Hardships for domestic workers in India

Farzana Bibi, a maid female domestic servant, a resident in a slum, says she, used to earn Rupees 300 a day ($2.6), she says she has been told not to continue to stop the spread of the virus, as India remains under an unprecedented extended lockdown over the highly contagious coronavirus (COVID-19) on April 22, 2020 in New Delhi, India. Yawar Nazir/Getty Images

On a typical humid Sunday afternoon in July, Soni Tirki would be polishing off the chicken and rice that her mother makes every time the 20-year-old returns home. "I sit at ease and enjoy my meal," Tirki says. "I eat however much I want. Nobody can stop me. Nobody can judge me."

But on this Sunday, she has come to a village on the outskirts of New Delhi to join around 20 other women to discuss issues they have faced during the Covid-19 pandemic. As live-in domestic workers, the women rarely get a chance to step out of their employers' homes; in fact, some expect to get an earful in the evening, but they say they don't care anymore. After all, many of them say their salaries have been pending for several months. And, under the pretext of Covid-19 safety, their employers have further restricted the workers' limited freedoms.