Women’s Rights

Dalit women constitute 80.5 million people—8 out of every 100 citizens in the country—and approximately 48% of the total Dalit population, 16% of the total female population and 8% of the total Indian population. Vulnerably positioned at the bottom of the caste, class and gender hierarchies, Dalit women are India’s worst victims of discrimination, deprivation, exploitation, and violence. Not only do Dalit women face endemic violence and discrimination (due to both caste and patriarchy), but the vast majority of crimes against them go unreported, unregistered and un-punished.

In November 2006, NCDHR took part in (and helped to organize) the first-ever International Conference on the Human Rights of Dalit Women, held at The Hague. Determined to “transform their pain into power,” Dalit women from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal presented shocking and heart-breaking testimonials about the violence perpetrated against them and the impunity that followed. In connection with this conference, NCDHR published a two-volume study entitled Dalit Women Speak Out: Violence Against Dalit Women in India, the culmination of over five years of research, which presents an analytic overview of the systemic violence—rape, murder, physical assault and verbal abuse & humiliation—faced by Dalit women in India along with 500 Dalit women’s own narratives of the violence they personally experienced. The study and conference demonstrated how violence on Dalit women is intentionally used to maintain the oppression of the Dalit community by the dominant castes, while also demonstrating systematic patterns of impunity: In less than 1% of incidents in the study were perpetrators ever convicted in courts!

The available data on the situation of Dalit women presents quite a disturbing picture: An average of three Dalit women are raped everyday. A disproportionate number of the atrocities and human rights violations registered annually under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act are against women. The unemployment rate of Dalit women is 4.0% against 0.97% among non-Dalits in rural areas and 3.3% against 1.98% for non-Dalits in urban areas. The literacy rate of Dalit women is just 23.8% compared to that of 39.3% among non-Dalits. Due to discrimination, poverty, and gender role ideology, Dalit women have a drop out rate of 53.96% at the primary school level. The poverty rate among Dalit women is 36.2% against 21.6% among non-Dalit women. 94% of Dalit women are engaged in the unorganized, self-employed sector (farm/wage workers, domestic helpers, etc.), marked by overwork, low wages, non-payment of equal wages, and absence of social security or maternity benefits.

Dalit women face violence and exploitation not only from the dominant castes, but also at home within their own families and Dalit communities. Regardless of the context, when a Dalit woman defends her dignity and demands her basic human rights, if her position contradicts traditional caste, gender, and cultural norms, she is not given support and often becomes the target of violence. Statistics on Dalit women’s access to justice show the extent of the problem. NCDHR’s study and other reports show that perpetrators are punished in less than 1% of the cases. In other words, the perpetrators of crimes against Dalit women go completely free in more than 99% of the crimes committed, and are even seen to further threaten and punish the same survivors. The study further reveals that in 39% of the instances of violence the survivors did not seek legal redress for fear of bringing dishonor to their family, for lack of human or financialSupport, or because they did not trust that they would get justice. In 27% of the instances of violence, the victim’s appeal for justice to the village panchayat or administration was thwarted by pressure and threats from the perpetrators. In 18% of the instances, the police thwarted justice by threatening, refusing to file the complaint, forcing an extra-legal compromise, or making false counter cases.

Despite the gravity of the situation, there are very little efforts or mechanisms by the Indian state or other movements or organizations to protect Dalit women or support their quest for justice. NCDHR aims in its work to create awareness among the national and international community regarding the unique plight of Dalit women and to expose the failure of the state to protect and promote Dalit women's rights. Our long term goal is to build effective monitoring and legal mechanisms to support women who face violence, to train and support Dalit women’s rights defenders, to build alliances with other movements, and to ensure the effective functioning of the justice and administrative systems to destroy the culture of impunity.