GalleryTake action to improve conditions for Dalit women
Women and girls facing caste-based discrimination need special protections (Press release from Human Rights Watch, IMADR, Minority Rights Group International and IDSN)
Archive | India
GalleryPillay pledges support for Dalit women
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has reiterated her commitment to ending caste discrimination. In a statement to a UN side event on Dalit women, she also called on UN member states to address the issue.
GalleryIndia: Official Dalit population exceeds 200 million
Figures from the 2011 census confirm that there are more than 200 million Scheduled Castes (the official term for Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist Dalits) in India. The total number of Dalits is probably much higher as Muslim and Christian Dalits are not included in these figures.
GalleryCall for UN focus on Dalit women
IDSN has urged UN member states to recognise Dalit women as a particularly vulnerable group in the upcoming annual resolution in the Human Rights Council on violence against women.
GalleryCulture of impunity harms Dalit women
On the last day of her visit to India, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Ms Rashida Manjoo, said that Dalit women experience some of the worst forms of discrimination and oppression.
GalleryHaryana: Dalit villagers are living in fear
Following the attack on 200 Dalit families by a dominant caste mob that was angered by an inter-caste marriage, many Dalits have fled Pabnava village in Haryana. Those who remain feel extremely insecure.
GalleryDalits launch land rights campaign
Thousands of Dalit activists gathered in Delhi over the weekend to campaign for land rights. They hope to mobilise millions of India’s Dalits to file claims for land.
MRG: End violence against Dalit women
It is time for comprehensive action to end violence against Dalit women and girls, says Minority Rights Group International on International Women’s Day. The full statement follows here.
GalleryDalits affected by ‘implementation gap’
The UN Independent Expert on minority issues spoke at a UN event on 28 February of the lack of implementation of laws that are supposed to protect Dalits from discrimination and caste-related crimes.
India: Dalit human rights defender murdered
Chandrakant Gaikwad, a 30-year old Dalit human rights defender from Maharashtra, was shot dead on 12 February. His suspected killer had previously issued threats against Mr Chandrakant for filing an atrocity case against him.