Hello, hope you are doing well. In our special edition newsletter- we talk about 3 events that coincide and relate and talk about the status of women in different sectors of the economy and different parts of the world.
The requirements may vary, but the common ask for equity and representation stays the same. Here you go…
Job Board
Research Assistant, Policy Innovation Lab
Remote. To apply, click here
South Asia Lead, Human Rights Policy, Meta
Location- Gurugram. To apply, click here
India’s 1 million ASHAs
ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activists) play a key role in supporting India’s public health infrastructure. The World Health Organisation recently honored them with the Global Health Leaders Award-2022 as they saved millions of lives from Covid-19.
For a long time now, they have been demanding for the regularisation of jobs, on time and better payments. The pandemic exacerbated the existing challenges. Here, we cover the role of ASHAs and the challenges they face.
ASHAs have plethora of responsibilities under this cap, some of them are- mobilizing the community into adopting good health practices, counseling women on birth preparedness, and fueling the immunization drive by ensuring access and availability to targeted groups.
The Challenges
Regularisation of jobs
ASHAs demand to have regularised jobs, so they can be recognized as workers. Not holding the benefit, deprives them of access to social and financial protection. They instead have to rely on temporary welfare measures.
Overworked & Underpaid:
While their work description and hours are equivalent to a full-time job, they are not paid a regular monthly salary. Rather an incentive-based system has been created to provide payments.
During the pandemic, the working hours increased to twelve to fifteen hours a day. Moreover, over 30 % of ASHAs claim they have not received the incentive amount till now, as reported in a study by BehanBox and Azim Premji University.
Sometimes, we accompany patients for deliveries in the middle of the night, stretching our working hours from 24 to 48 hours. We travel at least 2 km every day and 5-15 km in coastal and hilly areas. To date, we do not receive any allowance for travel. The last time we received uniforms was before the pandemic. We do not get any healthcare benefits ourselves. Why are we doing all this? During COVID, we even had to fight for basic things like masks. Welcome the award, but tired of fighting.
- D Nagalakshmi, The Karnataka ASHA Karyakarthara Sangha
(As reported and published by The Quint)
Pending Payments
ASHAs have been protesting for a long time now for pending wages and incentives. The pandemic has further pushed them into debt due to inadequate remuneration and delay in payments amidst job losses in their families, Behan Box’s study revealed.
When the pandemic hit Delhi, 48-year-old ASHA worker Sushila Devi was scared to go for COVID-19 duty. “My husband is doing service for the country over there and I am doing mine here. Initially, I used to be scared, but we have to work, right? We (ASHA workers) have risked our lives and worked during the COVID-19 period, but the government is not paying us. This is wrong.
-Sushila Devi, Delhi
(As reported and published by The Hindu)
(Sources: Mint, The Hindu, The News Minute, Hindustan Times)
The Supreme Court Verdict
For decades, the sex workers in India, have been awaiting action for better rights and protection. Moving in this direction, the Supreme Court on May 27th, 2022 issued a historic verdict in favor of sex workers.
The three-bench judge comprising Justice L Nageswara Rao, BR Gavai, and AS Bopanna gave six directions for safeguarding sex workers’ rights.
Right to dignified life- Reinforcing the importance of Article 21, the Supreme Court emphasized that every individual including the sex workers have the right to lead a dignified life.
Equal protection under the law- Emphasizing the powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Supreme court stated that sex workers are entitled to equal protection under the law based on age and consent. When consent is involved, the police must not take any criminal action.
Voluntary sex work is not illegal- Sex workers should not be arrested, penalized, harassed, or victimized during raids on brothels. As sex work is not illegal in India, but running brothels stays to be unlawful. They must be given medical attention immediately as given to the sexual assault survivors.
Involvement in the decision-making processes- While formulating and implementing policies and programs related to sex workers, their representatives must be involved in all the processes.
Issuance of Identification - Before this judgment, Aadhar cards were not being issued to sex workers without any proof of residence. Now, the top court had directed states and Union Territories to initiate the process of identification of the sex workers, even for those who do not have any proof of their residence.
(Sources: First Post, The Hindu, Telegraph, Live Law, Indian Express)
The Other Side of the World on Women and Abortion
The point of contention over whether abortion should be legal or not has been a never-ending issue. It has further divided people around the world into two groups, pro-choice and pro-life. These two sides have time and again come into conflict on the issue of abortion.
The ongoing proceedings of the Roe v wade case and the judgment for abortion ban in the Texas and Oklahoma of the United States of America, have once again fuelled the debate for the same.
The Republican governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt signed into law the abortion ban in the US, making his state the first to effectively end all access to the procedure.
The Law
The law authorizes doctors to remove an unborn child caused by miscarriage, when a woman is in a life-threatening situation, or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest reported to law enforcement. The law also does not apply to the use of morning-after pills such as Plan B or any type of contraception.
Stakeholders’ Say-
Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst for the abortion-rights supporting Guttmacher Institute
The impact will be disastrous for Oklahomans. It will also have severe ripple effects, especially for Texas patients who had been traveling to Oklahoma in large numbers after the Texas six-week abortion ban went into effect in September.
When state politicians passed the law last week, the vice-president, Kamala Harris, called it
the latest in a series of blatant attacks on women by extremist legislators.
(Source: Politico, Guardian)
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