Status of Women Engaged in Manual Scavenging

Telangana State Consortium on Water Conservation
Image: WaterAid/India/Srishti Bhardwaj

In 2018 a baseline survey was undertaken in order to assess the status of women manual scavengers in four states of India, as part of a project “Strengthening rule of law and advancing rights and freedom of manual scavengers in India” supported by European Commission- European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights and implemented jointly by Association for Rural and Urban Needy, Centre for Equity Studies and WaterAid India.

The report highlights important aspects related to prevalence of different forms of manual scavenging work, inclusion under social security schemes and programmes, awareness and access to rights under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (PEMSR) Act of 2013, link between caste-based discrimination, patriarchy and manual scavenging work, etc.