Women engaged in manual scavenging face the double burden of caste and gender-based discrimination. Let us pledge to support their dignity, health and rights. A film by Nirman Chowdhury, produced by Sudharak Olwe, for WaterAid India. The first part of a series.
The focus of this report is to use evidence-based information to highlight the issue of child labour in the sugarcane sector within its key socio-economic intersections such as gender, caste, migration and structural inequalities in the Indian agriculture sector. Children are pushed into hazardous labour due to structural poverty amongst the harvesters, most of whom are Tribals, Adivasi and Dalit. The intersections of migration, debt bondage, gender-based risks and structured social inequalities such as that of Dalits and Adivasis together play a role in making the problem of child labour more complex. All of these cross cutting issues must be kept in mind when addressing child labour in the sugarcane supply chain and in other agricultural crops in India.
In August 2020, Global March Against Child Labour released an evidence-based report, providing an overview of the situation of child labour with a gender lens in sugarcane harvesting in India. The report highlights that children are pushed into hazardous child labour due to structural poverty among harvesters, most of whom are from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, also referred to as DBA (Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi/Tribal) in this article, because of exploitative hiring practices resulting in debt bondage. It was found that traditional gender-based norms contributed significantly to child labour by normalising unequal wages and unpaid family work.
Sanitation workers have long been marginalised across South Asia because of stigma around the nature of their work and discrimination based on caste, ethnicity and religion. The COVID-19 pandemic magnified the considerable occupational and health hazards they already faced, leaving many working with limited protection and almost no formal guidance or support. To understand the nature and extent of the challenges sanitation workers have faced during lockdowns, we facilitated studies in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, through telephone interviews with sanitation workers and key informants. The study revealed common insights
This report presents the findings of a study that examined nine case studies of sanitation workers in low- and middle-income countries, predominantly focusing on emptying pits and tanks, providing transportation of fecal sludge, and performing sewer maintenance. It is an initial analysis into a growing body of work on sanitation workers, but already the findings highlight several action areas to ensure that efforts in reaching Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 6.2 and 6.3 do not com- promise the dignity, health, and rights of the work- force. Collecting data from literature and key informant interviews, the nine cases provide an overview of the key challenges sanitation workers face. The report also addresses good practices and suggests areas for action.
The FEDO Quarterly Issue 45: July-Sept 2020
E newsletter No: 002
“the ‘Beijing Platform for Action’… laid the roadmap for ‘gender mainstreaming’ in public policies, recognising the distinct disadvantages faced by women from marginalised communities.”
COVID-19: Women MPs On The frontline series - Dalit Member of Parliament Chinta Anuradha shares her views on the issues faced by Dalit communities
“The statistics for Dalits is equally skewed: Over 21.7 percent of convicted inmates, 21 percent undertrials and 18.15 percent detainees in Indian prisons were Dalits. Their share in population is, however, around 16.6 percent.”
"Caste prejudices and over-policing of certain communities are important social factors behind the significant presence of marginalised caste groups in jails ... the result is that social inequities in society get replicated inside of prisons."
“For Casteless Collective, gaana is a tool to end caste-based discrimination, which features in many spheres of Indian life.”
10 Indian states identify 40% of districts 'atrocity prone' towards Dalits: Report (The New Indian Express) “There were multiple instances of murder, attempt to murder, attack on human rights defenders, police brutality, sexual violence with the coalition of Dalits documenting at least 100 such cases between April to June”
“Is it really possible advocating for inclusion without acknowledging the history and lived experiences of marginalised people?‘”
“the State must acknowledge the crimes as caste atrocities and not as law and order issues.”
“Six Dalit groups, headed by the NCDC, held a virtual conference recently and resolved to appeal to the Indian Church, the apostolic nuncio and the pope to stop “visible and invisible discrimination” against them.”
Khalid has spoken across India and articulated the dreams of all young Indians. “He staked his claim to the full measure of citizenship, he spoke for all marginal peoples, and above all Umar spoke for peace,”
“Maria Arena, the chief of the panel, said that protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act have led to “arbitrary detentions and an unnecessary loss of life”. She said that journalists and peaceful critics were being arrested under “draconian counter-terrorism and sedition laws”
The central government’s actions ‘mimic that of authoritarian regimes’ that cannot take criticism and target those who speak out, the organisations said.
The Real Story: India's Dalits: Fighting for justice (BBC Podcast) The current racial justice movement in the United States is inspiring Dalit activists to be move assertive in speaking up for their rights – but what gains can Dalits expect to make? What is at the core of the discrimination and prejudice against them? And why are Dalit women especially targeted for sexual violence? Ritula Shah and guests discuss the future of Dalits in India.