Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/11718/25542
Title: Domestic workers and sexual harassment in India: examining preferred response strategies
Authors: Vijayalakshmi, Akshaya
Dev, Pritha
Kulkarni, Vaibhavi
Keywords: Gender;Domestic workers;Sexual harassment;Informal workers
Issue Date: 30-Mar-2022
Publisher: Elsevier
Citation: Vijayalakshmi, A., Dev, P., & Kulkarni, V. (2022). Domestic workers and sexual harassment in India: Examining preferred response strategies. World Development, 155, 105875. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.105875
Abstract: The purpose of this research is to understand how women working as domestic workers, who are part of the informal sector, are likely to respond to sexual harassment incidents. Unlike the organized sector, women in informal and nontraditional workspaces often do not have access to formal organizational mechanisms for lodging complaints, thus making it important to understand their response strategies. To understand their likely response to sexual harassment in the informal sector, we conducted a detailed survey of 387 domestic workers in India where we presented each respondent with eleven possible sexual harassment scenarios and nine possible responses to each such scenario. We find that (a) women are most likely to employ strategies that are self-focused and with minimal support from friends/family. (b) Women complain to authorities/family only when they can furnish evidence of harassment. (c) Women are not likely to complain to their female supervisor under any circumstances. And (d) unsurprisingly, poorer, and migrant women are likely to be more silent than women who are relatively better-off about harassment. The results, in brief, show a distrust of the current systems. By examining this informal and unorganized workspace, we offer a stronger theoretical understanding of employee responses to sexual harassment and provide practical suggestions.
URI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.105875
http://hdl.handle.net/11718/25542
Appears in Collections:Journal Articles

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