159 entries found
At a UN Human Rights Council side event on the right to sanitation, Dalit human rights defender Manjula Pradeep highlighted how caste and gender discrimination shape who bears the burden of unsafe and degrading sanitation work. Drawing attention to the risks faced by Dalit women engaged in hazardous sanitation work in India, she urged governments to end manual scavenging in practice, ensure safe working conditions and alternative livelihoods, and include sanitation workers and Dalit women in decision-making. “Sanitation cannot be called dignified if it depends upon another person’s indignity,” she said. The event was co-organised by IDSN and reinforced that progress on sanitation must be measured not only by access to facilities, but by whether systems protect everyone’s health, dignity, equality, and rights.
IDSN brought together #DalitVoicesForJustice, UN experts, civil society and Member States for our HRC62 side-event, Caste, Gender and Power: #DalitVoicesForJustice on 2 July at the UN Human Rights Council. The event highlighted the urgent need to explicitly address caste and gender discrimination as a root cause of widespread human rights violations across South Asia. This was underscored by powerful addresses from the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism, Dr. Ashwini K.P. and the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Prof. Nicolas Levrat.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has issued wide-ranging recommendations to India to strengthen action against caste discrimination, reaffirming that caste-based discrimination is fully covered by the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Following its August 2026 review of India, CERD raised concerns over persistent segregation, caste-based violence, discrimination against Dalit women, barriers to justice, manual scavenging, bonded labour and discrimination in education and access to services. The Committee called for stronger implementation of existing protections, improved access to remedies and better data on the situation of Dalits. Ahead of the review, IDSN and Minority Rights Group International submitted a joint alternative report documenting continuing caste-based discrimination and gaps in implementation of previous CERD recommendations.
The UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Professor Nicolas Levrat, has urged Nepal to take stronger action to ensure that Dalits and minority communities can fully enjoy their rights after meeting with several IDSN members in Nepal.
During Nepal’s fourth-cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR), UN Member States’ recommendations called for stronger action against caste-based discrimination, “untouchability”, and related patterns of exclusion and violence affecting Dalits, including Dalit women and Dalit children.
At the Eighteenth session of the UN Forum on Minority Issues in 2025, IDSN delegates highlighted the urgent need to address caste discrimination, violence and exclusion across South Asia. Dalit delegates from South Asia raised concerns around institutional impunity, structural marginalisation of Dalit women and the shrinking civic space for human rights defenders. They also emphasised the vital contributions of Dalit women workers and activists in fostering accountability, dignity and social cohesion at local and global levels
The policy paper details how women from communities discriminated on the basis of work and descent (e.g. Dalit, Haratine etc.) suffer overlapping, structural discrimination combining gender, caste or descent, and socio-economic marginalization. It shows that these women face exclusion from basic services, disproportionate poverty, unsafe and informal employment, violence and harmful traditional norms, lack of political voice, and barriers in education and health. The report underscores that existing laws and policies often fail to reach them, either through weak implementation or because they are not designed with descent- and gender-sensitive lenses. It offers examples of promising practices and calls for state and UN actors to adopt intersectional approaches: data disaggregation, legal recognition of descent-based discrimination, targeted policy action, meaningful participation of affected women, and stronger accountability mechanisms.
On 3 February 2025, Durga Sob, founder of the Feminist Dalit Organisation (FEDO) and a leading advocate for Dalit women’s rights, delivered a statement in connection with the 90th Session of the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Committee’s review of Nepal. Representing both FEDO and IDSN, Ms. Sob highlighted the entrenched discrimination and social exclusion faced by Dalit women and girls in Nepal.
Take-aways on caste and gender intersectionality from the report “Tripartite Marginalisation” in South Asia: In countries like Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Dalits face overlapping discrimination due to factors such as caste, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, disability and religion. This multi-layered disadvantage severely restricts their access to basic rights. Hazardous Labour: Dalit women are disproportionately forced into dangerous and informal jobs, most notably manual scavenging. The vast majority of those engaged in this degrading work are Dalit women, who are then denied access to basic necessities like clean water, healthcare, and other goods and services. Violence with Impunity: Caste and gender-based violence are rampant, serving to reinforce oppressive social hierarchies. This violence often goes unpunished due to systemic discrimination within justice systems. Examples include trafficking and forced prostitution, sexual violence against Dalit women as a tool of caste oppression, and forced religious conversions or marriages. In Nepal, a significant number of human trafficking survivors are Dalit women, with Badi Dalit women being especially vulnerable due to historical prejudices. LGBTQ+ Dalit individuals also face high risks of physical and sexual violence, and Dalit children endure severe social exclusion and corporal punishment in schools. Dalit Women and mainstream feminist movements: Dalit feminist scholars have tirelessly brought to light the specific social, sexual and cultural contexts that shape Dalit women’s lives. They show how Dalit women’s bodies, identities and work have been historically controlled and exploited. The report notes that Dalit women are often marginalised even within feminist academic circles, underscoring that any feminist movement that ignores caste is fundamentally flawed and complicit in perpetuating caste hierarchies. The Special Rapporteur outlines essential elements to tackle discrimination: Understand the roots: It’s vital to conduct systemic, racial and historical analyses of oppression, including caste. The report warns against a superficial use of “intersectionality” without truly dissecting the power systems and privilege that fuel inequality. Without this, the concept risks losing its power to dismantle systemic discrimination. Listen to affected communities: The diverse experiences of those facing caste discrimination must be central to all efforts. Full and effective participation of caste-oppressed communities in all policy and decision-making spaces is non-negotiable. The report highlights a worrying trend: Dalit communities experience low representation in policymaking in India. Collect disaggregated data: Gathering data that is disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and caste, among other identities, is described as a critical tool. This “intersectional data” is powerful because it makes invisible communities and their struggles visible, challenges stereotypes and exposes systemic disparities. Demand justice and reparation: Laws must be expanded to include all forms of intersectional discrimination. Beyond this, the report champions comprehensive and structural reparatory justice approaches. These are crucial for acknowledging and fully addressing the harms of historical atrocities, especially those related to caste oppression. True justice, the report asserts, must be grounded in the lived experiences of those who have suffered systemic racism and intersectional discrimination.
2025 Intersectionality report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism makes it clear: caste and gender oppression and discrimination are not isolated issues but deeply interconnected forms of systemic violence. It highlights how understanding the concept of intersectionality is vital for unmasking the complex layers of discrimination and exclusion. The report also details how one-size-fits-all solutions simply don’t work, because the experiences of caste-oppressed communities are highly complex and varied. An intersectional lens helps to challenge harmful stereotypes and portrayals of these communities as homogenous. The report also highlights the need to challenge hate-speech online as well as offline.
A Joint Submission by Dalit CSOs Consortium to the United Nations - Universal Periodic Review 51st Session (Fourth Cycle) of the UPR Working Group of the Human Rights Council (HRC) Concerning Caste-based Discrimination and Violence against Dalits in Nepal Submitted by: Dalit CSOs Consortium for UPR Nepal (DCC-UN) This consortium comprises over 30 Dalit-led organizations dedicated to the empowerment and advancement of the Dalit community. Operating across various sectors and regions of the country, the member organizations bring a diverse range of experiences and expertise to their collective efforts. In collaboration with: International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN)
IDSN input on intersectionality from a racial justice perspective to Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism This report has had input from Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network (PDSN), All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM)- National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), Bangladesh Dalit and Excluded Rights Movement (BDERM), Better World Shelter and Feminist Dalit Organisation. It is impossible to address intersectionality without a focus on gender and gender justice from a racial justice perspective. Therefore, this submission takes the intersectionality of caste and gender as its central premise.
Submitting Organisations - The joint shadow report was submitted by the Feminist Dalit Organisation and the International Dalit Solidarity Network.
This is a summary brief - The full report submitted for the UN CEDAW 2025 review can be downloaded here https://tinyurl.com/IDSN-FEDO-CEDAW2025 Submitting Organisations - The joint shadow report was submitted by the Feminist Dalit Organisation and the International Dalit Solidarity Network. The FEDO is a Dalit women-led Nepalese NGO. FEDO works towards a discrimination-free society where dignity, human-rights, equal participation and benefits from development are afforded to Dalit women. The IDSN is a global membership network advocating and raising awareness for Dalit human rights.
Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (GFoD) Submission to Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls to the UN General Assembly on violence against women andgirls in sport - includes information on Dalit women and girls in Nepal and India
Joint submission by IDSN and Nepal NGOs to the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Woman (CEDAW) - 2024 review of Nepal. Highlight the need for action on caste and gender justice in Nepal.
In a significant development at the 55th session of the Human Rights Council in March 2024, Bangladesh’s review under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) highlighted critical recommendations focused on eliminating caste-based discrimination, with specific references to the plight of the Dalit community. These recommendations were crucially also accepted by the state.
An IDSN delegation of Dalit human rights defenders participated in the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights held on 27-29 November as well as the UN Forum on Minority Issues, held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 30 November – 1 December 2023. The delegation made an important impact giving statements and participating in panels, sessions and events.
On 30 September 2023, Probir Sircar, from IDSN’s affiliate organisation, Parittran, was invited by UPR Info, to deliver a statement during the pre-session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Bangladesh in Palais des Nations, Geneva. The event was organised in view of the upcoming Universal Periodic Review of Bangladesh, which will take place on 13 November 2023.
In March 2023, IDSN, Parittran, Bangladesh Dalit and Excluded Rights Movement, DALIT, and Nagorik Uddyog collaboratively submitted a report to the Universal Periodic Review Secretariat of the UN. This report, based on consultations ongoing since 2018, highlighted the situation of Dalits in Bangladesh.
