Church leads protest for Indian domestic workers seeking justice

Published: 2003-12-16

NEW DELHI, India (CNS) -- A reported rape of a maid by her employer led some 200 domestic workers to participate in a church-led protest demanding respect for human rights. Protesters marched Dec. 7 from the Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi to the entrance of the Constitution Club, demanding security, just wages and an end to exploitation. "Please do not take away our dignity," one of the speakers pleaded toward the end of the demonstration. The protest by the domestic workers was organized by the Delhi Domestic Workers' Forum under the Justice and Peace Commission of the Delhi Archdiocese. Ursuline Sister Esther Pratiti, coordinator, told Catholic News Service that the protest was "to make the public aware of the denial of basic rights" to the domestic workers brought to New Delhi by middlemen from remote areas of the country. The church-led protest followed the alleged rape of a Catholic domestic maid by an Air Force officer in November and an attempt by police to shield the man from prosecution.

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