Domestic Workers – women or children have always been victims of society. Invisible, rejected and stigmatized, they would simply surrender themselves to their plight. Through the various training and capacity building programs, NDWM works towards strengthening domestic workers’ solidarity that would help them to be positive, informed and resilient in the midst of struggle and pain.
In NDWM, Domestic workers are organised in groups in their living areas. Regular meetings are held where domestic workers interact and share their experiences with each other. These meetings are also used to make domestic workers aware of their rights, legal provisions and to strengthen their collective bargaining for rights and entitlements.
Developing and enhancing the capacities of domestic workers is one of the main thrusts of our activities. During 2020, nearly 4565 domestic workers across India participated in training programs.
Most of these programs are conducted at local sites in the local language and in a non-formal set-up. As even weekly offs are not granted to most domestic workers, attendance entails sacrificing a half day or day’s earnings. But this a small price they pay in their efforts to become self- aware and self- reliant workers.
Through these programs domestic workers learn to be more efficient at their jobs and have better self-confidence and knowledge of their rights and responsibilities as workers. Some of the topics of training include Leadership Training, Personality Development, Legal Awareness Training, Legislations and Social Security Schemes that are applicable to domestic workers. As an impact of our various capacity building programs, domestic workers have been empowered to fight for their rights when faced with difficulty with the employers. Thousands of domestic workers have come together to campaign for awareness of their rights, met with leaders of the country to lobby for legislations and have been champions for their own rights as well as rights of their colleagues.