KOCHI: Despite Kerala sending many domestic servants to Gulf countries, the social stigma faced by migrant and domestic workers coming from other states is still as bad.
An incident like the one at Marine Drive where a Tamil maid fell off the balcony raises many questions regarding the attitude of Malayalis, despite claiming to be educated and broad-minded.
According to Kerala State Women’s Chairperson MC Josephine, several women are part of the groups of migrants coming into the state from other states and working as house helps in the city.
“These women workers should also be protected with laws similar to the one aiding migrant labourers. Steps to ensure their safety at the workplace must be taken,” she said.
In 2016, Dr Sunil Kumar P and Dr Pramod SK of Loyola College of Social Sciences had conducted a case study on psychological problems faced by migrant labourers in Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram, which was sponsored by the Kerala Institute of Labour and Employment.
In the study, alienation is considered to be caused by the negative attitude of Malayalee society, Malayalee co-workers, and government officials.
“Among the psychological issues, isolation and ill-treatment are the most prominent and depression is the least reported issue. These factors have an impact on almost all facets of their personality resulting in low self-esteem and sadness. These are manifested in their behaviour patterns which snowball eventually,” stated the report.
The case study also revealed that some contractors behave rudely and cheat the migrants and there is even non-payment of salary and unfair settlement at the time of repatriation.