319 entries found
New research on Migrant Bonded Labour in India, released by the National Campaign Committee for the Eradication of Bonded Labour (NCCEBL), reveals a stark caste pattern among rescued migrant bonded labourers. Based on testimonies from around 950 workers, the survey finds that all surveyed labourers belonged to marginalised caste groups, with 63% from Scheduled Castes (Dalits), 13% from Scheduled Tribes, and 24% from Other Backward Classes, and none from the general category. The report also documents serious gaps in State support following rescue, noting that 63% of workers rescued after 2016 did not receive the interim travel assistance mandated immediately upon release, and that many eligible workers, particularly women and children, received no compensation at all.
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
This briefing highlights the responsibilities of fashion companies in relation to the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework (UN Guiding Principles), and assesses the key ways in which fashion companies compound the failure of states and factory employers to protect workers and respect freedom of association. In this briefing, Amnesty International analyses the areas where fashion companies can work harder to promote freedom of association and decent working conditions across their supply chain in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. We identify how the current model of complex supply chains and privatized auditing in the industry diffuses responsibility and places a low value on the labour of the predominantly female garment workers, solidifying an exploitative business model which fashion companies need to address at its core. We make recommendations for how these companies can play a much larger role in promoting freedom of association for workers in their supply chain. This briefing is designed to be read alongside Amnesty International’s Stitched Up: Denial of Freedom of Association for Garment Workers in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka which looks in more detail at the human rights violations in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and the role of states and employers (supplier factories).
The Overworked and Underpaid (2025) report by Arisa examines labour rights violations in Pakistan’s garment industry, revealing systemic exploitation and precarity. From a caste perspective, it highlights how caste-affected and scheduled caste communities, often migrating from rural Sindh and southern Punjab, are funnelled into the most insecure, lowest-paid jobs in urban factories. Dalit Christians, in particular, are frequently relegated to cleaning and sanitation work, reflecting entrenched caste hierarchies even within urban industrial settings. These workers face compounded discrimination, invisibility in official data, and minimal access to unions or grievance mechanisms. Their marginalised social status intensifies vulnerability to wage theft, forced overtime, and retaliation for speaking up. The report underscores the need for brands and policymakers to integrate a caste lens into supply-chain due diligence and labour reforms to ensure meaningful inclusion and redress for caste-affected workers. The report is also available in Urdu here https://lnkd.in/eBqGke-3
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.
Sanitation work in Pakistan is disproportionately assigned to non-Muslims who belong to so-called “lower castes”, often without real choice in the matter. This report explores how communities in Pakistan that are marginalized due to their caste and religious identities experience compounded discrimination in Pakistan’s sanitation sector. Pakistani authorities must abide by international human rights law and standards and extend rights to sanitation workers without discrimination on the basis of class, caste and religion through specific legislative action to address caste-based discrimination, treating sewerage work as hazardous and ensuring effective implementation of labour laws to sanitation work. 29 July 2025 Index Number: ASA 33/0120/2025 Report by Amnesty International
A new paper released by IDSN associate ARISA (Advocating Rights in South Asia) examines the interlinkages between labour exploitation in the leather industry in South Asia and caste. The paper shows that caste and related discriminatory practices, at times specifically interwoven with religion, are high risk factors for businesses that source leather or leather products from India, Bangladesh or Pakistan. It explains how caste-based and religious-based discrimination presents itself in these countries and how this connects to the leather industry.
The Working Group on the UPR reviewed India in November 2022 and the outcome report was adopted at the Human Rights Council 52 March session in 2023. This report includes recommendations on Dalits, caste, hate speech, racism, water and sanitation, women and girls' rights and many more.
UPR India 4th Cycle, list of recommendations on caste and related topics
The Sindh Human Rights Commission organised a one-day consultation with key stakeholders at Hotel Avari Towers, Karachi, on August 18, 2022. The purpose of the consultation was to identify the gaps in the legislation covering labour rights of sanitation workers and build a consensus to gear efforts toward driving legislative interventions for the inclusion of sanitation workers in the labour laws. The event was organised in technical partnership with The Knowledge Forum.
A unique event organised by the Norwegian Human Rights Fund brought together, activists, experts, trade unions and several international NGOs, including Human Rights Watch, IDSN and OSF. In a session dedicated to addressing caste-based discrimination, the exploitation of Dalit women in work settings, was raised by speakers at the global Women at Work conference in Nepal, stressing the urgent need to address the situation.
An unprecedented collaboration between apparel manufacturer Eastman Exports and labour stakeholders TTCU, AFWA and GLJ-ILRF led to the historic reversal of a decision by the US government, thereby protecting both businesses and thousands of jobs for women workers. This framework of cooperation and goodwill between industry and labour organisations is a harbinger of what is possible when the two parties come together constructively.
A new-born Indian can expect to live for 69 years, just three years short of the world average. But disparities in life expectancy - the average number of years that a person can expect to live - among India's social groups have lingered and widened, according to two new studies.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Prem Pariyar worked with the student government association representing the 23 colleges in the California State University system as they passed a resolution to ban caste discrimination. He said he was involved in efforts at the University of California, Davis to do the same.
