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 | Country/region
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.
GalleryNepal: Dalits campaign for equal rights
Dalit civil society organisations in Nepal have launched a 12-day campaign against caste discrimination and ‘untouchability’. The campaign will put pressure on the government to implement existing legislation against caste discrimination.
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.
UN experts speak out on caste issue
Seven UN Special Procedures mandate holders have issued a powerful media statement, focusing on the violence and discrimination suffered by the world’s ‘untouchables’, particularly the Dalits of South Asia.
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.
GalleryBritain bans caste discrimination
As the first country outside South Asia, the UK has decided to legislate against caste discrimination. This form of discrimination will now be included as “an aspect of race” in Britain’s equality legislation.
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.