Protecting the vulnerable

Sep 05, 2012

The bill that assures women protection from sexual harassment at their workplace is a thoughtful piece of legislation that allows India to join a select group of compassionate nations willing to go the extra mile in assuring the fairer sex of their equal rights.

Millions of housemaids who form India’s silent workforce, toiling industriously at repetitive household chores to bring comfort to better-off folk, should welcome this bill with open arms.
And it is not only domestic workers who will benefit from this legislation, as India’s rapid urbanisation has brought in its wake several services that are manned by poorer sections of the population who migrated to our sprawling metropolises from their homes in tribal areas, the Northeast and even Nepal in search of work and a better life. Nursing and teaching are no more the only “safe” modes of employment that such women can seek as they have a far wider choice.
It remains to be seen how grievances in this large, unorganised sector will be handled, especially when it comes to imposing fines on those who may believe such disadvantaged people are easy sexual prey. Those who run employment agencies to procure work opportunities for such people should also be brought under the ambit of the bill to ensure true protection for those who may need all the help they can get when they run into awkward situations.

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