CHENNAI: Around 100 woman sanitary workers gathered at the Ripon Buildings on Women’s Day on Saturday, to discuss issues they face at workplace, facilitated by the Red Flag Union. Several women, on the condition of anonymity, recounted instances of sexual harassment from supervising staff and the increased risk of accidents after night conservancy operations were intensified in the city around three years ago.
“Several women sanitary staff were not comfortable with the night conservancy operations and had been asking me to speak to their supervisors to get their shifts changed,” said A Priyadharshini, councillor of ward 98.
“They end up working most hours of the day, even after their shift has ended, cooking and taking care of their children,” said Srinivasalu, general secretary of the Red Flag Union of conservancy workers under the city corporation.
Similarly, at a Women’s Day event at the Perumbakkam resettlement site, organised by Chennai-based Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC), the women thanked government for the one-stop crisis centre but asked for it to be made fully functional at the earliest. In a representation to the government, they also sought an all-women police station for the resettlement site and CCTV cameras in three places which they have identified as unsafe apart from high-mast lights in six places.