Women Domestic Labourer in the Punjab: Exploitation, Stigma and Resilience
Keywords:
Gender Discrimination, Economic Vulnerability, Workplace Harassment, Labour ExploitationAbstract
This study explores the layered experiences of exploitation, social stigma, and resilience among women domestic workers in Punjab, Pakistan. Despite their critical contributions to household economies, these women remain among the most marginalized and undervalued segments of the labour force. Drawing upon qualitative data from 29 in-depth interviews, this study highlights the pervasive issues faced by these women, including delayed and withheld wages, emotional and verbal abuse, sexual harassment, religion and age-based discrimination, and lack of healthcare access. Although legal instruments such as the Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019 exist, enforcement remains weak, with little awareness or institutional accountability. The narratives presented in this study revealed the emotional labour and endurance of women who continue to work under oppressive conditions to support their families. By integrating primary data with scholarly literature, this study calls for comprehensive social, legal, and economic reforms to uplift and empower domestic workers and reshape societal perceptions toward domestic labour.
References
Agarwal, B. (2018). Caste, religion, and the domestic worker: A structural analysis of marginalization in South Asia. South Asian Studies Quarterly, 10(3), 134–149).
Agrawal, U., & Agarwal, S. (2018). Social Security for Domestic Workers in India. Socio-Legal Rev., 14, 30.
Ahmed, S., & Saleem, M. (2021). Exploitation in informal labour markets: A case study of domestic workers in Pakistan. Journal of South Asian Labour Studies, 8(2), 45–60).
Ali, S., & Khan, A. (2020). Gendered perceptions of domestic labour in urban Pakistan. Asian Journal of Gender Studies, 6(1), 77–93).
Anderson, B. (2000). Doing the dirty work?: The global politics of domestic labour. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274807354
Bashir, A. (2019). Gendered power relations and exploitation in domestic labour. Organization Studies, 46(8), 1123–1145.
Basu, A. (2006). Devalued and invisible: Domestic workers in South Asia. In R. K. Das (Ed.), Gender and labour in the global South (pp. 101–120).
Bhan, G., & Shivanand, S. (2020). Invisible labour, invisible lives: Urban domestic workers in South Asia. Journal of Asian Urban Studies, 12(3), 223–240).
Bilal, M., Ullah, I., & Ali Shah, S. U. (2024). Women’s Unpaid Domestic Labour: Implications for Household Decision Making in Dir, Pakistan. International Journal of Social Science Archives (IJSSA), 7(2).
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101).
Chaudhury, R. (2017). Invisible work, invisible rights: Informal sector exploitation in South Asia. Human Rights Review, 15(3), 92–109).
Deshingkar, P., & Akter, S. (2009). Migration and human development in India: New challenges and opportunities. UNDP. Retrieved from https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/19193/
Duffy, M. (2011). Making Care Count: A Century Of Gender, Race, And Paid Care Work USA: Rutgers University Press.
Hennekam, S., & Bennett, D. (2017). Sexual harassment in the creative industries. Gender, Work & Organization, 24(4), 417–434).
Hochschild, A. R. (2003). The commercialization of intimate life : A century of gender, race, and paid care work. USA: University of California Press.
Hochschild, A. R. (2012). The managed heart : Commercialization of human feeling (2nd ed.). USA: University of California Press.
Hunter, B., & Donovan, K. (2000). Social Exclusion. Social Capital, and Indigenous Australians: Measuring the Social Costs of Unemployment, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research Discussion Paper, (204).
International Labour Organization (2011). Decent work for domestic workers: Progress and prospects. ILO. Retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/4908CCBECF27D0A217D8899F8923CCE6
Kabeer, N. (2004). Globalization, labour standards, and women's rights. Feminist Economics, 10(1), 3–35).
Khan, A. (2014). Domestic workers and the law: A Pakistani perspective. Pakistan Journal of Legal Studies, 3(1), 34–49).
Khan, A., & Iqbal, B. (2020). Implementation challenges of the Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019. Policy brief.
Kim, P. Y., & Yon, K. J. (2019). Stigma, loss of face, and help-seeking attitudes among South Korean college students. The Counseling Psychologist, 47(3), 331-357.
Ludermir, A. B., & Lewis, G. (2003). Informal work and common mental disorders. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 38(9), 485-489
Madhok, S. (2017). Sexual harassment and spatial control. Feminist Review, 116(1), 64–83).
Mahanta, U., & Gupta, I. (2019). Recognition of the rights of domestic workers in India. Springer Nature Singapore 10, 978-981.
Mishra, R. (2015). Class and caste in informal labour. Indian Journal of Social Work, 76(2), 201–219).
Parveen, S., & Bano, R. (2019). Gender inequality and informal labour. International Journal of Gender Studies, 7(2), 102–116).
Qadeer, M. (2024). Pakistani Women's Employment as Domestically Employees. Al-Qawārīr, 5(4), 54-68.
Qureshi, S. (2019). Policy gaps and implementation failure. Policy & Society, 38(3), 312–328).
Rahman, S. (2021). Exploiting the invisible. Gender, Work & Society, 13(2), 71–85).
Raghuram, P. (2001). Caste and gender in the organisation of paid domestic work in India. Work, Employment and Society, 15(3), 607-617.
Ruan, N. (2023). Work Hierarchies and the Social Control of Workers. Retrieved from https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2461&context=facpub
Ruan, N. (2022). Work Hierarchies and Social Control of Labourers. Creighton L. Rev., 56, 191.
Sabir, M., & Qamar, F. (2021). Stigma, resistance and survival. Pakistan Journal of Women’s Studies, 28(1), 45–67).
Saeed, A., Farooq, N., & Tariq, S. (2018). Mental health challenges of women in informal labour. Pakistan Journal of Social Psychology, 3(1), 112–128).
Shahid, A. (2014). Exploring the limits of law: Women domestic workers in Pakistan and their struggle for empowerment. Retrieved from https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/12430
Sharma, A. (2016). Stigma, shame, and silence. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 39(2), 354–370).
Srinivasan, T. N. (2017). Task Force On Improving Employment Data-A Critique (No. 2016-166). Retrieved from https://www.mse.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/WORKING- PAPER-166-1.pdf
Silverman, R. M., & Patterson, K. (2021). Qualitative research methods for community development. Routledge: London
Standing, G. (2011). The precariat: The new dangerous class (p. 208). Bloomsbury academic. Retrieved from https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/58691
Tarar, M. G., Ahmed, R. I., & Saleem, S. (2022). Women’s financial status, autonomy and household bargaining in the Punjab: a feminist analysis. Pakistan Social Sciences Review, 6(2), 183-196.
Thakkar, S. (2024). Exploitation, harassment and violence: lived experiences of women paid domestic workers in India. Journal of South Asian Development, 19(1), 44-60.
Zulfiqar, A. (2021). Invisible labour: Job satisfaction and exploitation among female domestic workers in Pakistan. Gettysburg Social Sciences Review, 5(1), Article 6. Retrieved from https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/gssr/vol5/iss1/6
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Fatima Khalid, Dr. Maliha Gull Tarar
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
LEGALOPEDIA EDUCATINIA (PVT) LTD