Lindsay Pereira: So much for the fairer sex

How do women work in Bombay Its a question that human resources professionals ought to ask themselves more often but probably dont because thinking about employee welfare isnt really encouraged in corporate India Its also why I have in all my years as a media professional yet to meet an HR representative who displayed any signs of empathy towards the conditions in which so many women work in our cityWe simply fail to consider how dehumanising our public transport is how demeaning it is for women and children who dont even have access to decent toilets File picA friend tells me about the 11hour shifts she is forced to work five days a week for a startup that routinely publishes articles on its blog about how brilliant its office deacutecor is She tells me about the complete lack of sensitivity towards female employees who have no choice but to figure out how to get to and from the office long after their legal eight hours are over The office is located in a swanky mall so far from railway stations that employees have no choice but to rely on radio cabs with no reimbursements from the company obviously to get home often after 11 pm She tells me about rude cab drivers drunk drivers drivers who routinely cancel trips illegally because the app companies dont care about customer service and even a driver who once asked one of her colleagues to get out in the middle of the Eastern Freeway at midnight because he didnt want to travel to her particular localityIf this is how women in our city function when they earn enough pay for a cab how about the millions forced to rely on public transport to get home Try getting into a local at Churchgate after 5 pm for an insight into the inhuman conditions in which so many of them travel to farflung suburbs hours away from their offices where they must then get into dismal kitchens and prepare dinners for their families Consider why so many women use their commutes not to relax because that is impossible but to complete chores like the cleaning and dicing of vegetables after having put in a full days work at their workplacesI spoke to a few other women about this to try and figure out if any of them like working in Bombay A number of them said they liked their jobs but couldnt see themselves working there for a prolonged period of time simply because it exhausted them Those who had the luxury of owning vehicles spoke of hours stuck in traffic unreasonable deadlines imposed by bosses always men naturally who simply didnt consider their physical wellbeing or deploy common sense when asking them to work long hours while they were menstruating and the unspoken shadow of sexual harassment that unsurprisingly looms larger than any of us care to thinkSome of these conversations broushyght to my mind a personal experience from a little over two years ago when I worked at a startup managed entirely by men and specifically complained to the female head of human resources about rampant sexism in the workplace The representative heard me out told me my accusations were serious and promised to do something about them She did nothingSenior management executives of that particular company continued to evaluate female colleagues in board rooms one of them insisted on his subordinates only hiring pretty women while a couple of the others spent hours discussing the personal lives of some of the women reporting to them I quit while the people at that company continue to be gainfully employed thereHuman resource professionals need to empathise more not because women can understand the needs of women better but because we all need to recognise that working in our city is a nightmare for millions We simply fail to consider how dehumanising our public transport is how demeaning it is for women and children who dont even have access to decent toilets and how none of this is ever taken into consideration by companies who turn a blind eye to how their female employees get to work and backSadly I dont expect this to change either Indias financial capital ignores everything from crumbling infrastructure to blatant corruption potholes to ruthless hospitals We dont even care enough to vote qualified people to power and watch television while elected officials sell parts of our city to the highest bidders Why would we start caring about women Its why no one raises en eyebrow at reports of millions dropping out of the workplace Why wouldnt theyWhen he isnt ranting about all things Mumbai Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet He tweets lindsaypereira Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news current affairs from Mumbai local news crime news and breaking headlines hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go