Unseen Women: Hidden Livelihoods of Waste Work

Every day in the city of Mumbai, before dawn, a group of eight women, from 30’s to 60’s in age, leave their homes in Lallubhai Compound, Mankhurd and catch the first train southwest to Dharavi. Former residents of Dharavi's Navrang/Sanuallah Compound, which was forcibly demolished by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in a series of evictions in 2011, they work as a wastepicking collective, taking the same daily route through the lanes of Dharavi and sharing the profits from the sale of the plastic waste that they collect. This 20 minute film provides a glimpse into their working lives, experiences and struggles. It explores how collective self-organisation and everyday solidarity allows them to deal with the manifold threats, risks and challenges that they face: from predatory and unwanted harassment and abuse from the authorities, to the looming threat to their livelihoods of the Dharavi Redevelopment Plan. In the closing stages of the UN Plastics Treaty negotiations, a process from which the voices of frontlineworkers are largely missing or absent, the film draws public attention to the ‘green collar work’ undertaken by millions of waste workers around the world and the important role that such self-organised enterprise plays in enabling marginalised citizens to survive with dignity and independence.

This film has been made in collaboration with Compound 13 Lab’s community members