Norway's Minister of Development voices support to end caste discrimination

The IDSN Executive Director and the Dalit Solidarity Network in Norway, met with Norway’s Minister of International Development, Dag-Inge Ulstein, who confirmed Norway’s long-standing support to IDSN and eliminating caste-based discrimination. IDSN’s Director was in Norway to meet and liaise with DSN-Norway’s members and also used the visit to meet with the Ethical Trading Initiative in Norway.

IDSN statements and recommendations at the UN Human Rights Council's 42nd Session

Reprisals | NGO Committee members must say ‘not in my name’ (International Service on Human Rights)

Report: Dalits and Adivasis missing from mainstream Indian news media

Indian media is dominated by dominant castes and media organisations have failed to diversify their newsroom and news coverage, reveals a new report released by Oxfam India and Newslaundry. The report ‘Who Tells Our Stories Matters: Representation of marginalised caste groups in Indian Newsrooms’ studies the representation of people from different caste groups in the Indian media. The findings point to an urgent need to ensure a much broader range of voices telling the stories in the Indian mediascape.

Indian state passes resolution to help Dalit Christians 

1500 survivors of rape and sexual violence and their families sign a letter to the Supreme Court of India

Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan, a survivor centric forum with more than 12,000 survivors of sexual violence and their families, have submitted a letter to the Supreme Court of India asking that it treats commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of children as serial rape under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (‘POSCO’). Dalit children are especially at risk of rape and sexual exploitation as they are marginalised and offered little protection and recourse to justice in highly caste-stratified societies. IDSN ‘s member organisation in India, Jan Sahas, is a part of the Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan.

Landless Dalits, hit hardest by disasters, are last to get relief (IndiaSpend)

Cyclone Fani flattened the entire village of Talamala in Puri district when it made landfall on May 5, 2019. It wrecked homes and destroyed crops mostly cultivated by small farmers. But it inflicted the maximum damage on the lives of landless Dalit farm workers who now have no resources to rebuild their lives.

Brick kiln workers stand up for their rights (Anti-Slavery International)

A staggering 96% of labourers in India's brick kilns are trapped in debt bondage, despite the practice being illegal. Most of those trapped in debt bondage in India are Dalits or Adivasis, that continue to be denied justice. In this article Anti-Slavery International tells the story of a Dalit family and their struggle to break out of bonded labour.

Casting aside caste and class (Colombo Gazette)

Honour killings over intercaste marriages

This past month international media outlets have picked up on a few of the many cases of honour killings that occur in India over intercaste marriages. The Guardian tells the story of Kevin P Joseph who was killed after he applied to register his marriage to Neenu Chacko from a dominant caste. The Independent reveals a similar case where and Indian father hired assassins to kill his daughter’s husband because he was a Dalit.
 
Read the Guardian story here >>
Read the Independent story here >>

Events coming up...

Films featuring realities of Dalits in India  
From the 19-28 September 2019 a series of films featuring experiences and narratives of India's Dalits will be screened in London. Tickets and registration are open now. See the programme here >>
 
Over the coming months IDSN will be engaging with and present at:
 
15-16 October
ALNAP 32nd Annual Meeting
‘Relevant for whom? Responding to diverse perspectives and priorities in humanitarian action’. IDSN will be presenting on the caste-related barriers to disaster relief and prevention in caste-affected countries. Read more about this in the IDSN publication Equality in Aid.
 
25-27 November
UN Forum on Business and Human Rights
An IDSN delegation will take part in the Forum to raise awareness of the linkages between caste discrimination and labour related human rights violations and highlight the responsibility of companies to ensure that caste discrimination is not present in their operations or supply chains in caste-affected countries.
 
November/December
IDSN will be taking part in the EU NGO Forum in Brussels to raise awareness of the need for EU action in relation to combatting caste discrimination.