Dalit Uplifting

Dalit women have been particularly badly affected in recent times. They are discriminated against not only because of their sex but also because of religious, social and cultural structures which have given them the lowest position in the social hierarchy. The stigma of ‘untouchability’ exposes them to an even higher risk of abuse and exploitation.  For instance, while sexual violence is a problem faced by women across India, encouraged in part by the frequent failure of the judicial system to secure justice for its victims, the situation is especially challenging for Dalit girls and women due to the added discrimination they face:  the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) reports that less than 2 per cent of rape cases against Dalit women result in convictions, compared to around 25 per cent against women in India generally. 

In areas such as health, education, housing, employment and wages, application of legal rights, decision-making and political participation, and rural development, Dalit women have been almost entirely excluded from development policies and programmes. The national population policy, which is geared to population control and in the process targets Dalit and other women for family planning programmes, does so on the grounds that they are the cause of the population ‘explosion’ and of poverty. No change has been made in the attitudes of society towards these women and they continue to be oppressed, marginalized, violated and all but forgotten.