Doubly marginalized Dalit Women: Journey towards the path of equality

Abstract

The history of sexual violence against Dalit women is a history of atrocity and savagery and what makes the situation even worse is the fact that the legacy of this barbaric male hegemony commodifying Dalit women and considering them to be easily available continue till date. The objective of this paper is to trace the journey of Dalit women from being sufferers of sexual abuse, violence, discrimination and deprivation to organizing and empowering themselves as a collective whole, showcasing solidarity, protesting against inequality and non-inclusivity in society, rightfully claiming their rights, raising assertive confident voices and treading towards the path of equality and inclusivity. This paper undertakes historical research to locate the position of Dalit women since centuries and depends upon findings of Case Studies to prove incidents of violence inflicted upon Dalit women. The paper also adopts Action Research to examine the actions taken by Dalit women in bringing about a much-needed change in their way of existence. References to a few Case Studies on the atrocities and brutalities unleashed on Dalit women help us further to understand the alarming nature of the situation. Dalit feminism has emerged as a separate school of thought striving towards basic dignity, safety, security, economic and social rights of Dalit women as their struggle could never be rightly assessed and addressed by mainstream feminism. Jyotiba Phule, Savitri Bai Phule and Babasaheb Ambedkar are the personalities whose contributions are unmistakable in the progress of Dali women’s living conditions. In the post-Independence era Dalit women felt the urgency to voice their needs and express their demands. They knew that the tradition of oppression meted out to them could be stopped only by their assertive voices of protests and claim for equality. In the 1990s Dalit women assembled and formed various organizations, namely All India Dalit Women’s Forum and National Federation of Dalit Women. Since then, various Dalit women’s organizations fight for equality addressing issues not only pertaining to gender but essentially based on caste discriminations. The struggle of Dalit women for achieving their rights made them participate in the 1993 World Conference against Racism and the 1995 World Conference on Women. 2006 is a landmark year for Dalit women’s movement as the first National Conference on Violence against Dalit Women was organised in New Delhi in March, 2006. In 2018 the All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch presented testimonies of caste and gender based violence inflicted upon Dalit women at the 38th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council and presented a report titled ‘Voices Against Caste Impunity: Narratives of Dalit Women in India’. The assertive voices of Dalit women social activists, women-run digital rural news platform, Dalit literary writers articulating the horrors of discrimination, torture, abuse and violence they have been victims of since centuries have helped Dalit women to get unified with each other, proclaim solidarity and march towards the path of equality. They have come a long way from being docile, timid victims of caste and gender discriminations to becoming protesting selves conscious about their own rights and claiming the same.