By Ananya Bhardwaj
India is the world’s largest democracy and a member of most of the major human rights treaties. These treaties provide the same rights for men and women in an attempt to bridge the gender gap. India is also a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and thus the onus lies on the government to make sure that women can realise their rights. The normal expectation in human right treaties is that governments will do more than just formulate and pass legislation to protect human rights. The Indian government has an obligation to take all necessary steps, like policy and budgetary measures, to make sure that women are not alienated from their rights. It also has an obligation to punish those who engage in caste-based violence and discrimination.
Discrimination against the Dalits
Outlawed in the year 1963 without any strong and decisive action against those found following the practice, the practice of untouchability still exists in all parts of the country. As it has not been totally abandoned and punished by the government, Dalits are still prohibited in rural areas from using the public facilities such as water taps, schools, restaurants, hotels, etc. There have been cases where Dalit women have been beaten up by the upper caste women while filling their water jars from the public tap. Several cases of insult and humiliation occur with the Dalits which go unnoticed when there is no redressal channel to hear their voices.
On the other hand, Dalit women have to bear both the social embarrassment and male domination in the family. But so far as the social status is concerned, Dalit women have been doubly victimised, being women and untouchables. Often times they have to face humiliation and psychological abuse while using the public spaces like water sources and others. Besides that, Dalits have been the victims of psychological and physical violence from the upper caste groups, mostly the caste or ethnic groups who are supposed to be superior to them. Various Dalit organisations and NGOs are working hard to raise the condition of Dalits by bringing awareness among the people, but without strong support from the government and a supportive attitude from the people, it’s difficult to bring about a change.
Dalit women are the most marginalised
Bhanwari Devi’s case is a typical example of the influence of caste bias on the justice system and the inability of lower-caste women to obtain redress. It is also a striking example of rape as a weapon of retaliation used to punish and silence women’s rights advocates. The nature of the district judge’s opinion sounded many alarms, and the case itself was taken up by several women’s rights organizations in north India. Despite the fact that she chose to report the marriage of a one-year-old girl to a man in her village, her protest and filing of the complaint were not taken seriously because she belonged to a lower caste than the perpetrators.
The health condition of Dalit women is the lowest due to all the cumulative factors, low-calorie intake and use of stale food, unhygienic labour work, poor living condition, heavy workload, ignorance, etc. They are the ones who suffer the most from the infectious and waterborne diseases. The most common diseases are skin diseases, bacterial and viral infections, gastrointestinal diseases, worms and others. There is also a high death rate among the children below five years. Due to this reason, women are compelled to give birth from a young age as soon as they are married so as to ensure the survival of their progeny. This also leads to various health problems related to giving birth often that too from a young age.
Experiences of women across the globe
This has been highlighted in the report ‘Turning promises into action: Gender equality in the 2030 Agenda’ by UN Women. Pointing to the “interaction of multiple identities and experiences of exclusion and subordination”—a concept introduced in the 1980s to capture the interaction of gender and race in shaping black women’s experiences in the US, the report says that disadvantage is intensified for women and girls living at the intersection of inequalities.
Two years after the adoption of Agenda 2030, this report examines through a gender lens the progress and challenges in the implementation of all the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, adopted by world leaders in 2015, from ending poverty and hunger to tackling climate change. The report highlights how women are affected by each of them and look at both the ends (goals and targets) and the means (policies and processes) that are needed to make the achievement of the ambitious agenda for sustainable development a reality.
There has been a noticeable increase in overall literacy rates and school participation rates across India since the early 1990s. However, gender and social disparities still exist. Scheduled Castes (SC), who comprise 16.6% of the population, and scheduled tribes (ST), who make up 8.6% of the population, have lower literacy rates than the Indian average. The literacy rate for female STs is still under 50% and 57% for SC women, while the numbers are slightly higher for men.
Larger interventions are needed to bring about a change
In order to protect the rights of Dalit women, in particular, the government should take follow-ups on initiatives that are relevant to the promotion and protection of Dalit women’s rights of UN Special Procedures, particularly the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, UN Treaty Bodies, the Universal Periodic Review, etc. The government should also formulate and implement national legislation to eliminate practices such as dowry (ensure proper implementation of PWDVA 2005), devadasi/jogini, manual scavenging, caste-based discrimination and “untouchability” in accordance with recommendations by the UN Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
As is evident, the identities of individuals and groups can increase their risks of discrimination and marginalisation. Women and girls who experience multiple forms of disadvantage based on gender and other inequalities are left behind in the society. It is imperative that the authorities take note of this, and formulate and implement policies that protect the rights of these marginalised women, and ensure that these disparities are resolved.
Featured Image Source: Visual Hunt
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