Several prominent activists, academics and scholars from across the globe have joined hands to condemn the Hathras case, saying an alarming number of rapes and killings have been reported in India just in the last month.
Rights groups said men from dominant castes frequently use sexual violence as a weapon to reinforce caste and gender hierarchies, which place India’s 200 million Dalits on the lowest rung of an ancient caste hierarchy.
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.
“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.”
“For Casteless Collective, gaana is a tool to end caste-based discrimination, which features in many spheres of Indian life.”
“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.
“The need of the hour is to clear the area and give maximum space to Dalit women to speak.”
"oppression and discrimination experienced by members of the community have been multidimensional – from brutal physical, emotional, psychological and sexual abuse to everyday microaggressions, leaving a haunting imprint on the psyches of the people."
"the very police administration and judicial system that Dalit women approach to seek justice works against their interests ... how long will this keep happening to our Dalit women and children and for how long must they be deprived of justice?"
Collection of press clippings on rape cases in India and Nepal in September 2020.
India's "untouchable" Catholics have threatened to split from the Indian hierarchy and establish a separate church if the Holy See continues to discriminate against low-caste clergy in the appointment of bishops and cardinals.
”I have seen the men of my neighbourhood die doing this. They have slowly vanished in the sewer one after the other. One goes and the other follows. I saw Ravi die in front of me.”