scholarly journals Witch Hunting: A Form of violence against Dalit Women in India

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-182
Author(s):  
Tanvi Yadav
Keyword(s):  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Caste System ◽  
Rural India ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Cultural Violence ◽  
Gender Hierarchy ◽  
Dalit Women ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Legal Mechanism ◽  
Women In India

Abstract The Caste system is a social reality in India, despite the Constitutional rights of equality, protection from discrimination, and the ban on untouchability, the discrimination against Dalit communities or Schedule Castes, still persists. Outside the caste and within the caste, Dalit women are placed at the very bottom in gender hierarchy, which caused double discrimination based on caste-and-gender, and violence against Dalit women. Declaring a Dalit woman as Witch, accuse her of witchcraft and persecute her as witch-hunting, is one of the most common weapons, in a patriarchal society of rural India, to maintain the suppression against Dalit women. Grabbing property, political jealousy and personal conflicts, getting sexual benefits or settling the old scores have been found the most common reasons to declare a woman as a witch and most of the victims are notices as single, old or widow. Victims of witch-hunting face physical, economic and cultural violence from social exclusion to burning alive. This paper analyses the violence against Dalit women in the form of witch-hunting and the failures of legal mechanism and judicial institutions in eradicating the menace of witch-hunting.

Dalit Women and Water: Availability, Access and Discrimination in Rural India

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Swarup Dutta ◽  
Ishita Sinha ◽  
Adya Parashar
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Physical Abuse ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Rural India ◽  
Indian States ◽  
Limited Access ◽  
Common Resources ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
Dalit Women

The present study identifies the multiplicity of issues and challenges faced by dalit women in accessing water from common, often distant sources of water, across five Indian states. Their reality of poor availability of drinking water was worsened by limited access to common resources due to their caste identity. On account of their social exclusion, dalit women suffer from physical as well as mental anguish. Discrimination against them is rampant on account of untouchability, and verbal and physical abuse accompanied with violence, which is a very real part of their everyday lives.

IT for Emancipation of Women in India

2008 ◽  
pp. 3592-3603
Author(s):  
Anil Shaligram
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Knowledge Network ◽  
Rural India ◽  
Physical Isolation ◽  
The World ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Women In India ◽  
Organizational Innovations

At “One Village One Computer Campaign” (1V1C) in India we are resolved to tackle the gender question using information technology. The strategic slogan is “Age old problems, Youthful movement”. Gender equality is sought in the context of the fight against a digital divide that is expressed through the problems of underdevelopment and exclusion. The approach is based on introduction of organizational innovations to raise human capital and social capital in the rural communities and connect them with each other and the world over through a knowledge network. In the hands of women, this becomes a weapon to fight against gender inequality and discrimination. Through the use of information technology, a community centric approach can help rural India to combat social problems. In contemporary times where information, knowledge is the key to development and progress, IT can be used to combat the development concerns of rural India, while keeping local communities and their involvement and empowerment at the forefront of the process. As a technology IT is best suited for the “gendered” sex to empower themselves with education, information, knowledge, skills and so forth, and connect themselves with other rural communities and overcome physical isolation through IT network. For resolution of gender problem, individualized IT empowerment has extremely marginal relevance, whereas tele-center like models based on private proprietorship has also very little success. IT Enabled Women’s Social Network can be a solution in bridging the digital divide and gender problem. 1V1C campaign shows that it is possible to build such networks in remote villages and reach the most downtrodden and even illiterate women.

scholarly journals Grapple for Equality: A Critical Analysis of Caste and Gender Discrimination in Bama’s Vanmam (Vendetta)

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-29
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Caste System ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The Core ◽  
Dalit Women ◽  
Human Psyche ◽  
And Gender

Divisiveness among humans is so inherent, rampant and intuitive that none would find it easy to escape the oppression resulting from this man-made setback. The Human psyche covets to rule, master and exploit its power over others; and this is the core and the most intimate cause of all intolerance and oppression in our world, whatever label one wants to bracket then under, say, caste, creed, race, gender or faith. This paper titled, Grapple for Equality: A Critical Analysis of Caste and Gender Discrimination in Bama’s Vanmam (Vendetta) is an attempt to identify the gender inequality and sexual violence among Dalit women exposed by the author. The main themes of the Dalit writings in India usually centre on subjects like social disability, caste system, economic inequality, contemporary cruelties and cultural assertion that have been uniquely entitled ‘the struggle for identity’. Bama, one of the renowned Tamil Dalit woman writers, dwells on the themes of caste and gender discrimination in most of her novels. The novel Vanmam mainly focuses on Dalit women, highlighting how they are subjected to social discriminations of multiple sorts.

scholarly journals Classism, Casteism and Sexism a Curse in the Life of Dalit Women: A Social and Literary Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 43-52
Author(s):  
Ambreen Safdar Kharbe
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Caste System ◽  
Literary Analysis ◽  
Indian Constitution ◽  
Indian Community ◽  
Mahasweta Devi ◽  
Dalit Women ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Masses

Class, caste and, gender systems prevail since ancient times in society. Lot has been said and studied about it but yet society is not free from these stigmas. The division of society on the basis of class, caste, and gender has hindered the progress of society at the same time has treated the lowest castes also known as Dalits or former ‘Untouchables’ as underdogs and have tremendously ill-treated this section in the society. The mainstream has made them marginalized and unheard. Dalit women are triple victims and are the most sufferers in Indian community. Though the Indian Constitution talks about equality, freedom, and justice to all Indian Citizens, irrespective of caste, class, creed, religion, and sex there are many who are not privileged for the same. This research paper focuses on the understanding of class and caste system with addition to Dalit women as the triple victim of class, caste, and gender with the background of social structure in India and Dalit and Non-Dalit writers unveiling their plight and sufferings. Select works of major writers such as Mulk Raj Anand, Munshi Premchand, Mahasweta Devi, Urmila Pawar, will be considered for this research. The research makes the unheard voice of Dalit women reach the masses and ignite the spark of justice and respect for them in society.

scholarly journals Ambedkar, Lohia, and the Segregations of Caste and Gender: Envisioning a Global Agenda for Social Justice

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-72
Author(s):  
Anurag Bhaskar
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Feminist Movement ◽  
The Social ◽  
Feminist Discourse ◽  
Dalit Women ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Global Agenda ◽  
Women In India

Dalit women in India suffer multilayered form of marginalization. They are discriminated not only based on their gender, but also because of their caste identity. This impacts their literacy, life expectancy, among other human indicators. Despite the emphasis on the intersectionality between caste and gender by Dr. BR Ambedkar and later by other social reformers like Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, the mainstream movements have failed to provide a separate discourse on safeguarding the rights of Dalit women. The question of caste-based discrimination has by and large focused on the identity of a Dalit, irrespective of the gender, and the injustices inflicted on the social group as a whole. The upper caste led feminist discourse has been equally ignorant of the multiple oppressions faced by Dalit women. This paper deals with the critique of the Dalit movement as well as the feminist movement, and attempts to envision a broader global social justice by reading the ideas of Ambedkar and Lohia together.

Dalit Women in Mutation: The Birth of a New Social Organism

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-76
Author(s):  
Anandita Pan
Keyword(s):  
Identity Construction ◽  
Caste System ◽  
Unitary Groups ◽  
Autobiographical Narratives ◽  
The Core ◽  
Analytical Structure ◽  
Dalit Women ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Social Organism

This essay is concerned with ‘Dalit woman’ as a category constructed through the intersection of caste and gender. It contends that in their effort to present ‘woman’ and ‘Dalit’ as two distinct and unitary groups, mainstream Indian feminism and Dalit politics treat caste and gender as mutually exclusive. As a result, Dalit women and their issues are either ignored, or they are assimilated separately within ‘women’ or ‘Dalits’. This article proposes that mutation, as an interventionist theoretical tool, can become useful in posing ‘Dalit woman’ as a new social organism. Taking P. Sivakami’s autobiography, The Grip of Change (2006), as a case study, this article investigates the contours of ‘Dalit woman’ as a mutable category built in contradistinction to ‘woman’ in mainstream Indian feminism (wherein gender becomes the exclusive analytical structure) and ‘Dalit’ in Dalit politics (which sees caste system at the core of their oppression). Since this study investigates identity construction of ‘Dalit woman’, the exploration of the homogeneous representations of ‘woman’ and ‘Dalit’ primarily draws from autobiographical narratives.

IT for Emancipation of Women in India

2011 ◽  
pp. 838-843
Author(s):  
Anil Shaligram
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Knowledge Network ◽  
Rural India ◽  
Physical Isolation ◽  
The World ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Women In India ◽  
Organizational Innovations

At “One Village One Computer Campaign” (1V1C) in India we are resolved to tackle the gender question using information technology. The strategic slogan is “Age old problems, Youthful movement”. Gender equality is sought in the context of the fight against a digital divide that is expressed through the problems of underdevelopment and exclusion. The approach is based on introduction of organizational innovations to raise human capital and social capital in the rural communities and connect them with each other and the world over through a knowledge network. In the hands of women, this becomes a weapon to fight against gender inequality and discrimination. Through the use of information technology, a community centric approach can help rural India to combat social problems. In contemporary times where information, knowledge is the key to development and progress, IT can be used to combat the development concerns of rural India, while keeping local communities and their involvement and empowerment at the forefront of the process. As a technology IT is best suited for the “gendered” sex to empower themselves with education, information, knowledge, skills and so forth, and connect themselves with other rural communities and overcome physical isolation through IT network. For resolution of gender problem, individualized IT empowerment has extremely marginal relevance, whereas tele-center like models based on private proprietorship has also very little success. IT Enabled Women’s Social Network can be a solution in bridging the digital divide and gender problem. 1V1C campaign shows that it is possible to build such networks in remote villages and reach the most downtrodden and even illiterate women.

Sexism and Gender Inequality Across 57 Societies

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 1413-1418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark J. Brandt
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
Multilevel Modeling ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Representative Data ◽  
Gender Hierarchy ◽  
And Gender

Theory predicts that individuals’ sexism serves to exacerbate inequality in their society’s gender hierarchy. Past research, however, has provided only correlational evidence to support this hypothesis. In this study, I analyzed a large longitudinal data set that included representative data from 57 societies. Multilevel modeling showed that sexism directly predicted increases in gender inequality. This study provides the first evidence that sexist ideologies can create gender inequality within societies, and this finding suggests that sexism not only legitimizes the societal status quo, but also actively enhances the severity of the gender hierarchy. Three potential mechanisms for this effect are discussed briefly.

scholarly journals The Advent of Ambedkar in the Sphere of Indian Women Question

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-30
Author(s):  
Poonam Singh
Keyword(s):  
Key Words ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Research Paper ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Indian Women ◽  
Close Textual Analysis ◽  
Dalit Women ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Archival Study

The paper attempts to project Bhim Rao Ambedkar as one of the foremost liberal feminists who advocated for Hindu women’s legal rights through the constitutional provisions listed in the Hindu Code Bill. He proposed four major stipulations, “one change is that, the widow, the daughter, the widow of predeceased-son. All are given the same rank as the son in the matter of inheritance. In addition to that, the daughter is also given a share in her father’s property: her share is prescribed as half of that of the son.”[1] To contemplate the predicament and marginalized position of Indian women, Ambedkar posited that caste and gender are intertwined. The imposition of endogamy was made compulsory by Brahaminical hierarchy which eulogized by Hindu religious scriptures to ensure sustained subjectivity of women, which eventually depreciated the egalitarian position of women. The focal point of the research paper remains a close textual analysis of Ambedkarite canon with archival study and genealogical examination contouring the discourse. The paper also encompasses potent reasons to establish the differences between the marginalization of upper-caste women and Dalit women. Difference between them is maintained by the ‘graded inequality.’ After having observed such differences, the paper intends to extend the idea that Ambedkar worked as a socio-political champion for Dalit women and Indian women concomitantly. To guarantee the freedom, equality, and individuality of Indian women, Ambedkar resorted to legalized mechanism and constitutional provisions. Key Words: Ambedkar, Hindu Code Bill, Manusmriti, Indian Women, Dalit Women, Indian Feminism, Caste, Patriarchy

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