In sex attack, her yell is muted by poverty

In India, innumerable women belonging to the lower stratum of the society have fallen prey to physical and mental abuse at the hands of the men. The recent case in which Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja was alleged to have raped his househelp is one such example. What makes them such easy targets is that their voices can be easily subdued by their exploiters.

Saleema Shaikh (name changed), a maid working for a affluent household in the city, voices the dilemma faced by working women from lower class families when she says, "The fear of losing our jobs forces us in downplaying the ill treatment we are subjected to by our employers. Moreover, we are unaware of judicial procedure and also do not have any help available."

There are NGOs who fight on behalf of these women. "What the maid did in the Ahuja case was the right thing to do. Approaching the police in such a situation is what should be done. We counsel women for the psychological trauma they have gone through and guide them towards securing appropriate legal aid," says Sashikala Nayar, counsellor at Ahmedabad Women's Action Group (AWAG). 

Ashok Punjabi, president, Gujarat Domestic and Construction Workers' Union, said, "The harsh truth is that both domestic and construction workers are vulnerable to sexual harassment at work. We are putting forth some reforms which I hope are accepted by the government."

There are, however, women who refuse to accept sexual harassment as inevitable. Hemlata Parikh (name changed), a maid, intends to educate all three of her daughters about the intricacies of working in another household, "We may belong to the lower strata of the society, but that does not allow anybody to harass us in any way. We have the same rights as anybody else and although we have to do menial jobs for our employers, we have our dignity to protect," she says.

"I strongly believe that women, whatever section of society they may come from, should be taught self defence. Working women in particular need to learn these techniques. It is because of lack of such knowledge that cases of sexual harassment continues to be on the rise," says Damyanti Shantaben Parekh, president of Mahila Punarutthan Sangh, an NGO working for the welfare of women in society.

"Labourers and domestic workers are a vulnerable class when it comes to issues like exploitation but they should not hesitate when there are issues regarding their security and report the matter to police immediately" said GK Parmar, joint commissioner of police, sector 2, Ahmedabad.