Garment worker abuse in India’s factories has intensified due to fashion brands’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, Asia Floor Wage Alliance and Society for Labour & Development. We collected testimonies from 90 women in 31 factories across three major garment-producing hubs in India: Delhi NCR, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
This report is an attempt by Dasra and the India Climate Collaborative to draw attention to the unique space that girls and women occupy in the climate crisis today.
Vincent Raj Arokiasamy, founder of the organisation “Evidence” in India, has been awarded the Council of Europe’s Raoul Wallenberg Prize for his outstanding determination and persistence in bringing meaningful change to the lives of the Dalits, historically known as “untouchables”.
India has approximately 100 million Dalit women. Sixty million of them are employed in domestic labour. 2006 Right Livelihood Laureate Ruth Manorama has dedicated her life to achieving equality and social justice for them, both at the national and international level.
In most of the countries of South Asia, hate speech is increasingly used by majority groups against minorities on the basis of religion, ethnicity or linguistic difference. Some of the groups under attack, in turn, are found to be victimising others at the same time. The common denominator driving hate speech in the region currently are the ubiquitous online platforms, primarily social media.
Survey by the SR on contemporary forms of slavery
Many businesses, mainstream trade unions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) alike, are not aware of caste and how it may relate to them if they operate in countries in South Asia. With a lack of knowledge on the realities of caste and its consequences, even progressive, responsible businesses may undermine their own efforts to protect workers’ rights and implement responsible business codes and the UNGPs.
This year, the ‘OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector’ took place from the 22nd till the 24th of February. This forum is an annual event during which multiple topics – linked to due diligence in clothing and shoes production chains – are discussed by many different stakeholders.
IDSN submission to the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of Slavery for his study about slavery in the informal sector, to be presented at the 77th session of the UNGA.
The recent controversy around actor-comedian Vir Das’s show ‘I come from two Indias’ sparked a debate around the perception of India on the international front. While Vir talked about various issues in the 6-minute monologue, he did not utter a single word against the darkest reality of India – caste dominance.
Harvard University is the latest U.S. school to add measures protecting caste-oppressed students following a push from graduate workers and a national organization.
What do Indians think of love and marriage? Journalist Rukmini S draws on data to piece together a picture of the socio-political realities that underpin marriage and companionship in the country.
The report captures the possible widening gap in educational attainment between the SC/ST students and others during the Covid 19.
On 14 November the Alderbugh Cinema DocFest invited the IDSN Executive Director to speak about Dalit women human rights defenders and caste in South Asia at the screening of the award winning documentary Writing with Fire.
Sanitation workers in Mumbai were declared ‘volunteers’ under a dubious privatisation plan, and denied their rightful wages. A protest led to further injustice.
Brief and recommendations in relation to the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights – 29 November- 1 December The rape and murder of a 20-year-old Dalit factory worker has attracted attention to poor working conditions and caste- and gender-based inequalities in India’s garment industry.
The most recent Global Multidimensional Poverty Index includes caste as an important indicator of poverty in India. According to this method of measuring poverty, progress has been made, but Dalits and Adivasis are still disproportionately poor and women and girls are lagging behind.
I witnessed firsthand the drastic change in people’s personalities before & after joining the community library. That sparked an idea that changed my life- could I replicate this in my village?
In a recent report the National Council of Women Leaders, a coalition of women activists from marginalised communities across India, make recommendations for assemblies, governments and constitutional commissions to end sexual violence against Dalit women and girls.
As we mark Black History Month this October, we celebrate the incredible activists of colour worldwide who’ve fought for justice and equality and helped shape a better world. Here at Anti-Slavery International, our staff and trustees shed light on who inspires them in their work as abolitionists.