Interlinked Oppressions: How Gender & Caste Impact Quality of Life
Intersectionality
Scholar and civil rights advocate Kimberlé Crenshaw defined intersectionality as
“a metaphor for understanding the ways that multiple forms of inequality or disadvantage sometimes compound themselves and create obstacles that often are not understood among conventional ways of thinking.”
While Crenshaw’s work was originally created with the intent of understanding the complex and unique struggles Black women in America face, intersectionality is also deeply relevant in how gender and caste interrelate to one another, thus creating unique obstacles and inequalities for Dalit women. Our intention in sharing the following research insights is to provide visibility to the experiences of Dalit women, which are often rendered invisible.
“Caste Matters”
A 2018 study of pregnant women found that Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe women were 4x as likely and OBC women were 2x likely as women from General Castes to report having experienced discrimination from healthcare institutions throughout their pregnancy.
Furthermore, Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe women were also eight times more likely to accept discrimination as a fact of life and 3x more likely to keep such experiences to themselves.
These statistics demonstrate how the caste system saturates every aspect of Indian women’s lives, and how it can have negative impacts on their health and well-being.
'Of Dalits, Disabilities, and Devadasis’
Dalits are more likely to have multiple forms of disabilities and to acquire them from a young age. This outcome is predominantly the result of adverse and poorer living conditions, such as anaemia, polio, pneumonia and low nutrition levels. Another key player in this issue is the fact that poorer Dalit households are often unable to procure assistive aids or appliances that could help manage mild-to-moderate disabilities, as a result of a lack of knowledge, poverty and inequitable distribution of such aids.
The Ripple Effect of Inequality
Disability in the Dalit community has a ripple effect, impacting education, health, and employment. Dalit women with disabilities have higher rates of illiteracy than the general population. Dalit girls often struggle to go to school because of the long physical distances they must travel, and a disability only adds to this difficulty. Access to employment, which is dependent on social capital, is harder for those with disabilities, particularly Dalits, who face severe stigma and stereotyping that portrays them as unproductive. Dalit women and girls with disabilities are the most vulnerable, as they are often the ones performing the most dangerous work that puts their health at further risk; the Dalits who become Devadasis are at increased risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. They are also particularly vulnerable to abuse, violence and exploitation, often experienced in silence. As a result, the majority of cases go undocumented and unreported.
Existence is Resistance
Despite the systemic oppression that Dalit women face, there is a vibrant Dalit women’s activist movement that persistently and fearlessly fights for the rights of their communities. However, while the Dalit women listed below have made a name for themselves in activist circles, it is important to remember that existence is resistance. Each Dalit woman who wakes up everyday and tackles the hardships that come her way in spite of the systemic inequalities she faces is a hero in her own right.
Here are a few of our favourite Dalit women activists to check out:
Anti-Caste activist Yashica Dutt’s memoir, Coming Out As Dalit
Sources/Further Reading:
Khubchandani, J., Soni, A., Fahey, N., Raithatha, N. et al. (2018) ‘Caste Matters: Perceived Discrimination Among Women in Rural India’. Archive of Women’s Mental Health. 21(2), pp. 163-170.
Dutt, P.R.C. (2016) ‘Of Dalits, Disabilities and Devadasis’. Contemporary Voice of Dalit. 8(2), pp. 177-185