In India, the unpaid domestic work done by tens of millions of women has received little attention. But a recent court judgment in South India giving legal recognition to a housewife's contribution to her husband's income has been hailed as a landmark ruling that could set the ground for reform.
Women's rights advocates say the judgment is particularly significant in a country where women's participation in the workforce is very low and most women are homemakers.
In a domestic dispute case in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, a husband had claimed ownership over all properties and assets owned by the couple that he said had been bought with his earnings. After his death in 2007, the case was pursued by the children.
In his verdict handed down on June 21, Justice Krishnan Ramasamy of the Madras High Court ruled that the woman who had looked after the family had an equal share in the property and assets.
The woman's lawyer had argued that when they married, the couple had a mutual understanding that she would stay at home and take care of their children while the husband could work abroad.
The court said that the contribution made by either the husband by earning or the wife by serving and looking after the family and children would mean that both are entitled equally to whatever they earned by their joint effort.
Saying that a housewife works 24 hours without holidays performing various roles including that of chef, manager, "home doctor," and "home economist," the judge said that the wife had helped in the acquisition of the family assets by performing household chores for decades. "And moreover, she sacrificed her dreams and spent her entire life towards the family and children," judge noted in his verdict.
While there is no law that recognizes a wife's contribution, there is nothing to prevent a court from doing so, the judge said.
"It is very significant ruling because it recognizes the contribution of women through unpaid domestic labor and converts it into a share into the husband's property," Flavia Agnes, a women's rights lawyer told VOA.
160 million homemakers
As in most countries, women bear the brunt of unpaid work in India. The country's estimated 160 million homemakers spend six to seven hours a day on household chores, according to several estimates.
The share of women in the labor force is around 29%, according to government figures — lower than in most countries. Worldwide, unpaid care work is seen as the main barrier preventing women from getting into or progressing in jobs.
"The recent judgement will certainly contribute to strengthening the rights of homemakers," said Agnes.
Experts point out that it would be particularly significant for divorced women. In India, divorced women get maintenance and alimony, but they cannot claim a share in the husband's property until they prove their financial contribution in purchasing it.
"The judgment will have far-reaching implications for divorced women who otherwise spend years collecting paltry maintenance amounts and end up economically far worse than when they married," Prabha Kotiswaran, Professor of Law and Social Justice at King's College, London, told VOA in an email.
Indian courts have awarded compensation for work done by homemakers in the past in scores of road accident cases in which a woman died.
Kotiswaran, who researched about 200 such cases filed over five decades since 1968 said judges had awarded compensation to their dependents by putting a value on unpaid work of women who have died in road accidents.
'Pathbreaking' ruling
But the recent judgement is the first that gives a homemaker claim to her husband's property on the grounds that his work would not have been possible without her role.
Kotiswaran calls it a "pathbreaking" judgment. "Together these cases will open the doors for a long overdue reform in Indian law, namely creating a matrimonial property regime to ensure that married women can secure economic justice," she told VOA. "I hope that other courts around the country will follow this decision and that parliament takes note of the need for urgent law reform in this area."
However, high courts in other Indian states are not bound by the precedent set by the Tamil Nadu court. That is why women's rights advocates warn that the road to acknowledgement of the economic contribution made by homemakers is still long.
