whether payable under an order of a court
or otherwise or which the aggrieved person requires out of
necessity including, but not limited to household necessities
for the aggrieve person and her children, if any stridhan
property jointly or separately owned by the aggrieved
person, payment or rental related to the shared household
and maintenance. Disposal of household effects, any
alienation of assets whether movable or immovable,
valuables, shares, securities, bonds and the like or other
property in which the aggrieved person has an interest or is
entitled to use by virtue of the domestic relationship or

which may be reasonably required by the aggrieved person

or her children or her stridhan or any other property jointly
or separately held by the aggrieved person and prohibition
or restriction to continued access to resources or facilities
which the aggrieved person is entitled to use or enjoy by
virtue of the domestic relationship including access to the
shared household.

them, causing violence to the dependents, other relatives or

any person giving the aggrieved person assistance from
domestic violence or committing any other act as specified
in the protection order. If the Magistrate is satisfied the
domestic violence has taken place he/she can pass residence
order restraining the respondent from dispossessing or
disturbing the possession of the aggrieved person from the
shared household.

Procedure for Obtaining Order of Reliefs

An aggrieved person or a protection officer or any other
person on behalf of the aggrieved person may present an
application to the Magistrate seeking one or more reliefs
under this Act. The magistrate before passing any order on
such application shall take into consideration any domestic
incident report received by him/her from the protection
officer or the service provider. The aggrieved person can
seek one or more reliefs including order for payment of
compensation or damages without prejudice to the rights of
such person to institute a suit for compensation or damages
for the injuries sustained in the act of domestic violence
committed by the respondent. The notice of the date of
hearing of an application for relief shall be given by the
Magistrate to the protection officer who shall get it served
by such means as may be prescribed by the central
government on the respondent and on any other person
within a maximum period of two days or such further
reasonable time as may be allowed by the magistrate. This
act empowers the Magistrate to direct at any stage of the
proceedings, the respondents or the aggrieved person either
singly or jointly to undergo counseling with any member of
a service provider. When the Magistrate issues any direction
for the counseling, he/she shall fix the next date of hearing
on the case within a period not exceeding two month.
Magistrate can secure the services of suitable person
preferably a woman whether related to the aggrieved person
or not, including a person engaged in promoting family
welfare for the purposes of assisting the court in the
discharge of its functions. Proceedings can be held in
camera at the discretion of the Magistrate or if either party
to the proceedings so desires. This law lays down that
irrespective of any contrary provision in any other law,
every woman domestic relationship shall have the right to
reside in the shared household and the aggrieved person
shall not be evicted or excluded from the shared household
by the respondent except in accordance with the procedure
established by law. In such situation magistrate can pass
protection order in favour of the aggrieved person and
prohibit the respondent from committing any act of domestic
violence or aiding or abetting therein, entering the place of
employment of the aggrieved person or if the person
aggrieved is a child in school, or any other place frequented
by the aggrieved person or attempting to communicate in
any form whatsoever with the aggrieved person without the
leave of the Magistrate, alienating any assets, operating bank
locker or bank locker or bank accounts belonging to both the
parties jointly or to the respondents singly, including her
stridhan or any other property held jointly or separately by

Respondent or any of his relatives from entering

any portion of the shared household in which the
aggrieved person resides
The respondent from alienating or disposing of the
shared household encumbering the same.
Renouncing his rights in the shared household
except with the leave of the Magistrate.
The Magistrate can direct the respondent to secure
same level of alternate accommodation for the
aggrieved person as enjoyed by her in the shared
household or to pay rent for the same, if the
circumstances so requires.

Court may pass an order directing the officer-in-charge of

the nearest police station to give protection to the aggrieved
person or to assist her or the person making an application
on her behalf in the implementation of the order.
Main Findings
The majority of the respondents are from 18 to 25 age
group. The main reason is fight with the families and with
partner, divorce, husband died the women take up the
domestic work. The domestic workers are mostly belonged
to the Hindu religion SC and ST community. The majority
of the respondents 34 percent of the people acquired up to
middle school education. So they are able to read and write.
The minimum salary is Rs 1000 and maximum salary is Rs.
2500 in domestic occupation. Among the 50 respondents,
forty six percent of them get salary between Rs. 1100-1500.
Majority of the respondents 64 percent are married women.
They had children in their native place. Most of the
domestic workers forty four taking up this work to support
their family income. The vast majority of the respondents
seventy four percent feel that their present work help them
to support themselves they are satisfied about their work
attitude but they are worrying lot about their family
problems.
Most of the respondents forty percent are changing working
home for one place to another place. Because of the
excessive scolding and misunderstand with house owners.
Vast majority of the respondents seventy two having no debt
in their native place. The vast majority of the respondents
eighty four are not have the habit of reading newspaper at
working home. The work loads are also one of the reasons
for not reading newspaper. Vast majority of the respondents
eighty four percent were not aware of government schemes.
So they did not use the opportunities. Seventy two percent
of the respondents got registered themselves in welfare
board but they did not get any benefit from the board.
Among the seventy two percent of the respondents did not
get any benefit from the Welfare Board

Suggestions
The domestic workers are working hard in the working
home and getting low salary, the work is starting from
morning 4 am to night 11 pm. Whenever the owners call, the
worker should be there, otherwise they will get excessive
scolding or they will be ill-treated by the owners. In some of
the working homes the sexual abuse and harassment takes
place. If any theft takes place at the home, first, the owners
blame the worker and even some time they are suspected.
An association must be formed by themselves for their
identity, and to fight for their rights. Monthly meeting
should be conducted to express their problems, need and to
give awareness about their lives. The domestic workers must
come forward to take up the administrative responsibility.
Most the respondents children are not getting proper
education, so it must be taken care. The poor economic
condition of the family is not hindering their children to be
educated, because they are unable to pay the fee. In this
situation the Government and Non-Governmental
Organizations must come forward to take up the
responsibility of educating them. And the domestic workers
must be given proper awareness on the importance of
education of their children. A separate welfare board has to
be formed to take care of their needs by the government, so
that they are able to get their minimum salary and they can
be relieved form the ill-treatments. The domestic workers
family also can get some Welfare Measures such as
Maternity Services and Leave for the mothers and loan
facilities for their childrens education. Most of the
respondents are not aware of sangams and associations,
specially the importance of SHGS. The domestic workers
must come forward to form SHG to help each other. The
majority problems are fight with partner, divorced families,

husband death, family marriages, parents accident and to

meet the expense of education for their children, which leads
to take up the domestic work. Because of the uncomfortable
relationship between the workers and owners, everyday they
face lots of stresses and psychological problems everyday.
So the domestic workers must be given proper counselling
by the government or NGOs to face their problems and to
relive from their stress. The domestic workers are not having
knowledge on Government schemes and welfare board for
them, so the NGOS must give awareness to the domestic
workers. So that they can be benefited by the government.
The domestic workers are not getting enough time to
recreate themselves and they do not have proper place to
recreate because they are living in very congested situation.
And their children are not having proper place play so they
need to have separate place such as park to play ground for
their children recreation and to recreate themselves.
Conclusion
The domestic work is oldest part time occupation in India.
The modernization and globalization is making people to be
busy. So the working partners in organized sectors and rich
people cannot take care of their children, parents (because of
their busy life) and also they do not have time for the
cooking, washing, cleaning etc. There is increasing demand
for the women domestic workers in the cities. While in work
at home the domestic workers asked to do lots of work by
the house owners and they are getting excessive scolding
and some places sexual abuse and harassment take place.
The domestic workers are very much afraid about their
future life and their childrens education. So a separate
welfare Board must be formed for the different unorganized
women workers and some special provision should be
provided for them.

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International Journal of Applied Management Research,

SEPTEMBER 2013 vol: 5 Special Issue, ISSN: 0974 8709