New report and symposium charts pathways towards access to justice for Dalit defenders in Pakistan

The symposium “Challenges to effective legal remedies for Dalit and Minorities’ defenders in Pakistan and proposed solution to those challenges” was organised in Pakistan to discuss and launch the Pakistan report of the Dalit Justice Defenders Reports – an initiative by the International Commission on Dalit Rights (ICDR). Participants and speakers discussed issues of Pakistani Dalit rights […]

|Categories: Access to justice, Dalit Women, Human Rights Defenders, Pakistan|Tags: |

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Dalit rights defenders speak out on caste at the EU-NGO Forum

Economic, social and labour rights were the thematic headlines of this year’s EU-NGO Human Rights Forum, where three Dalit human rights defenders were featured as panellists, facilitated by IDSN. Caste-related barriers to healthcare in Pakistan, post-covid economic and social recovery for Dalit workers in South Asia and building corporate accountability to respect human rights were among the key topics […]

|Categories: Business, European Union, Health, Human Rights Defenders, India, Pakistan, Poverty, South Asia|Tags: |

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Nepal: UN Poverty Expert says caste discrimination is “the single most important factor” explaining why Dalits are disproportionately affected by poverty

“Though banned, caste-based and ethnicity-based discrimination remain a reality in social life, and it is a major factor explaining the perpetuation of poverty,” De Schutter commented in the press release issued. “Land issues remain unresolved, despite the efforts to accelerate the rehabilitation of former bonded laborers and to ensure landless Dalit benefit from land redistribution.” The UN expert met with […]

|Categories: Nepal, Poverty, United Nations|Tags: |

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Global forum addresses the caste and sanitation work nexus

The links between caste and hazardous forms of sanitation work were highlighted by speakers at the Sanitation Workers Forum 2021 from 29 November – 2 December. Participants at the forum urged that immediate steps are taken to ensure the safety and dignity of millions of sanitation workers worldwide – and ensure social protections. Joining together for a four-day virtual event, […]

|Categories: Human Rights Defenders, India, Pakistan, Water and Sanitation|Tags: |

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Caste and human rights in supply chains raised at UN Forum

IDSN participated in the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights from 29 November – 1 December, learning and drawing attention to the urgent need to address caste discrimination and violence in global supply chains. IDSN took part in many sessions including on gender mainstreaming, tech regulation, mandatory human rights and environmental due […]

|Categories: Business, South Asia, United Nations|Tags: |

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UN slavery expert raises concern over caste discrimination in Sri Lanka

IDSN welcomes the attention to an often hidden issue in Sri Lanka. In his end of mission press statement Mr. Obokata stated: “I also wish to raise the issue of caste-based discrimination which reportedly persists in Sri Lanka. In the Northern Province, for instance, many belonging to oppressed castes are not able to obtain suitable land to start an agricultural business […]

|Categories: Sri Lanka, Uncategorized, United Nations|Tags: |

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Brief: Dalit women face violence and harassment in India’s garment industry – time to act

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. On New Year’s Day 2021, Jeyasre Kathiravel, a 20-year-old Dalit garment worker from Tamil Nadu, India, […]

|Categories: Business, India, United Nations|Tags: |

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UN report: One third of India’s Dalits remain poor

Almost 100 million Dalits in India – or one third of their total number – continue to live in multidimensional poverty. While poverty has been reduced over the past decade, Scheduled Castes – the official Indian term for the country’s Dalit population – constitute almost one fourth of India’s multidimensionally poor people. According to the recently published Global Multidimensional Poverty […]

|Categories: Dalit Children, Dalit Women, India, Living conditions, Poverty|Tags: |

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IDSN takes part in screening of award winning film Writing with Fire

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. Writing with Fire tells the story of Khabar Lahariya: a media outlet in Uttar Pradesh, India, run by […]

|Categories: Dalit Women, Human Rights Defenders, India|Tags: |

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Dalit women and girls targets of caste-based sexual violence

On a Sunday evening in early August, a nine-year old Dalit girl went to a crematorium across the street from her dwelling in the Indian capital Delhi to fetch cool drinking water. She never returned. “At the crematorium, I found her lying on the ground. Her lips were blue, there was blood under her nose, she had bruises on her […]

|Categories: Bangladesh, Dalit Women, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Violence and atrocities|Tags: |

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