Mindset change a must for dignity of domestic workers

Participants in a roundtable discussion in the city on Tuesday stressed the need for changing mindset to ensure dignity of domestic workers.
The discussion was held at Barisal Reporters Unity conference room.
Manusher Jonno Foundation in association with development organisation Association of Voluntary Action for Society (AVAS) organised the roundtable on ‘Marjadae Gori Samota” campaign for recognition of the dignified role of women in different aspects of life and society.
Sirajul Islam, programme coordinator of AVAS, and Sanjoy Biswas, manager of its child project, presented separate keynote papers. Rafia Aktar, monitoring and documentation officer of the project, conducted the programme participated by different media representatives.
A speaker noted that the article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948) proclaims that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, but practically women are often discriminated and their role and activities in the family, society and state remain unrecognised through different undignified ways.
Women do 80 percent of the 45 types of domestic works giving labour for 16-20 hours a day without any leave and wage and carry 15 percent more burden of a family than the males, they observed. Women account for 43 percent of the total labour forces, 80 percent of the garment manpower and about two lakh women remit their earned money from abroad.
Not only that, women yearly give average 2,600 hours of labour in the  agriculture sector while men give 1,800 hours of labour. Role of women would be 48 percent in gross domestic products, if their domestic works are counted, the participants added.

Mindset change a must for dignity of domestic workers

Participants in a roundtable discussion in the city on Tuesday stressed the need for changing mindset to ensure dignity of domestic workers. The discussion was held at Barisal Reporters Unity conference room. Manusher Jonno Foundation in association with development organisation Association of Voluntary Action for Society (AVAS) organised the roundtable on Marjadae Gori Samota campaign for recognition of the dignified role of women in different aspects of life and society. Sirajul Islam, programme coordinator of AVAS, and Sanjoy Biswas, manager of its child project, presented separate keynote papers. Rafia Aktar, monitoring and documentation officer of the project, conducted the programme participated by different media representatives. A speaker noted that the article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948) proclaims that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, but practically women are often discriminated and their role and activities in the family, society and state remain unrecognised through different undignified ways. Women do 80 percent of the 45 types of domestic works giving labour for 16-20 hours a day without any leave and wage and carry 15 percent more burden of a family than the males, they observed. Women account for 43 percent of the total labour forces, 80 percent of the garment manpower and about two lakh women remit their earned money from abroad. Not only that, women yearly give average 2,600 hours of labour in the agriculture sector while men give 1,800 hours of labour. Role of women would be 48 percent in gross domestic products, if their domestic works are counted, the participants added.