Reversing Domestic Workers’ Rights: Stories of Backlash and Resilience in Delhi

Abstract

As a partner on the cross-country comparative action research project, Countering Backlash: Reclaiming Gender Justice led by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK, Gender at Work Consulting – India (GWCL) is working in close collaboration with the Shahri Mahila Kaamgar Union (SMKU – Urban Women Workers’ Union), New Delhi to bear witness, build knowledge and identify strategies to counter the backlash faced by domestic workers in India through engaged research, capacity building and dissemination. As part of this work, this Storybook, Reversing Domestic Workers’ Rights: Stories of Backlash and Resilience in Delhi, highlights the worsening precarities experienced by domestic workers in the face of the pandemic and prolonged lockdowns. The stories have been collated by Chaitali Haldar with the support of SMKU. The Storybook has been designed and illustrated by Mrinalini Godara. It has also benefited from the work of an editorial team consisting of Swati Singh, Neha Kirpal, Kanaka Cadambi, Miriam Thangaraj and Rupa Krishnan.