India’s health inequality severely affects Dalits

Indian society is extremely unequal. Decent healthcare is a luxury mainly available to those who can afford it. The poor and marginalised, including Dalits, are much more likely to suffer from ill health than members of dominant castes and are particularly vulnerable to diseases and pandemics such as COVID-19. “The rich […]

New Report: Dalits work in slavery-like conditions in India’s cotton seed production

The new report Seeds of Oppression by ARISA describes slavery-like conditions in Gujarat’s cotton sees industry. Workers, many Dalits, produce cotton seed, yet receive no wages and owe the landowner debts. Read the full report from ARISA Some key recommendations on […]

Champion of tribal (and Dalit) rights dies following imprisonment

Father Stan Swamy, 84, a courageous and dedicated campaigner for the rights of India’s indigenous Adivasi community, has died from Covid-19 complications. He had been imprisoned on terrorism charges since October 2020. A powerful voice of the voiceless has been silenced. Father Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest and activist who spent decades campaigning for the land, forest and labour […]

OECD Watch report says revised OECD guidelines should specifically include caste

The report Get Fit: Closing gaps in the OECD Guidelines to make them fit for purpose stresses the need to address discrimination based on caste explicitly in the OECD Guidelines that are up for revision. IDSN is working with OECD Watch and ARISA (Advocating Rights in South Asia) to ensure that these revisions take note of the prevalence of caste in Multinational Enterprises.

Dalit activists highlight caste discrimination at the European Development Days 2021 IDSN stand

This year the European Development Days from 15 – 16 June 2021 brought together thousands of participants from around the world, all completely digitally. The theme, which was carried over from 2020, centred on ‘A green deal for a sustainable future’. This theme was expanded to include the effects of COVID-19 pandemic which has shown the interlinkages between human […]

Caste, gender justice and the right to freedom of opinion and expression – IDSN UN submission

Download the full report >> Contribution from the International Dalit Solidarity Network – IDSN to the UNGA76 report on Gender Justice and the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression by the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression. “Today, we are not here to speak about our plight, We are also agents of change” Ruth Manorama, […]

Forced Conversions and Forced Marriages – The Case of Pakistan (IDSN Submission)

Download the IDSN Submission to the Report on Respecting, Protecting and Fulfilling the Right to Freedom of Thought: Forced Conversions and Forced Marriages – The Case of Pakistan – Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief                                               9 IDSN: “Case Studies of Dalit Women in Pakistan (2012)”, available at: [https://idsn.org/wp-content/uploads/user_folder/pdf/New_files/Pakistan/Dalit_women_in_Pakistan_- _case_studies_2012.pdf]

IDSN Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur report on SDGs

Read the full submission here >> UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Minorities, Equal Participation, Social and Economic Development, and the 2030 Agenda for SustainableDevelopment  Submission from the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) – June 2021 Introduction Many of the 17 goals are highly relevant to the hundred millions of people who suffer caste […]

IDSN Recommendations for the 47th Session of the UN Human Rights Council

Recommendations for the 47th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council (21 June – 15 July 2021) Download the recommendations as a PDF In connection with their participation in the 47th Human Rights Council session, states are encouraged to consider the ongoing and systemic practice of discrimination based on work and descent, also known as caste-based discrimination, affecting over 260 […]

New report: Dalit women working under “deplorable conditions” in Indian spinning mills, supplying global brands

“Based on our research, we conclude that the living and working conditions in the textile industry in Tamil Nadu are deplorable. In the worst case, this amounts to forced labour. Buying companies must take measures to prevent forced labour from occurring in their supply chains, and take account of the […]