equal by law, unequal by caste - International Dalit Solidarity Network

Vol. 26, No. 2 Equal by Law, Unequal by Caste 277provides a clear example of the practice of endogamy in its twenty-firstcentury avatar. 1073. DALIT WOMEN AT THE INTERSECTION OF CASTE ANDGENDER DISCRIMINATIONCaste discrimination has a unique and specific impact on Dalitwomen who endure multiple forms of discrimination. Dalit women areespecially vulnerable to violence by the police and private actors. As themajority of landless laborers, Dalit women come into greater contactwith landlords and enforcement agencies than “upper-caste” women,rendering them more susceptible to abuse. 108 Landlords use sexual abuseand other forms of violence and humiliation against Dalit women as toolsto inflict “lessons” and crush dissent and labor movements within Dalitcommunities. 109 Vulnerability to sexual violence also results from Dalitwomen’s lower economic and social status, leading many of them to turnto prostitution for survival. 110Dalit women have unequal access to services, employmentopportunities, and justice mechanisms as compared to Dalit men. 111 Inrelation to employment opportunities, Dalit women are allotted some ofthe most menial and arduous tasks and experience greater discriminationin the payment of wages than Dalit men. 112 In relation to services, Dalitwomen have less access to education and health facilities, 113 ensuring thattheir literacy, nutrition, and health standards fall far below that of Dalit107 As recently as January 2008, violence resulting from an inter-caste marriage was reported in theUnited States. See Monica Davey, Father Says He Set Fire That Killed Three, N.Y. TIMES, Jan.3, 2008 (reporting that an Indian man in Illinois allegedly set fire to a home—killing his pregnantdaughter, her husband, and her son—because he disapproved of her marriage to a lower-casteman).108 BROKEN PEOPLE, supra note 21, at 166.109 Id.110 NAT’L HUM. RIGHTS COMM’N, REPORT ON PREVENTION OF ATROCITIES AGAINST SCHEDULEDCASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES 161 (2004) [hereinafter NHRC REPORT].111 See Thorat, supra note 91, at 35 (“The women who belong to marginalized groups suffer fromtriple deprivations arising out of lack of access to economic resources, as well as caste andgender discrimination. The [Scheduled Caste] and [Scheduled Tribe] women are perhaps themost economically deprived sections of Indian society.”).112 SHAH, ET AL., supra note 102, at 117-18. The employment opportunities of professional Dalitwomen may also be limited by discriminatory practices that deprive facilities run by Dalitwomen of a customer or patient base. Id. at 117-18.113 NHRC REPORT, supra note 110, at 160.