Dalit women and the United Nations

In January 2007, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in its observations on India noted concern about “the ongoing atrocities committed against Dalit women and the culture of impunity for perpetrators of such atrocities” as well as concern “that despite a law banning manual scavenging, this degrading practice continues with grave implications for the dignity and health of the Dalit women who are engaged in this activity.”

The CEDAW Committee has recommended that States Parties take specific temporary special measures to eliminate such multiple forms of discrimination against women and its compounded negative impact on them in accordance with CEDAW General Recommendation No. 25.
> Click here to read excerpts from CEDAW's report

In the addendum to her report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/11/6/Add.1), the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Ms. Yakin Ertürk, refers to  30 cases of violence against Dalit women in India, including incidences of physical and verbal abuse, gang rape, sexual exploitation, witch hunting, and naked parading (paragraphs  185-246).

Similarly, the U.N. CERD Committee has noted its concern about the alarming number of allegations of acts of sexual violence against Dalit women in India, primarily by dominant caste men, in its Concluding Observations from 2007.  The CERD Committee has also recommended that states take all measures necessary in order to eliminate multiple forms of discrimination against women, including discrimination based on caste and analogous forms of inherited status in its General Recommendation No. 29.

More resources:

Download IDSN's briefing paper on multiple forms of discrimination against Dalit women prepared for the 4th session of the UN Forum on Minority Issues, 2011

Read the IDSN report from the 4th session of the UN Forum on Minority Issues with a thematic focus on "Guaranteeing the rights of minority women"

Lobby brief on Dalit women in Nepal for the examination of Nepal at the 49th CEDAW session, New York, 20 July 2011

Read the statement on Obstacles to the effective political participation of Dalit Women made at the UN Forum on Minority Issues.

Read the statement on Dalit women submitted by the Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development (CORDAID) at the 11th session of the Human Rights Council.

Read a briefing note on Violence against Dalit women, prepared for the 11th session of the Human Rights Council by IDSN and a number of partner organisations.

Read IDSN's recommendations on Dalit women at the 11th Human Rights Council session.

Read One World Action's Report including the importance of reaching out to Dalit women to meeting significant MDGs - Getting Back on Track: Putting Women at the Heart of the MDGs