Gender Equality Promises and Informal Labor in India

Can promises on gender equality made in Australia help a 16-year-old cigarette maker with no toilet in India?

Do not add a stand – it won’t appear on this kind of newsletter I first spoke to Shazia Khanum for a report on informal jobs. The 16-year-old’s fingers moved swiftly as she talked, rolling bidis – tendu leaves tied around tobacco. She rolls about 300-500 of the cigarettes daily, earning about £1. In the cramped workshop in Karnataka’s Yarab Nagar, India, where she works, there are no toilets or sanitary facilities. Asked how she manages her period, Khanum pointed to a makeshift curtained spac...

By Cheena Kapoor