Women in rural India are experiencing trauma from moderating violent and pornographic content to train artificial intelligence systems, according to a new report. Monsumi Murmu, 26, works as a content moderator from her village in Jharkhand state, viewing up to 800 videos and images daily to help algorithms recognise abuse and harm.
Murmu described the psychological toll: 'The first few months, I couldn’t sleep. I would close my eyes and still see the screen loading.' She now feels 'blank' rather than disturbed, though nightmares persist. Researchers say emotional numbing with delayed psychological fallout is common in this work.
Milagros Miceli, a sociologist leading the Data Workers' Inquiry, called content moderation 'dangerous work, comparable to any lethal industry.' A December study found traumatic stress as the main psychological risk among moderators in India, with significant secondary trauma even where support existed.
About 80% of data-annotation and content moderation workers in India come from rural or marginalised backgrounds, with women forming half or more of the workforce. Companies view women as reliable and detail-oriented, offering home-based work that avoids migration but may reinforce marginalisation, according to researcher Priyam Vadaliya.
