Heather Rawling, Socialist Party national committee
The brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata, West Bengal in India, has reignited anger over the way women are treated. The victim was having a nap after an exhausting shift when she was attacked. The incident highlights the huge discontent over working conditions and lack of safe spaces for medical staff. The Indian Medical Association said that it has been protesting against violence for years and called for strike action of hospital workers who were already angry at their working conditions.
About one million doctors struck, calling for better protection for women, and increased security at hospitals. Protests have been held across India. Tens of thousands of women in West Bengal joined a ‘Reclaim the Night’ march demanding independence to live in freedom and without fear.
In 2012, hundreds of thousands protested against the rape and murder of Jyoti Singh, a young paramedic in Delhi. She was raped in a moving bus by several men and left to die on the streets. But very little has changed since then.
The doctors’ strike is an important development in the struggle to protect women at work and in the community. Women’s safety and freedom from sexual harassment should be taken up in all unions and workplaces.
The strike took place just a few weeks after India’s parliamentary elections where Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suffered a huge setback. Modi and the BJP’s authoritarian grip on society has been loosened, which probably gave the doctors more confidence to strike.
The health system in India has been in crisis for many years. Neoliberal policies, implemented over decades, put most of the healthcare system into private ownership. The public health care system has been chronically underfunded.
Modi has cynically used the doctors strike and the protests declaring that “monstrous behaviour against women should be severely and quickly punished.” But a rape occurs every 16 minutes in India and Modi has been prime minister since 2014.
The Modi government aims to achieve 8% GDP growth. To achieve that, it has been calculated that it will have to raise female labour force participation from 33% to 43.4% by 2030. But violence against women in India deters them from working. A report by Deloitte in 2024 showed that 46% of Indian women worry about their safety at work or on their commutes. There are a whole number of laws that are meant to protect women in India against violence and sexual assault, but they are largely ineffective.
The right to economic independence is essential for women to be able to make independent choices about how they live their lives. Being part of the wider labour movement and feeling their strength as part of the working class will help to break down barriers.
The labour movement must campaign against sexual harassment and assault, demand safe working practices, and fully staffed and safer public transport. As the economic crisis in India deepens, more workers will be forced into struggle. Through struggle and recognition of their common interest as workers, attitudes can change.
